his undertaking. But the monks, who had advised the Cid to besiege the
city, now came to his rescue, and by feeding his army from their own
stores enabled Rodrigo to recover another town from the pagans.

Delighted with this new accession of territory, Ferrando knighted
Rodrigo, who meantime had added to his title of the Cid that of
Campeador, "the champion," and hereafter was often mentioned as "the
one born in a fortunate hour." In addition, the king bestowed upon
Rodrigo the governorship of the cities of Coimbra and Zamorra, which
were to be reoccupied by Christians.

Shortly after this, the Pope demanded that Ferrando do homage to the
empire, but the king rejoined that Spain was independent and therefore
refused to obey. Hearing that large forces were marching against him
to compel him to submit, Ferrando placed the Cid at the head of an
army, and our hero not only defeated the enemy at Tobosa, but won so
brilliant a victory that the Pope never ventured to renew his demands.

Feeling death draw near, Ferrando divided his realm between his sons,
who became kings of Castile, Leon, and Gallicia, and bestowed upon his
daughters the cities of Zamorra and Toro. Although disappointed not to
inherit the whole realm, the eldest prince, Don Sancho, dared not
oppose his father's will, until one of his brothers proceeded to
dispossess one of their sisters. Under the plea that the promise made
to their father had already been broken, Don Sancho now set out to
conquer the whole realm, but proved so unfortunate in his first battle
as to fall into his brother's hands. There he would have remained for
the rest of his life, had not the Cid delivered him, taken his captor,
and confiscated his realm in Sancho's behalf. Hearing this, the third
king, Alfonso, clamored for his share of his brother's spoil, and, as