He managed to conquer Valencia and established an independent dominion in this city from June 15, 1094 until his death. He is a historical and legendary figure of the Reconquista, whose life inspired the most important epic poem in Spanish literature, the Cantar de mio Cid. He has passed down to posterity as El Campeador or El Cid.
He was known by the name Campeador in life, as it is attested in documents since 1098; The nickname of Cid, although it is conjectured that his contemporaries from Zaragoza or Valencia may have used it, appears for the first time in the Poema de Almería, composed between 1147 and 1149.