Sancho I (
flourished 1050–1096/1119) was the
count of Astarac from around 1060. He was the only son of
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
and inherited the entire county of Astarac, which had been reduced in area by partitioning among heirs in earlier generations. Sancho had at least three sons. His eldest, William, is mentioned in a document of about 1075, but died before his father. His second son, Bernard, then became his sole heir, since the youngest son, Odo (fl. 1090–1125), became a monk at
Simorre. The only information provided on Sancho by the ''Genealogia comitum Guasconiae'' (Genealogy of the Counts of Gascony) in the archives of the
cathedral of Sainte-Marie d'Auch is that "William begat Sancho
ndSancho begat Bernard." Sancho's wife is mentioned in a document from about 1075, but is not named.
Little is known of Sancho's rule other than his re-organisation of the monasteries of Astarac. Around 1050 he granted some rights he possessed in
Saint-Maur, as well as the monastery there, to the abbey of
Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre
Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre station has rail connections to Bayonne, Bordeaux, Tarbes and Pau.
See also
*Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
A ...
. Around 1075 he placed the monastery of
Sainte-Dode, which had been founded by his father, under the authority of Simorre. About the same time he also donated the monastery of
Saramon to that of
Sorèze
Sorèze (; oc, Sorese ca, Sorese) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.
See also
* Communes of the Tarn department
The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France.
The communes cooperate i ...
.
Between 1100 and 1110 Sancho, joined by his son Bernard and several other lords, donated land at
Fonsorbes along with some other rights and revenues to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the
Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem:
:''Incipit carta de illo honore qui dicitur Fonsorbas, quem dedit Sancius Astarencis Comes, dimidiam, videlicet, partem quam ipse habebat in ipso allodio, totum dedit Deo et Sancto Sepulcro, pro se et filius ejus Bernardus''.
:Here begins the charter of this fief called Fonsorbes, of which Count Sancho of Astarac gave half, that is, the part which he held as an
allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod ( Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodiu ...
, all to God and the Holy Sepulchre, for himself and his son Bernard.
A certain Arnaud of Astarac joined Sancho on this occasion and donated
Salvetat de Sainte-Foye to the Holy Sepulchre. His parentage is not mentioned, but he was probably a relative of Sancho. The charter of donation was witnessed by
Raymond II de Pardiac, who was the
archbishop of Auch
The Archdiocese of Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Auxitana-Condomiensis-Lectoriensis-Lomberiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez''), more commonly known as the Archdiocese of Auch, is a Latin Church ...
from 1096 to 1118/9. Nicolas Guinaudeau dates it to around 1096, but
Helen Nicholson places it after the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
(1096–99), when the Holy Sepulchre came under Christian control.
Notes
Sources
vol. Ian
vol. II*
*
{{refend
11th-century births
Year of death unknown
Counts of Astarac