El Cid Essay -- essays research papers

An Overview of the Life of a Spanish National HeroRodrigo Diaz de Vivar, know best as El Cid, is revered as a vast national hero of Spain. The name El Cid comes from the Arabic El Seid heart the Lord. Known to his admiring countrymen as campeador, or champion, he was a Spanish warrior whom subsequently legend made into a hero and the symbol of chivalry and virtue. El Cid was born in Vivar near Burgos in 1043. His father, Diego Lainez, was a member of the pocketable nobility, called the infanzones of Castile. El Cid was also directly connected on his mothers side to royalty. History paints two pictures of Rodrigo Diaz. He was an unprincipled adventurer, who battled against both Christians and Moors. And on the other hand, he was also a symbol of romance, legend, and ballad. He is shown as the tender, loving husband and father, the loyal, courageous soldier, and an ever-present inspiration to Spanish patriotism. He stands out as the central figure of the long struggle of Christian Spain against the Muslim threats. Fernando I, known as Fernando The Great, died in 1065, and at his death Fernando split his lands among his three sons Sancho, Alfonso, and Garcia, and his two daughters Elvira and Urraca. He also asked them to promise him they would respect his wishes and suffer by the divisions. But Sancho, who received the Kingdom of Castile, being the eldest, thought he should have inh...