Sancho Garcés III ( 992-996 – 18 October 1035), also known as Sancho the Great ( es, Sancho el Mayor, eu, Antso Gartzez Nagusia), was the
King of Pamplona
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state took ...
from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the
County of Aragon
The County of Aragon ( an, Condato d'Aragón) or County of Jaca ( an, Condato de Chaca, link=no) was a small Frankish marcher county in the central Pyrenean valley of the Aragon river, comprising Ansó, Echo, and Canfranc and centered on the smal ...
and by marriage the counties of
Castile,
Álava
Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see.
Its ca ...
and
Monzón
Monzón is a small city and municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. Its population was 17,176 as of 2014. It is in the northeast (specifically the Cinca Medio district of the province of Huesca) and adjoins the rivers Cinca and ...
. He later added the counties of Sobrarbe (1015),
Ribagorza (1018) and Cea (1030), and would intervene in the
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...
, taking its eponymous capital city in 1034.
He was the eldest son of
García Sánchez II and his wife Jimena Fernández.
Biography
Birth and succession
The year of Sancho's birth is not known, but it is no earlier than 992 and no later than 996. His parents were
García Sánchez II the Tremulous and Jimena Fernández, daughter of
Fernando Bermúdez
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
, count of
Cea on the
Leonese frontier. García and Jimena are first recorded as married in 992, but there is no record of their son Sancho until 996. The first record of the future king is a diploma of his father's granting the village of Terrero to the monastery of
San Millán de la Cogolla
San Millán de la Cogolla () is a sparsely populated municipality in La Rioja, (Spain). The village is famous for its twin monasteries, Yuso and Suso (Monasterio de San Millán de Yuso and Monasterio de San Millán de Suso), which were declared a ...
. The king describes Sancho merely as "my son" (''filius meus''). The same diploma also shows the future duke of Gascony,
Sancho VI, at the court of Pamplona.
Sancho was raised in the
monastery of Leyre
The Monastery of San Salvador of Leyre ( eu, Leireko San Salbatore monasterioa; es, Monasterio de San Salvador de Leire) is a religious complex to the south of the Sierra of Leyre, in northern Navarre, Spain, representing one of the most import ...
. His father last appears in 1000, while Sancho is first found as king in 1004, inheriting the kingdom of Pamplona (later known as Navarre). This gap has led to speculation as to whether there was an interregnum, while one document shows
Sancho Ramírez of Viguera
Sancho Ramírez ( Basque: ''Antso Ramirez''; dead c. 1002) was the second King of Viguera, from 981 until his death c. 1002. He was the eldest son of Ramiro Garcés, the first king of Viguera, and also grandson of García Sánchez I of Pamplona. ...
reigning in Pamplona in 1002, perhaps ruling as had
Jimeno Garcés Jimeno (also Gimeno, Ximeno, Chemene, Exemeno) is a given name derived from ''Ximen'',OMAECHEVARRIA, Ignacio, "Nombres propios y apellidos en el País Vasco y sus contornos". ''Homenaje a D. Julio de Urquijo'', volume II, pages 153-175. a variant of ...
during the youth of
García Sánchez I
García or Garcia may refer to:
People
* García (surname)
* Kings of Pamplona/Navarre
** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882
** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970
** García Sánchez II of Pam ...
three generations earlier. On his succession, Sancho initially ruled under a
council of regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
led by the bishops, his mother Jimena, and grandmother
Urraca Fernández
Urraca Fernández (died 1007) was queen of León and Navarre as the wife of two kings of León and one king of Navarre between 951 and 994. She acted as regent for her son Gonzalo in the County of Aragon in circa 996-997, and served as co-regent ...
.
Pyrenean politics
Sancho aspired to unify the Christian principalities in the face of the fragmentation of Muslim Spain into the
taifa
The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...
kingdoms following the
Battle of Calatañazor
The Battle of Calatañazor was a legendary battle of the ''Reconquista'' that supposedly took place in July 1002 in municipality Calatañazor in the province of Soria between an army of invading Saracens under Almanzor and a force of Christian al ...
