Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 –1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain.
Born in Vivar, also known as Castillona de Bivar, six miles north of Burgos, the capital of Castile.
His father, Diego Laínez, was a courtier, bureaucrat, and cavalryman who had fought in several battles. El Cid's mother's family was aristocratic however, peasants would consider him one of their own.
Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve into El Çid and the Spanish honorific El Campeador ("the Champion").
As the head of his loyal knights, he came to dominate the Levante of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 11th century. He reclaimed the Taifa of Valencia from Muslim control for a brief period during the Reconquista, ruling the principality as its lord from 1094 to 1099.
His wife, Jimena Díaz, inherited the city and maintained it until 1102 when it was reconquered by the Moors. After his death, El Cid became Spain's celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de mio Cid, which presents him as the ideal medieval knight: strong, valiant, loyal, just, and pious.
To this day, El Cid remains a popular Spanish folk hero and national icon, with his life and deeds remembered in popular culture.
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