The Cid of romance, the Cid of a thousand battles, legends and dramas, the Cid as apotheosized in literature, the Cid invoked by good Spaniards in every national crisis, whose name is a perpetual and ever-present inspiration to Spanish patriotism, is a very different character from the historical Rodrigo Diaz - the freebooter, the rebel, the consorter with the infidels and the enemies of Spain.

As chivalry directed the layman to defend what was right, so the preaching of the Crusades directed him to attack what was wrong - the possession by "infidels" of the Sepulchre of Christ.

For a long time he had pondered over the confusion in which Spain was, which he attributed to the intimate relations allowed between Christians and infidels for the sake of commerce.

Again and again these ordinances were repeated in subsequent ages, and intolerance for infidels is still a distinct feature of Mahommedan law.

He subdued the Gascons, and defended Narbonne against the infidels.