Sancho of Aragon ( – March 1416) was an Aragonese ''

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

'' (royal prince) and the grand master of the

Order of Alcántara The Order of Alcántara ( Leonese: ''Orde de Alcántara'', es, Orden de Alcántara), also called the Knights of St. Julian, was originally a military order of León, founded in 1166 and confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1177. Alcántara Alc ...

from 1409. Sancho was born around 1399/1400Joseph F. O'Callaghan, ''The Last Crusade in the West: Castile and the Conquest of Granada'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), pp. 54–55. or 1401.Vicente Ángel Álvarez Palenzuela
"Aragón, Sancho de"
''Diccionario biográfico español'' (Real Academia de la Historia, 2018). He was the fourth son of Ferdinand of Trastámara, the future king of Aragon, and

Eleanor of Alburquerque Eleanor, 3rd Countess of Alburquerque (1374 – 16 December 1435) was Queen of Aragon by her marriage to Ferdinand I of Aragon. In Spanish, she is known as ''Leonor Urraca de Castilla, condesa de Alburquerque''. She was the regent of Aragon ...

. Ferdinand envisaged his children as a powerful bloc of supporters and future co-rulers and made sure they received an education commensurate with their foreseen role. Ferdinand at first intended to have Sancho appointed

archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, following the death of Pedro Tenorio in 1399. This was strongly opposed by

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

and

Henry III of Castile Henry III of Castile (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), called the Suffering due to his ill health (, ), was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon. He succeeded his father as King of Castile in 1390. Birth and education Henry was born ...

. Ferdinand acquiesced in the appointment of Benedict's nephew, Pedro de Luna, as archbishop in 1407 and in return Benedict granted a dispensation allowing the child Sancho to be elected to succeed Fernando Rodríguez de Villalobos as master of Alcántara in 1408. As part of the agreement, the income of Sancho's office would go towards Ferdinand's ''

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 ...

'' until the child came of age. Sancho was formally received as grand master in the convent of San Pable de Valladolid on 23 January 1409. Owing to his young age, he did not run the order himself. His tenure is associated with major changes to its constitution, particularly the ''Definiciones'', published at

Ayllón Ayllón () is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2019 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 1,196 inhabitants. In 1411 a treaty, known as the Treaty of Ayllón, was signed ...

in 1411. When his father became king of Aragon through the

Compromise of Caspe The 1412 Compromise of Caspe (''Compromís de Casp'' in Catalan) was an act and resolution of parliamentary representatives of the constituent realms of the Crown of Aragon (the Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Valencia, and Principality of Catal ...

of 1412, Sancho moved with the new royal court to Aragon. His presence can be traced at his father's coronation 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 ...

(11 February 1414); at the send-off of his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

in Jávea (March 1415); and at the wedding of his brother, the future Alfonso V, to

Maria of Castile Maria of Castile (14 November 1401 – 4 September 1458) was Queen of Aragon and Naples as the spouse of Alfonso V of Aragon. Maria acted as the regent of Aragon during the reign of her spouse, as he was absent during most of his reign; her reg ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

(12 June 1415). He then left the court to return to Castile and take up his role as master of Alcántara, but he died en route at

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...

. His mother, who was with him, informed his father in a letter. Alfonso received the news and kept it from Ferdinand, who was very ill. Alfonso held a funeral service for Sancho at

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

on 14 March 1416.

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