| History |
Sancho II Garcés \'Abarca\' was born after 935, the son of Garcia Sánchez I, king of Navarre, and his first wife Andregota Galindez, condesa de Aragón. After his succession in 970 he recognised his younger half-brother Ramiro as king of Viguera, the small kingdom carved out for Ramiro by their father.
About 962 Sancho married Urraca Fernández, daughter of Fernan González, conde de Lara, conde de Castilla, and Sancha Sanchez de Navarre, who was Sancho\'s aunt on his father\'s side. Before 950 Urraca had been married twice previously, to Ordoño III and Ordoño IV of León. Sancho was her third and last husband. They had three children, Garcia IV Sanchez \'el Tremblón\', Ramiro, and Gonzalo. Sancho also had, by an unknown mistress, an illegitimate daughter Abda/Urraca (known as \'la Vascona\'). Garcia IV Sanchez and Abda would have progeny.
The _Historia General de Navarra_ by Jaime del Burgo says (referencing in turn the _Anales del Reino de Navarra_ of José de Moret) that on the occasion of the donation of the villa of Alastue by Sancho to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña in 987, he titled himself \'King of Navarre,\' the first time that title had been used. In other places he appears as the first king of Aragón and in others the third. These titles, however, did not come into common usage until the late eleventh century. The epithet \'Abarca\', meaning \'sandal\', is medieval.
Under Sancho and his immediate successors, Navarre reached the height of its power and its largest size. During this period it was united to the kingdom of León and the county of Castile by familial bonds. The Navarrese monarchy supported the young Ramiro II when he secured the throne of León. Upon the death of the Caliph of Córdoba, Al-Hakam II, in 976, and the succession of his son Hisham II, who had been taught by Abu Amir Muhammed Ibn Abi \'al-Mansur\', the prospects of the Christian kingdoms seemed dim. The troops of Al-Mansur defeated the Christians at Torrevicente south of Soria. Afterwards the Muslims returned to triumph at Taracueña, near Osma. In 975 Sancho was defeated by the Moors at San Esteban de Gormaz, and in 981 at Rueda, a dozen kilometres from Tordesillas, the Christians suffered another humiliating defeat.
Because he could not defeat Al-Mansur by arms, Sancho went to Córdoba as an ambassador for his own kingdom, bringing many gifts for the victorious Al-Mansur, making a pact with him and agreeing to give the Muslim his daughter Abda in marriage. From this union was born Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo, the second successor of Al-Mansur who tried to usurp the caliphate of Córdoba from the Umayyad heir.
In 972 Sancho founded the monastery of San Andrés de Cirueña. In 976, at the monastery of Albelda, the cultural and intellectual centre of his kingdom, the _Codex Vigilanus_ was completed. It is one of the most important illuminated manuscripts of medieval Spain, containing the canons of the Councils of Toledo, a copy of the _Liber Iudiciorum,_ and the first Western representation of the Arabic numerals, among many other texts. [1] |
Ellie Wood Keith Genealogy
Aft 935 - 994 (~ 58 years)