CID, THE

born c. 1043, , Vivar, near Burgos, Castile died July 10, 1099, Valencia Spanish El Cid, also called El Campeador (the Champion), byname of Rodrigo, or Ruy, Daz De Vivar Castilian military leader and national hero. His popular name, El Cid (from Spanish Arabic as-sid, lord), dates from his lifetime. Additional reading Ramn Menndez Pidal, The Cid and His Spain (1934); Richard Fletcher, The Quest for El Cid (1989).