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Sancho II (1036/1038 – 7 October 1072), called the Strong (''el Fuerte''), was
King of Castile This is a list of kings regnant and queens regnant of the Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts. Kings and Queens of Castile Jiménez dynasty House of Ivrea / Burgundy ...
(1065–72), Galicia (1071–72) and León (1072).


Family

Born at Zamora, Sancho was the eldest son of
Ferdinand the Great 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 ...
and
Sancha of León Sancha of León (8 November 1067) was ''infanta'' and queen of León. She was married to Ferdinand I, the Count of Castile who later became King of León after having killed Sancha's brother in battle. She and her husband commissioned the Cru ...
. He was married to
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, known by name only from her appearance as Sancho's wife in contemporary charters. Chronicler
William of Poitiers William of Poitiers (, ; 10201090) was a Norman priest who served as the chaplain of Duke William II of Normandy (William the Conqueror), for whom he chronicled the Norman conquest of England in his ''Gesta Willelmi ducis Normannorum et regis ...
related that competition for the hand of a daughter of William I, King of England led to strife between two sons of Ferdinand I, and some historians have thus speculated that Sancho's wife, with her non-Iberian name, may have been the daughter in question. However, two later Norman chroniclers report that it was Alfonso VI's betrothed, and not Sancho's wife Alberta, who was William's daughter. After Ferdinand the Great defeated and killed his wife's brother in battle, he was crowned King of León and Castile and called himself ''
Imperator totius Hispaniae is a Latin title meaning "Emperor of All Spain". In Spain in the Middle Ages, the title "emperor" (from Latin ''imperator'') was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, but its usage peaked, as a formal and practi ...
'' ("Emperor of all of Spain"). When the kingdom was divided following Ferdinand's death in 1065, Sancho succeeded his father as King of Castile, while Sancho's younger brother
Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...
become King of León and his youngest brother García became king of the reestablished Kingdom of Galicia (partitioned from León). Each of the brothers was also assigned a sphere of influence among the
Taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...
states, with Sancho designated to receive the ''
parias In medieval Spain, ''parias'' (from medieval Latin ''pariāre'', "to make equal n account, i.e. pay) were a form of tribute paid by the ''taifas'' of al-Andalus to the Christian kingdoms of the north. ''Parias'' dominated relations between the ...
'' (tributary payments) from the
Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent Arab Muslim state in the east of Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) with its capital in Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. It was established in the early 11th century as one of the many Taifa kingdoms that foll ...
. Ferdinand also granted some holdings to his two daughters, giving Urraca control of the city of Zamora and
Elvira Elvira is a female given name. It is believed to have first been recorded in medieval Spain, while other sources claim that it is likely of Germanic ( Gothic) origin. In the Balkans, Elvira is popular among Bosniaks, Croats, and Slovenes in the ...
the city of
Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...
, both enclaved within Alfonso's Kingdom of León.


Reign

In 1068, Sancho defeated his cousins
Sancho IV of Navarre Sancho Garcés IV (; 1039 – 4 June 1076),Sancho IV, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. nicknamed Sancho of Peñalén (, ) was King of Pamplona from 1054 until his death. He was the eldest son of García Sánchez III and his wife, Stephanie, and ...
and Sancho of Aragon in the War of the Three Sanchos. This expanded his Kingdom of Castile with the reconquered land of
Bureba La Bureba is a ''Comarcas of Castile and León, comarca'' located in the northeast of the Province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is bounded on the north by Las Merindades, east by the Comarca del Ebro, south- ...
, Alta Rioja, and
Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...
, which his father had given to Sancho IV's father, García, for his support in defeating
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 ...
. The same year, Alfonso invaded the
Taifa of Badajoz The Taifa of Badajoz (from ) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Spain.client state A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...
of his brother Garcia's Kingdom of Galicia. Sancho, concerned that Alfonso had intentions on conquering his brothers, defeated Alfonso at the Battle of Llantada, reinstating the status quo. Sancho would develop his own appetite for his youngest brother's kingdom: teaming up with Alfonso in 1071, Sancho marched across León to conquer García's northern lands at the time that Alfonso was in the southern part of the Galician realm issuing charters. García fled to exile in the
Taifa of Seville The Taifa of Seville ( ''Ta'ifat-u Ishbiliyyah'') was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Calipha ...
, while his older brothers partitioned the Kingdom of Galicia between them. Sancho soon turned on Alfonso. In 1072, with the aid of his ''
alférez In medieval Iberia, an ''alférez'' (, ) or ''alferes'' (, ) was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate. The term is derived from the Arabic ('' al-fāris''), meaning "knight" or "cavalier", and it was commonly Latinised ...
''
El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve i ...
, at the Battle of Golpejera, he defeated Alfonso, who fled into exile in the
Taifa of Toledo The Taifa of Toledo () was an Islamic polity (''taifa'') located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula in the High Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Dhulnunids, a Hawwara Berber clan. It emerged after 1018 upon the fracturing of the Caliphate of ...
. Sancho was crowned King of León on 12 January 1072, holding all three crowns that Ferdinand had distributed to his sons only six years earlier. Toro, the city of Sancho's sister Elvira, fell easily in 1072. Sancho was stalled in a siege of his sister Urraca's better-defended city, Zamora.


Death

A Zamoran noble, Vellido Adolfo (also known as Bellido Dolfos), entered Sancho's camp pretending to be a deserter and assassinated him.''“The entire subject of the murder of Sancho Il is most unclear in the literature of the times. It is difficult not to suspect the infanta Urraca of having arranged it, but there is no real evidence that she did. Even the name of the assassin, "Velliti Ariulfi," is completely unknown to the documents.” The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031 - 1157 by Bernard F. Reilly pg. 42'' Vellido was chased back to Zamora by El Cid, but escaped into the town through a gateway since called ''Portillo del Traidor'' ("Gateway of the Traitor"). Sancho was succeeded in his kingdoms by the brother he had previously deposed, Alfonso. García, induced to return from exile, was deceived by Alfonso and imprisoned for life, leaving Alfonso in uncontested control of the reunited territories of their father, later taking on their father's title "Emperor of all Spain". Sancho was buried in San Salvador de Oña.


Notes


Sources

* ''Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia'', ed. E. Michael Gerli, Routledge, 2003. * Milo Kearney and Manuel Medrano, ''Medieval Culture and the Mexican American Borderlands'', Texas A&M University Press, 2001. * Bernard F. Reilly, 1988
''The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065–1109''.
Princeton: Princeton University Press. * Bernard F. Reilly, ''The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, 1031-1157'', Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 1995. * Jaime de Salazar y Acha, 1992–1993. "Contribución al estudio del reinado de Alfonso VI de Castilla: algunas aclaraciones sobre su política matrimonial", ''Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía'', vol. 2, pp. 299–336. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sancho 02 of Leon and Castile 1030s births Year of birth uncertain 1072 deaths 11th-century Castilian monarchs Assassinated Spanish politicians 11th-century murdered monarchs 11th-century Leonese monarchs Leonese infantes 11th-century Galician monarchs Sons of emperors