Stephanie or Estefania (died after 1066) was the

Queen consort of Navarre This is a list of those men and women who have been royal consorts of the Kingdom of Navarre. Because the laws of Navarre did not prohibit women from inheriting the crown, on a number of occasions, the Kingdom was inherited or transmitted via heir ...

by marriage to

García Sánchez III of Navarre 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 Pampl ...

. Early chroniclers are in conflict over her parentage. SantaMaríaLaRealDeNájera20100101223933SAM 2696

Origins

Parentage

Stephanie was born at an unknown date, and is first recorded as wife of García in a document dated 1038/40. There are two theories concerning Stephanie's parentage. The first is that she was the daughter of

Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona Berenguer Ramon I ''Berengar Raymond I(1005 – 26 May 1035), called the Crooked or the Hunchback (in Latin ''curvus''; in Catalan ''el Corbat''; in Spanish ''el Corvado'' or ''el Curvo''), was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1018 ...

. Another theory is Stephanie was the daughter of

Bernard-Roger, Count of Bigorre Bernard Roger ( – ) was the count of Couserans, in which capacity he was lord of parts of Comminges and Foix. Life Bernard Roger was the son of count Roger I of Carcassonne and Adelaide de Melgueil. His elder brother, Raymond I of Carcasso ...

and his wife Garsenda.

Possible first marriage

There are other hints, besides the dubious account of the ''Chronicle of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif'', to an earlier marriage by Stephanie. ''Histoire Générale de Languedoc'', giving no quote or source reference, reports the existence of a 1036 marriage contract attributed to Stephanie. An episode related in the ''Chronica Naierensis'' tells that a daughter of queen Stephanie by a prior husband was promised as wife to

Sancho II of Castile 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/ ...

, but she was abducted and married by an illegitimate son of García. Jaime de Salazar y Acha suggests that this represents the authentic account of the marriage of García's bastard son,

Sancho Garcés, Lord of Uncastillo Sancho Garcés ( c. 1038 – 6 January 1083) was an illegitimate son of King García Sánchez III of Pamplona and first cousin of King Alfonso VI of León. Lord of Uncastillo and Sangüesa, he was the father of Ramiro Sánchez whose son García ...

, to his wife Constanza, though traditional accounts give her different parentage. He recognizes the problem with identifying the father with Roger I of Tosny and follows an alternative reconstruction that would make the Iberian crusader a distinct Roger de Tosny, nephew of Roger I.

Issue

Stephanie had the following children by García: * Sancho IV "El de Peñalén", king of Navarre, married Placencia *

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 * ...

(d.1083), lord of Calahorra *Ferdinand Garcés, lord of Bucesta *Raymond Garcés "the Fratricide" (Ramón el Fratricida), lord of Murillo and Cameros *Ermesinda Garcés, married Fortún Sánchez de Yarnoz *Mayor Garcés *Urraca Garcés (d.1108), married Castilian count

García Ordóñez García Ordóñez (died 29 May 1108), called de Nájera or de Cabra and Crispus or el Crespo de Grañón in the epic literature, was a Castilian magnate who ruled the Rioja, with his seat at Nájera, from 1080 until his death. He is famous in lit ...

*JimenaAppears for the last time on 27 May 1085 at the

Monastery of Santa María la Real of Najera A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

confirming a donation made by her brother Ramiro. She may also have been mother by an earlier marriage, perhaps to

Roger Ι of Tosny Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

, of: *Constanza, wife of

References

Sources

* *{{cite book , title=Agnes through the Looking Glass, Parts I, II & III , first=Donald C. , last=Jackman , publisher=Editions Enplage , year=2019 Navarrese royal consorts Burials at the Monastery of Santa María la Real of Nájera 11th-century Spanish women 11th-century people from the Kingdom of Pamplona Queen mothers