PAMPLONA Sancho Garcés

Abt 0940 - 0994  (54 years)

• Name	PAMPLONA Sancho Garcés
  Birth	Abt 0940	reino de Pamplona
  Gender	Male
  Death	Dec 0994	reino de Pamplona
  Notes	Sancho II Garcés was the only child of Garcia III Sanchez, King in Pamplona and his first wife, Andregoto Galindez daughter and heir of Galindo II Aznarez, Count in Aragon. She was repudiated by her husband in 942.[1] He was born about 940 but first mentioned in any document in 943.[1] He is given the nickname Abarca but this may not have been used in the medieval period.[1] He succeeded his father as King of Pamplona and Aragon in 970 and made his younger half-brother Ramiro Garces as sub-king (regulo) in Viguera in 972.[1] Sancho II married circa 962 (and definitely before 10 December 970), Urraca Fernandez, born about 936, the daughter of Fernan Gonzalez Count of Castile and Alava and Sancha, Infanta of Pamplona. Sancho II was Urraca's third husband she was previously the widow of Ordono III king of Leon, and the divorced wife of Ordono IV, King of Leon. They had three sons;[1] Garcia IV Sanchez, who succeeded his father as King of Pamplona; Infante Ramiro Sanchez, born circa 968, succeeded as sub-king in Aragon; Infante Gonzalo Sanchez, born circa 970, also sub-king in Aragon Sancho also had an illegitimate daughter;[1] Abda 'la vascona' born circa 965 and married about 981 to Abu Amir Ibn Abi Almanzor, prime minister (hagib) of the Caliphate of Cordoba, who died in Medinaceli 10 August 1002. They had issue. Sancho II Garces died 25 December 994, and was buried in sepulchre in San Esteban de Deio, Monjardin.[1] Research Notes Other children Charles Cawley in the Medieval Lands database names three other children, a son and two daughters, of Sancho II Garces, and his wife Urraca Fernandez de Aragon based on the Libro de Regla of Leire Monastery, compiled in 1076[2] but they aren't mentioned in the work by Salazar y Acha, and the Libro de Regla is not contemporary and they presumably don't appear in any other records. These children are; Fernando Sanchez Mayor Sanchez Jimena Sanchez Old Biography still need to see if any information needs to be in current biography. Sancho married Urraca, the daughter of the Castilian count Fernán González and Sancha, Sancho's aunt. The marriage occurred after 962 and before 970. Before 950, Urraca had been married twice previously, to Ordoño III and Ordoño IV of León, from both of whom she separated. Sancho was her third and last husband. Their children were: García Sánchez II Ramiro (died 992) Gonzalo, was given the county of Aragon under the regency of his mother Urraca (Abda) the Basque, given to Al-Mansur before entering a convent[3]. 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 Aragon 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 not contemporary, but is medieval. Under Sancho and his immediate successors, Navarre reached the height of its power and its largest size. During this period, the Navarre 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 Cordoba, Al-Hakam II, in 976, and the succession of his son Hisham II, who had been taught by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, 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 kilometers 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 Urraca 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, he 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. Sources ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Salazar y Acha, Jaime de, Las dinastías reales de España en la Edad Media (Madrid : Real Academia de la Historia, 2021). pp. 93, 95-6. Electronic edition, Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, https://www.boe.es/biblioteca_juridica/publicacion.php?id=PUB-DH-2021-233 : accessed 12 May 2022. ↑ Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Hosted online by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), accessed 2024, Kings of Navarre. ↑ From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancho_I I_of_Navarre
  Person ID	I59921	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	PAMPLONA García Sánchez,   b. Abt 0919, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain d. 13 Nov 0970, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain (Age 51 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	ARAGÓN Andregoto Galíndez,   b. 0919, Aragón, Spain d. Dec 0972, Pamplona, Navarra, Navarra, Spain (Age ~ 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F26604	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	CASTILLA Urraca Fernández,   b. Abt 0930, Lara de los Infantes, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain d. Aft 1007, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain (Age > 78 years)
  Marriage	0970
  Children	1. PAMPLONA García Sánchez,   b. 0964, Pamplona, Navarra, Navarra, Spain d. Bef 1004, Atapuerca, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain (Age ~ 39 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26602	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026