CID CAMPEADOR

CID CAMPEADOR, a famed Castilian warrior of the 11th century, born at Burgos; much celebrated in Spanish romance; being banished from Castile, in the interest of which he had fought valiantly, he became a free-lance, fighting now with the Christians and now with the Moors, till he made himself master of Valencia, where he set up his throne and reigned, with his faithful wife Ximena by his side, till the news of a defeat by the Moors took all spirit out of him, and he died of grief. Faithful after death, his wife had his body embalmed and carried to his native place, on the high altar of which it lay enthroned for 10 years; his real name was Don Rodrigo Diaz of Bivar, and the story of his love for Ximena is the subject of Corneille's masterpiece, "The Cid."