El Cid

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. The Moors called him El Cid, which meant the Lord, and the Christians, El Campeador, which is idiomatically translated as "the Master of the Battlefield" in Old Spanish. He was born in Vivar del Cid, a village near the city of Burgos. Díaz de Vivar became well known for his service in the armies of both Christian and Muslim rulers, his exile, and his temporary conquest of Valencia, which became independent for a brief period in the Reconquista. 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.