Description
Ideas that still drive people today have a history and this book is not a straight biography of El Cid, which due to the lack of surviving sources would not take up much space, but how the story of El Cid has been used by governments, entertainment, fiction and more across the centuries and how the view of what El Cid is and stands for has changed with each generation. El Cid was a knight and warrior who lived from 1043-1099 in Spain and was named Rodrigo Diaz. He fought for both the Christians and Muslims, essentially, with whom he was getting along at the time. He became a national hero after his death in El Cantar de mio Cid, which celebrated him as an ideal medieval knight. In her first book for general readers, author Nora Berend takes us from the life and times of El Cid to how the story was changed and used by those in power, entertainment, and more. She explores how one knight, who would have largely been forgotten if not for the poem, became a hero and national icon across the centuries.