El Cid | Rodrigo (Ruy) Díaz de Vivar

Modeled after a historic personage who lived from c. 1043 to 1099, Rodrigo Díaz is the hero of this epic poem. Named the Cid, for the Arabic word Sayyidi, or "leader," with the epithet "campeador," meaning "master of the field," Rodrigo Díaz appears in the poem as an invincible military leader. He was born into the lower nobility (infanzon) in the small town of Vivar, near Burgos, and was a vassal to the king of Spain. In the poem, this low social status is of great importance, for the Cid is a true social climber, gaining social status by successfully amassing wealth and...

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