Editing El Cid (section)

== Summary ==
Born a member of the minor nobility, El Cid was brought up at the court of [[Ferdinand the Great]] and served Ferdinand's son, [[Sancho II of León and Castile]]. He rose to become the commander and royal standard-bearer (''armiger regis'') of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] upon Sancho's ascension in 1065. El Cid went on to lead the Castilian military campaigns against Sancho's brothers, [[Alfonso VI of León]] and [[García II of Galicia]], as well as in the Muslim kingdoms in [[al-Andalus]]. He became renowned for his military prowess in these campaigns, which helped expand the territory of the Crown of Castile at the expense of the Muslims and Sancho's brothers' kingdoms.

When conspirators murdered Sancho in 1072, El Cid found himself in a difficult situation. Since Sancho was childless, the throne passed to his brother Alfonso, whom El Cid had helped remove from power. Although El Cid continued to serve the sovereign, he lost his ranking in the new court, which treated him suspiciously and kept him at arm's length. Finally, in 1081, he was exiled.<ref name="Mythology">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hkx472N8Bk8C&q=Rodrigo+%22El+Cid%22+suspicious+alfonso&pg=PA161 | title=Mythology in the Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, Magic, and Might | publisher=ABC-CLIO | author=Fee, Christopher R. | year=2011 | pages=161 | isbn=978-0275984069}}</ref>

El Cid found work fighting for the [[Muslim]] rulers of [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]], whom he defended from its traditional enemy, [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]]. While in exile, he regained his reputation as a strategist and formidable military leader. He was repeatedly victorious in battle against the Muslim rulers of [[Lérida]] and their Christian allies, as well as against a large Christian army under King [[Sancho Ramírez]] of Aragon. In 1086, an expeditionary army of [[North Africa]]n [[Almoravids]] inflicted a severe defeat to Castile, compelling Alfonso to overcome the resentment he harboured against El Cid. The terms for El Cid's return to Christian service must have been attractive enough since El Cid soon found himself fighting for his former lord. Over the next several years, however, El Cid set his sights on the kingdom-city of [[Valencia]], operating more or less independently of Alfonso, while politically supporting the [[Banu Hud]] and other Muslim dynasties opposed to the Almoravids. He gradually increased his control over Valencia; the Islamic ruler, [[Yahya al-Qadir]], became his tributary in 1092. When the Almoravids instigated an uprising that resulted in the death of al-Qadir, El Cid responded by laying siege to the city. Valencia finally fell in 1094, and El Cid established an independent principality on the Mediterranean coast of Iberia. He ruled over a [[Cultural pluralism|pluralistic]] society with the popular support of Christians and Muslims alike.<ref name="Quest">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-MIChVmZwQC|title=The Quest for El Cid|author=Fletcher, Richard A.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0195069556|location=Oxford, UK|pages=166–168, 198}}</ref>

El Cid's final years were spent fighting the Almoravid [[Berbers]]. He inflicted upon them their first major defeat in 1094, on the plains of Caurte, outside Valencia, and continued opposing them until his death. Although El Cid remained undefeated in Valencia, Diego Rodríguez, his only son and heir, died fighting against the Almoravids in the service of Alfonso in 1097. After El Cid's death in 1099, his wife, [[Jimena Díaz]], succeeded him as ruler of Valencia, but she was eventually forced to surrender the principality to the Almoravids in 1102.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=91}}