Special Guest Blogger: El Cid

When you think of medieval knight's you probably imagine the shining armour, paying courtly love to fair maidens, fighting on behalf of the little folk, piously defending Christianity and adhering to strict codes of chivalry and some of that is true, we were trained in swordsmanship and horsemanship for years, striking terror into infantrymen arrayed against us and whilst some genuinely believed in chivalry, some of us had no scruples about slaying anyone in our way if we were paid enough.
I lived in Spain at a time when the country was deeply fragmented between Christians and Muslims and within those groups as well as in the rivalry between the Christian kingdoms of Aragon ruled by King Alfonso and Castile ruled over by King Sancho so it was a time of great confusion but a great financial opportunity for a skilled practitioner of war like me.
From the age of six i was taken under the wing and trained to a high standard by King Sancho II of Castile and was made the commander of the royal troops and played a major role in the military struggles between Sancho and Alfonso, earning the title 'El Campeador' but Sancho was assassinated and faced with the death of my collaborator and friend of decades, i was left with no choice but to tell Sancho's lot that off was the general direction in which they should bugger and went to work for Alfonso, but was exiled after conducting a raid against a Muslim city under Alfonso's protection.
With that in mind, it would take some pretty massive balls of steel to then switch sides again but i had such steely balls and offered my services to al-Muqtadir, the Muslim ruler and together we won many battles and i gained the reputation of being a fearless fighter, a strong leader and tactical expert and a man who was not too particular about which side he fought on, as long as he was showered in cash which is how i ended back in the pay of Alfonso again but i had my own plans to grab myself a title and with my own independent army, invaded and conquered the city of Valencia, naming myself al-sid (The Master) from which my name, El Cid, derives.
The wars continued and i died from famine after a siege of Valencia but such was my reputation that my army fitted my corpse with my armour and sat me on my horse and sent out to scare the bejesus out of the invaders and amongst the many dead lay many infantrymen who not only died horribly but died crapping every set of trousers they owned when, despite being dead, i honed into view.