El Cid and his wife Jimena Díaz…
1102 CE
El Cid and his wife Jimena Díaz had lived peacefully in Valencia for five years until the Almoravids besieged the city.
El Cid died June 10, 1099, likely as a result of the famine and deprivations caused by the siege.
Jimena fled to Burgos, Castile, in 1101, riding rode into the town with her retinue and the body of El Cid.
After his demise, but still during the siege of Valencia, legend holds that Jimena ordered that the corpse of El Cid be fitted with his armor and set atop his horse Babieca, to bolster the morale of his troops.
In several variations of the story, the dead Rodrigo and his knights win a thundering charge against Valencia's besiegers, resulting in a war-is-lost-but-battle-is-won catharsis for generations of Christian Spaniards to follow.
It is believed that the legend originated shortly after Jimena entered Burgos, and that it is derived from the manner in which Jimena's procession rode into Burgos, i.e., alongside her deceased husband.
Valencia is captured by Masdali on May 5, 1102; it will not become a Christian city again for over one hundred and twenty-five years.