. In about 1010 he married
Muniadona of Castile
Muniadona of Castile (1066), also called Mayor or Munia, was List of Navarrese consorts, Queen of Pamplona (10111035) by her marriage with King Sancho III of Pamplona, Sancho Garcés III, who later added to his domains the Counties of Ribagorza (10 ...
, daughter of
Sancho García of Castile
Sancho García (died 5 February 1017), called of the Good Laws (in Spanish, ''el de los Buenos Fueros''), was the count of Castile and Álava from 995 to his death.
Biography
Sancho was the son of count García Fernández and his wife Ava of Rib ...
, and in 1015 he began a policy of expansion. He displaced Muslim control in the depopulated former county of Sobrarbe. In Ribagorza, another opportunity arose. The 1010 partition of the county left it divided between William Isarn, illegitimate son of count Isarn, and
Raymond III of Pallars Jussà Raymond III (died 1047), called Ramon Sunyer (Spanish: ''Ramón Súñer''), was the first Count of Pallars Jussà (Lower Pallars) from 1011 until his death. He succeeded his father, Count Sunyer I of Pallars, who divided his county between his two ...
and his wife, Mayor García of Castile, who was both niece of Isarn and aunt of Sancho's wife. In 1018, William Isarn tried to solidify his control over the Arán valley, but was killed, and Sancho jumped on the opportunity to take his portion, presumably based on some loose claim derived from his wife. Raymond and Mayor annulled their marriage, creating a further division finally resolved in 1025 when Mayor retired to a Castilian convent and Sancho received the submission of Raymond as vassal. He also forced
Berengar Raymond I of Barcelona to become his vassal, though he was already a vassal of the
French king
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...
. Berengar met Sancho in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
and in Navarre many times to confer on a mutual policy against the
counts of Toulouse
The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings,
the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundin ...
.
Acquisition of Castile
![Reino de Pamplona Sancho III](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Reino_de_Pamplona_Sancho_III.svg)
In 1016, Sancho fixed the border between Navarre and Castile, part of the good relationship he established by marrying
Muniadona, daughter of
Sancho García of Castile
Sancho García (died 5 February 1017), called of the Good Laws (in Spanish, ''el de los Buenos Fueros''), was the count of Castile and Álava from 995 to his death.
Biography
Sancho was the son of count García Fernández and his wife Ava of Rib ...
. In 1017, he became the protector of Castile for the young
García Sánchez. However, relations between the three Christian entities of León, Castile, and Navarre soured after the assassination of Count García in 1027. He had been betrothed to Sancha, daughter of Alfonso V, who was set thus to gain from Castile lands between the rivers
Cea and
Pisuerga
The Pisuerga is a river in northern Spain, the Duero's second largest tributary. It rises in the Cantabrian Mountains in the province of Palencia, autonomous region of Castile and León.
Its traditional source is called Fuente Cobre, but it has b ...
(as the price for approving the marital pact). As García arrived in León for his wedding, he was killed by the sons of a noble he had expelled from his lands.
Sancho III had opposed the wedding and the expected expansion of Leonese power to Castile, and used García's death to reverse this. Using the pretext of the protectorship he had exercised over Castile, he immediately occupied the county and named as successor his own younger son
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, who was nephew of the deceased count, bringing it fully within his sphere of influence.
Gascon suzerainty
Sancho established relations with the
Duchy of Gascony
The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the m ...
, probably of a
suzerain
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...
–
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
nature, him being the suzerain. In consequence of his relationship with the monastery of
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 9 ...
, he improved the road from Gascony to León. This road would begin to bring increased traffic down to Iberia as pilgrims flocked to
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
. Because of this, Sancho ranks as one of the first great patrons of the
Saint James Way
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...
.
Sancho VI of Gascony Sancho VI William (Basque: ''Antso Gilen'', French: ''Sanche Guillaume'', Gascon: ''Sans Guilhem'', Spanish: ''Sancho Guillén'') (died 4 October 1032) was the Duke of Gascony from 1009 to his death. His reign is most notable for the renewal of Ga ...
was a relative of King Sancho and spent a portion of his life at the royal court in Pamplona. He also partook alongside Sancho the Great in the
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
. In 1010, the two Sanchos appeared together with
Robert II of France
Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty.
Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his ...
and
William V of Aquitaine
William the Great (french: Guillaume le Grand; 969 – 31 January 1030) was duke of Aquitaine (as ) and count of Poitou (as or III) from 990 until his death. Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Italy ...
, neither of whom was the Gascon duke's suzerain, at
Saint-Jean d'Angély Saint-Jean (French for Saint John) may refer to:
Places Belgium
* Sint-Jan, a borough of Ypres, sometimes referenced as ''Saint-Jean'' in a World War I-related context
Canada
*Lac Saint-Jean
*Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality
*L ...
. After Sancho VI's death in 1032, Sancho the Great extended his authority definitively into Gascony, where he began to mention his authority as extending as far as the
Garonne
The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna
or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...
in the documents issued by his chancery.
In southern Gascony, Sancho created a series of viscounties:
Labourd
Labourd ( eu, Lapurdi; la, Lapurdum; Gascon: ''Labord'') is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial c ...
(between 1021 and 1023),
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
(1025), and
Baztán (also 1025).
Acquisition of León
![Map Iberian Peninsula 1030-es](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Map_Iberian_Peninsula_1030-es.svg)
After the succession of
Bermudo III to León, Sancho negotiated the marriage of his son Ferdinand to Sancha, the former fiancée of García Sánchez and Bermudo's sister, and along with it a dowry that included disputed Leonese lands. Sancho was soon engaged in a full-scale war with León, and combined Castilian and Navarrese armies quickly overran much of Bermudo's kingdom, occupying
Astorga. By March 1033, he was king from
Zamora to the borders of Barcelona.
In 1034, even the city of
León, the ''imperiale culmen'' (imperial capital, as Sancho saw it), fell, and there Sancho had himself crowned again. This was the height of Sancho's rule which now extended from the borders of Galicia in the west to the county of Barcelona in the east. In 1035, he refounded the
diocese of Palencia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Palencia ( la, Palentin(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Palencia in the ecclesiastical province of Burgos, Spain. , which had been laid waste by the Moors. He gave the see and its several abbacies to Bernard, of French or Navarrese origin, to whom he also gave the secular lordship (as a ''feudum''), which included many castles in the region. However, he died on 18 October 1035 and was buried in the monastery of San Salvador de Oña, an enclave in Burgos, under the inscription ''Sancius, gratia Dei, Hispaniarum rex''.
Succession
Before his death in 1035, Sancho divided his possessions among his sons. Of the three surviving sons by Muniadona, the eldest,
García, had already appeared as ''regulus'' in Navarre, inheriting the kingdom including the
Basque country as well as exercising
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
over the kingdom's lands given to his brothers.
Gonzalo
Gonzalo may refer to:
* Gonzalo (name)
* Gonzalo, Dominican Republic, a small town
* Isla Gonzalo, a subantarctic island operated by the Chilean Navy
* Hurricane Gonzalo, 2014
See also
* Gonzalez (disambiguation)
* Gonzales (disambiguation)
* ...
had been placed in control of the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, which he would hold as ''regulus''.
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
had been given Castile on the death of
count García Sánchez in 1029, holding it first under his father and later of Vermudo III of León, before killing that king to take León and the royal title.
Ramiro
Ramiro is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Ramiro I of Asturias (c. 790–850), king of Asturias
* Ramiro II of León (c. 900–951), king of Leon
* Ramiro III of León (961–985), king of Leon
* ...
