Eia! laetando, populi catervae, Campi-doctoris hoc carmen audite! Magis qui eius freti estis ope, Cuncti venite!
Nobiliori de genere ortus, Quod in Castella non est illo maius: Hispalis novit et Iberum litus Quis Rodericus.
Hoc fuit primum singulare bellum, Cum adolescens devicit Navarrum: Hinc Campi-doctor dictus est maiorum Ore virorum.
The epithet gained at this early period clung to him through life: it is applied to him even by his enemies. It is curious to find that the Arab chroniclers constantly speak of him as Al-kambeyator, but never as the Cid—a word which is usually said to derive from the Arabic _Sidi_ (= My Lord). This circumstance makes it doubtful whether he was widely known as the Cid during his own lifetime. There is, indeed, a pleasing legend to the effect that the King of Castile, on hearing Ruy Díaz de Bivar addressed as _Sidi_ by Arab prisoners of war, decreed that the successful soldier should henceforth be known by that name. But there is no evidence to support this story, and it is rather too picturesque to be plausible. It seems more likely that Ruy Díaz de Bivar was first addressed as _Sidi_ by Arabs who served under him or by the Arab population of Valencia which he conquered towards the end of his career, that the phrase was taken up by his Christian troops, and that it was not generally current among Spaniards till after his death. That he soon afterwards became widely known as ‘the Cid’ or ‘my Cid’ is apparent from a line in the rhymed Latin chronicle of the siege of Almería, written some fifty years later:—
But we need not discuss these minutiæ further. Let us record the fact that Ruy Díaz de Bivar is known as the Cid Campeador, and pass on to his historical achievements. At the age of twenty-five he was appointed _alférez_ (standard-bearer) to Sancho II. of Castile, a predatory monarch who drove his brother Alfonso from León and his brother García from Galicia, and annexed their kingdoms. Both campaigns gave the Cid opportunities of distinction, and he became the most conspicuous personage in Castile after the murder of Sancho II. by Bellido Dolfos at Zamora in 1072:—
¡Rey don Sancho, rey don Sancho, no digas que no te aviso que de dentro de Zamora un alevoso ha salido! llámase Vellido Dolfos, hijo de Dolfos Vellido, cuatro traiciones ha hecho, y con esta serán cinco. Si gran traidor fue el padre, mayor traidor es el hijo.— Gritos dan en el real: ¡A don Sancho han mal herido: muerto le ha Vellido Dolfos, gran traición ha cometido!