García Sánchez (died 1029) was the last independent count of Castile from 1017 to his death. Son of Sancho García and his wife Urraca, he succeeded his father when he was only a boy. During his minority the post of

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

was held by several Castilian magnates and Urraca,

Abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

of Covarrubias, the young count's aunt. The county fell under the protection of his brother-in-law, King

Sancho III of Pamplona Sancho Garcés III ( 992–996 – 18 October 1035), also known as Sancho the Great (, ), was the Kingdom of Pamplona, King of Pamplona from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the County of Aragon and by marriage the counties of County o ...

(Sancho the Great). He reached his majority in 1028 and the next year travelled to León to marry '' Infanta'' Sancha, sister of

Bermudo III of León Bermudo III or Vermudo III ( 1015– 4 September 1037) was the king of León from 1028 until his death. He was a son of Alfonso V of León by his first wife Elvira Menéndez (died 1022), Elvira Menéndez, and was the last Astur-Leonese dynasty, s ...

. However, as he was entering the church of John the Baptist for the ceremony, he was assassinated by a pair of exiled Castilian noblemen, the brothers Rodrigo Vela and Íñigo Vela.Bernard F. Reilly, ''The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, 1031-1157'', (Blackwell, 1995), 26. The countship was assigned to his nephew

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

, younger son of his sister Muniadona and her husband Sancho the Great, who then married García's intended wife, Sancha.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Ii Of Castile 1029 deaths Assassinated Spanish people 11th-century nobility from the Kingdom of León People murdered in Spain Year of birth unknown House of Beni Mamaduna Counts of Castile