etched and gilt at the hilt with the arms of Lopez de Zuniga, and the inscription, MARCHIO * RODERICVS . DE BIVAR (the Cid Campeador) on a field etched with small spiral scrolls. There is an unsupported tradition, noted in the Carlton House Inventory, that this sword belonged to Don Diego Ynigo Lopez de Zuniga, the famous warrior and leader against the Moors in the early part of the XIIIth century. Lopez de Zuniga fought in the service of his uncle Don Sancho, King of Navarre, at the battle of the Navas de Tolosa. It was he who broke the iron chains behind which Miramamolin (1194-1234) had entrenched himself, in memory of which feat his shield of arms was augmented by the addition of eight links of a chain, which links are to the present day borne in the arms of the lords of the house of Bexar. It may seem strange that this sword, though bearing the arms of Lopez de Zuniga, should have the name of the Cid Campeador engraved upon it; but sword blades bearing allegorically, so to say, the names of historical personages and heroes of romance are not uncommon. In England in the early part of the XVIIth century the name of Edward the Black Prince was one for the bladesmith to conjure with, and blades inscribed EDWARDVS PRINS: ANGLIÆ are occasionally seen in collections. They of course have no connection whatever with the prince of that name; but are forgeries made in the first part of the XVIIth century to meet the fashionable demand for historical blades. Several blades inscribed ROBERTVS BRVSCHIVS SCOTORVM REX. are also known in collections; but they again are of XVIIth century make, and like the "Black Prince" blades are pure fabrications. At Hertford House, in the European Armoury of the Wallace Collection, a scimitar (No. 1266) is inlaid in brass with the inscription EDWARDVS: PRINS: ANGLIVE. But far more ambitious is the engraved inscription RODERICVS DE BIVAR upon the blade of the Windsor Castle sword; for the legendary hero of the Spaniards fills the same place in Spanish history that King Arthur occupies in our own,—with this exception, that many facts in the history of the Cid Campeador are fully established. The year of his birth is variously stated, but was probably about A.D. 1040. He died in 1099.
The sword (Fig. 670) mentioned as being in the collection of M. Édmond Foulc is a very splendid but late form of the type of hilt seen on the Windsor Armoury sword, with quillons and single ring below the guard. It is of French origin and has inset in the pommel a medallion portrait of Louis XII, the blade, like that of the Windsor sword, being back-edged though trebly grooved. The Riggs' sword (Fig 670A) is simpler in construction but a fine weapon of about 1500-1510.
