In the 11th century, a multitude of political forces competed on the Iberian Peninsula. The front lines between the Christian empires in the north and the Muslim Taifa princes were mostly anything but clear. Mercenaries of both religions fought in the service of changing alliances of local princes and warlords. And then a dangerous group of Muslim extremists emerged: the Almoravids. In the midst of these chaotic conditions, a knight from the vicinity of Burgos stood out as a particularly talented military leader: Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, better known as “El Cid”. But it took the hard work of later chroniclers to shape the somewhat dodgy historical model into the hero of Christian Spain, as he went down in history …
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