Behind Five English Thrones. One of his top ten knights in literature, as shared at the Guardian:The Quest for El Cid by Richard FletcherRead about another entry on the list.
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, or El Cid (the Master), was the legendary champion of the Spanish reconquista. Like William Marshal, El Cid was a self-made man who rose through the ranks, serving both the Christian kings of Castile and the Muslim lords of Zaragoza in the 11th century. Fletcher’s masterful biography penetrates the myths surrounding Díaz de Vivar to expose a warrior who was neither a crusading zealot nor a nationalistic hero, but a man of his time: an ambitious, land-hungry mercenary who used his martial prowess to achieve advancement.
--Marshal Zeringue
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