, the eldest but illegitimate son of Sancho by mistress Sancha of Aybar, was given property in the former county of Aragón with the provision that he should ask for no more lands of his brother García, under whom he first acted as ''
baiulus
A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
'' but from whom he later achieved ''de facto'' independence. Documents report two further sons, a second Ramiro and Bernard, but scholarship is divided on whether they were legitimate sons who died in youth, or if their appearance instead results from either scribal error or forgery. Sancho left two daughters, Mayor and Jimena, the former perhaps the wife of
Pons, Count of Toulouse
Pons (II) William (1019 – 1060) was the Count of Toulouse from 1037. He was the eldest son and successor of William III Taillefer and Emma of Provence. He thus inherited the title '' marchio Provincæ''. He is known to have owned many allod ...
, the latter wife of Vermudo III.
Legacy
![Don-sancho-el-mayor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Don-sancho-el-mayor.-rizzi..jpg)
Taking residence in
Nájera
Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the F ...
instead of the traditional capital of
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, as his realm grew larger, he considered himself a European monarch, establishing relations on the other side of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
.
He introduced French feudal theories and ecclesiastic and intellectual currents into Iberia. Through his close ties with the count of Barcelona and the duke of Gascony and his friendship with the monastic reformer Abbot Oliva, Sancho established relations with several of the leading figures north of the Pyrenees, most notably
Robert II of France
Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty.
Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his ...
,
William V of Aquitaine
William the Great (french: Guillaume le Grand; 969 – 31 January 1030) was duke of Aquitaine (as ) and count of Poitou (as or III) from 990 until his death. Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Italy ...
,
William II and Alduin II of Angoulême, and
Odo II of Blois and Champagne. It was through this circle that the
Cluniac reform
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
s first probably influenced his thinking. In 1024 a Navarrese monk, Paterno of San Juan de la Peña from
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 9 ...
, returned to Navarre and was made abbot of
San Juan de la Peña, where he instituted the Cluniac custom and founded thus the first Cluniac house in Iberia west of Catalonia, under the patronage of Sancho. The
Mozarabic rite continued to be practiced at San Juan, and the view that Sancho spread the Cluniac usage to other houses in his kingdom has been discredited by
Justo Pérez de Urbel
Justo Pérez Santiago (August 7, 1895 – 1979) later known as Fray Justo Pérez de Urbel y Santiago O.S.B. was a Spanish Roman Catholic clergyman (Order of Saint Benedict) and medievalist, first abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Cross of t ...
. Sancho sowed the seeds of the Cluniac reform and of the adoption of the
Roman rite
The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...
, but he did not widely enact them.
Sancho also began the Navarrese series of currency by minting what the
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
calls "
deniers of
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
influence." The division of his realm upon his death, the concepts of vassalage and suzerainty, and the use of the phrase "by the grace of God" (''Dei gratia'') after his title were imported from France, with which he tried to maintain relations. For this he has been called the "first Europeaniser of Iberia."
His most obvious legacy, however, was the temporary union of all Christian Iberia. At least nominally, he ruled over León, the ancient capital of the kingdom won from the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
in the eighth century, and Barcelona, the greatest of the
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
cities. Though he divided the realm at his death, thus creating the enduring legacy of Castilian and Aragonese kingdoms, he left all his lands in the hands of one dynasty, the
Jiménez, which kept the kingdoms allied by blood until the twelfth century. He made the Navarrese pocket kingdom strong, politically stable, and independent, preserving it for the remainder of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. It is for this that his seal has been appropriated by
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the poli ...
, though, by dividing the realm, he isolated the kingdom and inhibited its ability to gain land at the expense of the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s. Summed up, his reign defined the political geography of Iberia until its union under the
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
.
Titles
Throughout his long reign, Sancho used a myriad of titles. After his coronation in León, he styled himself ''rex Dei gratia Hispaniarum'', or "by the grace of God, king of the Spains", and may have minted coins with the legend "''NAIARA/
IMPERATOR
The Latin word ''imperator'' derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, label=none, meaning 'to order, to command'. It was originally employed as a title roughly equivalent to ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part o ...
''". The use of the first title implied his kingship over all the independently founded Iberian kingdoms and the use of the form ''Dei gratia'', adopted from French practice, stressed that his right to rule was of divine origin and sustenance. The latter, imperial title was only rarely employed, for it is not documented, being found only on coins only probably datable to his reign. It is not unlikely, however, that he desired to usurp the imperial title which the kings of León had thitherto carried.
