Sancho IV Garcés (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Antzo Gartzia'', Gascon: ''Sans Gassia'' French: ''Sanche''; died 950 or 955) was the

duke 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 ...

from 930 until his death. During his tenure, Gascony shrank considerably as his brothers inherited important regions and the ''de facto'' and perhaps ''de jure'' independent duchy slipped into historical near-oblivion. He is mentioned in the

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of Auch, as a son of García Sánchez, and the ''

Códice de Roda The ''Códice de Roda'' or ''Códice de Meyá'' (Roda or Meyá codex) is a medieval manuscript that represents a unique source for details of the 9th and early 10th century Kingdom of Navarre and neighbouring principalities. It is currently held ...

'', which mentions him as the heir of Gascony. On his father's death, he inherited the duchy itself, which included the viscounties of Lomagen, Gavarret,

Tursan Tursan, first a Vin délimité de qualité supérieure (VDQS) for wine in South West France since 1958 (decree of 11 July 1958, last modified 26 February 2003), has been granted AOC status in 2011. Presentation Its production zone covers potent ...

, and Bruillois. His younger brothers,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Arnold, inherited Fézensac (including

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

) and Astarac respectively with the comital title. Thus was Gascony divided and diminished. In 932, Flodoard records that the brothers

Ermengol of Rouergue Ermengol (or Ermengaud) (870-937) was a son of Odo of Toulouse and Garsindis. His father gave him the County of Rouergue and Quercy in 906 and he governed it to his death. His brother was Raymond II of Toulouse and together they governed the vast ...

and

Raymond Pons of Toulouse Raymond Pons (''Regimundus Pontio''; died after 944), who may be numbered Raymond III or Pons I,He has traditionally been called Raymond III, but with the discovery of at least one and perhaps two additional Raymonds, this numerical designation is u ...

, Princes of Gothia, brought a "Lupus Aznar Vasco" with them to do homage to

Rudolph of France Rudolph (french: Rodolphe), sometimes called Ralph (; c. 890 – 14/15 January 936), was the king of France from 923 until his death in 936. He was elected to succeed his father-in-law, Robert I, and spent much of his reign defending his realm fr ...

. Lewis considers this "Vasco" to be the duke of Gascony and calls him "Sánchez." The duke meant, however, would be Sancho. Sancho had two illegitimate sons,Cartulary of Auch.

Sancho 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/ ...

, who later succeeded him, and

, who likewise succeeded his childless brother. A third son was

Gombald Gundobald or Gombald (died after 998) was the Archbishop of Bordeaux from 989 to his death. He was the ''episcopus Gasconum'', bishop of the Gascons, from 978, holding the episcopal dignity in all the Gascon sees. He was the third son of Sancho I ...

, a noted pluralist bishop, who held the various sees of Gascony as one until being reappointed to the long-vacant

archdiocese of Bordeaux The Archdiocese of Bordeaux (–Bazas) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Burdigalensis (–Bazensis)''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bordeaux (–Bazas)''; Occitan: ''Archidiocèsi de Bordèu (–Vasats)'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or a ...

. A fourth son Udalrich or Odulric is attested in charters; probably all were bastards.

Notes

Sources

*Lewis, Archibald R.
The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
'. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965.
Monlezun, Jean Justin. ''Histoire de la Gascogne''. 1846.
*Collins, Roger. ''The Basques''. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990. Dukes of Gascony 950s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain {{Europe-noble-stub