El Campeador's Weblog

Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz de Vivar (c. 1040, Vivar, near Burgos – 10 July 1099, Valencia), known as El Cid Campeador, was a Castilian nobleman, military leader and gifted diplomat, who after being exiled, conquered and governed the city of Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, or chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

The nickname “El Cid” comes from the Spanish article “El”, which means “The” and the dialectal Arab word سيد “sïdi” or sayyid, which means “Lord”. So “El Cid” could be translated as “The Lord”. The title “Campeador” is a vulgar Latin word that could be translated as “master of military arts”. He is considered the national hero of Spain.

Tizona

A weapon traditionally identified as El Cid’s sword, Tizona, can still be seen in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in Madrid. In 1999, a small sample of the blade underwent metallurgical analysis which confirmed that the blade was made in Moorish Córdoba in the eleventh century and contained amounts of Damascus steel.

In 2007 the Autonomous Community of Castile and León bought the sword for 1.6 million Euros, and it is currently on display at the Museum of Burgos.

El Cid also had a sword called Colada.

Both swords have been misrepresented in popular culture. La Tizona was actually a one-handed sword, in the late roman style, whereas La Colada was a two-handed sword, greater in length.