Sancha of León (8 November 1067) was a princess and queen of León. She was married to

Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to: People * Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037) * Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367) * Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...

, the Count of Castile who later became King of León after having killed Sancha's brother in battle. She and her husband commissioned the Crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha.

Life

Sancha was a daughter of

Alfonso V of León Alfonso V (c. 9947 August 1028), called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. Like other kings of León, he used the title emperor () to assert his standing among the Christian rulers of Spain. He succeeded his father, Bermudo II, in 99 ...

by his first wife, Elvira Menéndez. She became a secular abbess of the Monastery of San Pelayo. In 1029, a

political marriage A marriage of state is a diplomatic marriage or union between two members of different nation-states or internally, between two power blocs, usually in authoritarian societies and is a practice which dates back into ancient times, as far back as ear ...

was arranged between her and count

García Sánchez of Castile García Sánchez (died 1029) was the last independent count of Castile from 1017 to his death. Son of Sancho García and his wife Urraca, he succeeded his father when he was only a boy. During his minority the post of regent was held by several C ...

. However, having traveled to León for the marriage, García was assassinated by a group of disgruntled vassals. In 1032, Sancha was married to García's nephew and successor, Ferdinand I of Castile, when the latter was 11 years old. At the Battle of Tamarón in 1037 Ferdinand killed Sancha's brother Bermudo III of León, making Sancha the heir and allowing Ferdinand to have himself crowned King of León. Sancha's own position as queen of León is unclear and contradictory. She succeeded to the throne of León as the heir of her brother and in her "own right" but despite this, she is not clearly referred to as

queen regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...

, and after the death of her husband the throne passed to her son, despite the fact that she was still alive. Following Ferdinand's death in 1065 and the division of her husband's kingdom, she is said to have played the futile role of peacemaker among her sons. She was a devout Catholic, who, with her husband, commissioned the crucifix that bears their name as a gift for the Basilica of San Isidoro.

Children

Sancha had five children: * Urraca of Zamora *

Sancho II of León and Castile The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies ...

* Elvira of Toro *

Alfonso VI of León and Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century ( Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsu ...

García II of Galicia García II (1041/April 104322 March 1090), King of Galicia, was the youngest of the three sons and heirs of Ferdinand I, King of Castile and León, and Sancha of León, whose Leonese inheritance included the lands García would be given. Garcia ...

Death and burial

She died in the city of León on 8 November 1067. She was interred in the Royal Pantheon of the Basilica of San Isidoro, along with her parents, brother, husband, and her children Elvira, Urraca and García. PanteónSanIsidoroLeón

The following Latin inscription was carved in the tomb in which were deposited the remains of Queen Sancha:

"H. R. SANCIA REGINA TOTIUS HISPANIAE, MAGNI REGIS FERDINANDI UXOR. FILIA REGIS ADEFONSI, QUI POPULAVIT LEGIONEM POS DESTRUCTIONEM ALMANZOR. OBIIT ERA MCVIIII. III N. M."

Which translates to:

"Here lies Sancha, Queen of All Spain, wife of the great king Ferdinand and daughter of king Alfonso, who populated León after the destruction of Almanzor. Died in the one thousand one hundred eighth era on the third nones of May May 1071"

References

Bibliography

*Blanco Lozano, Pilar. ''Colección diplomática de Fernando I'' (1037–1065). León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación «San Isidoro» (CSIC-CECEL) y Archivo Histórico Diocesano, 1987. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sancha Of Leon Beni Alfons House of Jiménez 11th-century Spanish women Queen mothers Galician queens consort Roman Catholic royal saints Hispanic empresses and queens 11th-century people from the Kingdom of León 1010s births 1067 deaths Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro Leonese infantas Spanish beatified people Daughters of kings