The Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar) reconquered Valencia for the first time on 15 June 1094, turned nine mosques into churches, and installed as bishop the French monk Jérôme. On the death of the Cid (in July 1099), his wife, Doña Ximena, retained power for two years, when Valencia was besieged by the Almoravids; although the king Alfonso VI of Castile drove them from the city, he was not strong enough to hold it. The Christians set fire to it, abandoned it, and the Almoravid Masdali took possession of it on 5 May 1109.