Despite this, the contemporary ecclesiastic
Abbot Oliva
Oliba (; 971–1046) was the count of Berga and Ripoll (988–1002), and later abbot of the monasteries of Santa Maria de Ripoll and Sant Miquel de Cuixà (1008–1046) and the bishop of Vic (1018–1046). He is considered one of ...
only ever acknowledged Sancho as ''rex Ibericus'' or ''rex Navarrae Hispaniarum'', while he called both Alfonso V and Vermudo III emperor. The first title considers Sancho as king of all Iberia, as does the second, though it stresses his kingship over Navarre alone as if it had been extended to authority over the whole Christian portion of the peninsula. The near-contemporary writer
Ibn Bassam
Ibn Bassām or Ibn Bassām al-Shantarinī (; 1058-1147) was an Arab poet and historian from al-Andalus. He was born in Santarém (sometimes spelled Shantarin or Xantarin) and hailed from the Banu Taghlib tribe. He died in 1147.
Ibn Bassam descr ...
, besides highlighting his virtues, calls him Lord of the
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
.
Marriage and family
Sancho III was married to
Muniadona of Castile
Muniadona of Castile (1066), also called Mayor or Munia, was List of Navarrese consorts, Queen of Pamplona (10111035) by her marriage with King Sancho III of Pamplona, Sancho Garcés III, who later added to his domains the Counties of Ribagorza (10 ...
, daughter of
Sancho García of Castile
Sancho García (died 5 February 1017), called of the Good Laws (in Spanish, ''el de los Buenos Fueros''), was the count of Castile and Álava from 995 to his death.
Biography
Sancho was the son of count García Fernández and his wife Ava of Rib ...
, count of
Castile and
Álava
Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see.
Its ca ...
. They had the following children:
*
García Sánchez III, nicknamed "''the one from
Nájera
Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the F ...
''",
King of Pamplona
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state took ...
from 1035 until his death in 1054 and married to
Stephanie of Foix.
*
Fernando Sánchez, nicknamed "''the Great''", already Count of Castile, he became
King of León
In the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias (850–866), the kingdom began to be known as that of León. In 910, an independent Kingdom of León was founded when the king of Asturias divided his territory amongst his three sons.
Below follows a ...
from 1037 until his 1065 death, being
Emperor of all Spain
is a Latin title meaning "Emperor of All Spain". In Spain in the Middle Ages, the title "emperor" (from Latin ''imperator'') was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, but its usage peaked, as a formal and pract ...
from 1056, married to
Sancha of León
Sancha of León (8 November 1067) was a princess and queen of León. She was married to Ferdinand I, the Count of Castile who later became King of León after having killed Sancha's brother in battle. She and her husband commissioned the Crucifi ...
.
* Jimena Sánchez,
Queen consort of León
This is a list of the '' royal consort'' of the ''Kingdom of León''.
''It is, in part, a continuation of the list of Asturian royal consorts''.
Royal Consorts of León
House of Alfonso
House of Jiménez
House of Burgundy
Hous ...
by her marriage to
Bermudo III of León
Bermudo III or Vermudo III (c. 1015– 4 September 1037) was the king of León from 1028 until his death. He was a son of Alfonso V of León by his first wife Elvira Menéndez, and was the last scion of Peter of Cantabria to rule in the Leones ...
.
*
Gonzalo Sánchez, petty king of
Sobrarbe and Ribagorza.
Before marrying Muniadona of Castile, Sancho III had a son with Sancha of Aibar:
*
Ramiro Sánchez, initially receiving lands in Aragon, he would come to be viewed as the first
King of Aragon
This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...
after succeeding to his brother Gonzalo's lands, he died in 1063.
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
Sancho III el Mayor in Medieval History of NavarreMap of the division of Sancho's realm
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancho 03 of Navarre
990s births
1035 deaths
11th-century Navarrese monarchs
House of Jiménez
Medieval child rulers
11th-century people from the Kingdom of Pamplona