Popular legends checked against the historical record, from Romulus, Leonidas and Cleopatra to Vlad the Impaler, Saint Valentine and Saint Patrick. Some heroes grew larger in poetry than they were in life. The Poema de mio Cid, written in the early 1200s, turned a Castilian commander into Spain’s great legend. Our story of El Cid, the real Rodrigo Díaz behind the legend, follows the documented career instead: his exile in 1081, his years as a hired commander for the taifa of Zaragoza, and his capture of Valencia in 1094.
Unravel the threads of time, one captivating story at a time.
Weather finished damaged ships—but the Armada of 1588 had already failed. A fragile Parma rendezvous, English gunnery, and logistics decided the campaign.
On a knife-edge between empires, hostage-prince Vlad The Impaler forged order through terror, defied the Ottomans, and became the flesh-and-blood shadow behind the legend of Dracula.
From court officer to exiled captain to lord of Valencia, Rodrigo Díaz—El Cid of Spain—turned method, pay, and nerve into a frontier state that reshaped what the Reconquista could achieve.
He was a real person with a profound personal journey—kidnapped in youth, spiritually reborn in hardship, and ultimately driven by compassion to return to the land that once imprisoned him.
Leonidas of Sparta is a name that echoes through the centuries, with his famous last stand at Thermopylae, his final act of heroism altered the course of history.
Saint Valentine, a bishop or priest that helped save christians from persecution, performed secret marriage rites and other acts of compassion. His feast day on February 14th became associated with romance giving way to the annual festival of love that sweeps across much of the globe today.
Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, is a figure shrouded in myth and legend.
Stories involving Romulus have been passed down through the ages, and the city he founded expanded to control all of Europe and the Mediterranean world.
