nPostednon July 10, 2015
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nItnalways seems odd to me to celebrate the anniversary of the death of anhero, but that is what can happen when people don’t know the exactnbirthday of the hero – but they DO know the date of death.
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nThatnmay be what happened in this case – but, to be honest, I amnsurprised that historians know the day of his death! For one thing,nit was a truly long time ago – 1099 – and for another thing, thencause of death is a bit iffy; we think he died from lack ofnfood and other hardships caused by a Muslim Berber siege of the citynwhere El Cid was living, at the time, Valencia, Spain.
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ElnCid means “the Lord” in the language of the Moors. El Cid wasncalled “El Campeador (“the Champion”) by Christians, and hisnreal name was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. Diaz was born to the lowernechelon of nobility in Castile, and he became a famous militarynleader. From what I could tell, he fought against Muslims andnChristians alike; he fought against the brothers of his own rulern(because people did that then, the history seems to suggest) in ordernto make the Castilian lands larger; later he fought FOR Moorishnrulers in Zaragoza; he fought a lot a lot a lot.
ElnCid means “the Lord” in the language of the Moors. El Cid wasncalled “El Campeador (“the Champion”) by Christians, and hisnreal name was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. Diaz was born to the lowernechelon of nobility in Castile, and he became a famous militarynleader. From what I could tell, he fought against Muslims andnChristians alike; he fought against the brothers of his own rulern(because people did that then, the history seems to suggest) in ordernto make the Castilian lands larger; later he fought FOR Moorishnrulers in Zaragoza; he fought a lot a lot a lot.n
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nHenwouldn’t have been a great hero if he hadn’t won almost all of thosenfights. But win he did!
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nEvennthough Diaz was a real person, El Cid became a legend as well as a hero of Castile. Romanticizednversions of his life have been told and retold in plays and movies,nfolk tales and books, songs and video games.
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nIsn’t it nice that, these days, most of us have heroes who are sports stars and artists, actors and musicians, rather than soldiers and military leaders?
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nAlsonon this date:
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nLobsternCarnival in Nova Scotia
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nTeddyBears’ Picnic Day
nTeddyBears’ Picnic Day
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nIndependencenDay and Junkanoo Parade in the Bahamas
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nPhilanthropistnIma Hogg’s birthday
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nInventornNikola Tesla’s birthday
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJulyn holidays
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nJulyn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in July
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugustn holidays
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nAugustn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in August
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