Sancha Garcia was

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

of the royal monastery

Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas The Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located approximately 1.5 km west of the city of Burgos in Spain. The word ''huelgas'', which usually refers to "labour strikes" in modern Spanish, refers i ...

from 1207 to 1229/30. The monastery had from the 13th century two authorities, the abbess for religious matters, and a female member of the royal family to administrate secular matters, especially regarding the relations between the monastery and the court and other donors. Sancha Garcia was the second abbess, succeeding Dona Misol. She has been described as "one of the last truly powerful abbesses in Medieval Europe", who was the head of the convent and several monasteries, and who performed functions reserved for priests, such as hearing confession.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Sancha 13th-century Christian nuns Spanish Christian abbesses 13th-century Castilians 13th-century Spanish women