Sancho Ramírez succeeded his father as secondKing of Aragon in 1063.[1] Between 1067 and 1068, theWar of the Three Sanchos involved him in a conflict with his first cousins, both also named Sancho:Sancho IV theking of Navarre andSancho II theking of Castile, respectively. The Castilian Sancho was trying to retakeBureba andAlta Rioja, which his father had given away to the king of Navarre and failed to retake. The Navarrese Sancho begged the aid of the Aragonese Sancho to defend his kingdom. Sancho of Castile defeated the two cousins and retook both Bureba and Alta Rioja, as well asÁlava.
Sancho Ramírez followed his father's practice, not using the royal title early in his reign even though his state had become fully independent. This changed in 1076, whenSancho IV of Navarre was murdered by his own siblings, thus prompting a succession crisis in this neighboring kingdom that represented Aragon's nominal overlord.[2] At first, the murdered king's young son, García, who had fled toCastile, was recognized as titular king byAlfonso VI, while Sancho Ramírez recruited to his side noblemen of Navarre who resented their kingdom falling under Alfonso's influence. The crisis was resolved by partition. Sancho Ramírez was elected King of Navarre, while he ceded previously contested western provinces of the kingdom to Alfonso. From this time, Sancho referred to himself as king not only of Aragon but also Navarre.
Sanchoconquered Barbastro in 1064,Graus in 1083, andMonzón in 1089. He was defeated byEl Cid, who was raiding his lands and those of his Muslim allies, at theBattle of Morella, probably in 1084.[3] He perished in 1094 at the battle of Huesca.[4]
Sancho contracted his first marriage inc. 1065, toIsabella (diedc. 1071), daughter of CountArmengol III of Urgel. They were divorced 1071. His second marriage, in 1076, was withFelicia (died 3 May 1123), daughter ofHilduin IV, Count of Montdidier. A third marriage—toPhilippa of Toulouse—is sometimes given,[5] but contemporary evidence records him as still married to Felicia at the time of his death.[6] He was father of four sons: by Isabella, he hadPeter, his successor; by Felicia he had Ferdinand, who was alive in 1086 but died within the next decade,Alfonso, who succeeded Peter, andRamiro, who succeeded Alfonso.[7]
^Richard, Alfred,Histoire de Comtes de Poitou, 778–1204
^Szabolcs de VAJAY, "Ramire II le Moine, roi d'Aragon et Agnes de Poitou dans l'histoire et la légende", inMélanges offerts à René Crozet, 2 vol, Poitiers, 1966, vol 2, p 727-750; and Ruth E Harvey, "The wives of the first troubadour Duke William IX of Aquitaine", inJournal of Medieval History, vol 19, 1993, p 315. Harvey states that, contrary to prior assumptions, William IX was certainly Philippa of Toulouse's only husband. Vajay states that the marriage to an unnamed king of Aragon reported by a non-contemporary chronicler is imaginary, even though it has appeared broadly in modern histories, and likewise he cites J de Salarrullana de Dios,Documentos correspondientes al reinado de Sancho Ramirez, Saragossa, 1907, vol I, nr 51, p 204-207 to document that Felicia was clearly still married to Sancho months before his death, making the marriage to Philippa several years earlier, as reported in several modern popular biographies of her granddaughter, completely unsupportable.
^An origin legend of the house of Ayala gives him another son,Vela or Velasgutto de Ayala, by a Barcelonan lady. An alternative version makes the father Ramiro I. This story is without solid foundation, and may represent a confused memory of a feudal relationship withSancho Ramírez of Viguera and his Vela clan vassals.
Barton, Simon (1997).The Aristocracy in Twelfth-Century León and Castile. Cambridge University Press.
Brundage, James A. (1998). "Force and Fear: A Marriage Case from Eleventh-Century Aragon". In Kagay, Donald J.; Vann, Theresa M. (eds.).On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O'Callaghan. Vol. 19. Brill.
Buesa Conde, Domingo (1996).Sancho Ramírez, rey de aragoneses y pamploneses (1064–1094). Zaragoza: Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja.
Canellas López, Ángel (1993).Colección diplomática de Sancho Ramírez. Zaragoza: Real Sociedad Económica Aragonesa de Amigos del País.
Guenée, Bernard (1978). "Les généalogies entre l'histoire et la politique: la fierté d'être Capétien, en France, au Moyen Age".Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales (in French). 33e Année, No. 3 (May - Jun.) (3):450–477.doi:10.3406/ahess.1978.293943.
Lapeña Paúl, Ana Isabel (2004).Sancho Ramírez, rey de Aragón (¿1064?–1094) y rey de Navarra (1076–1094). Gijón: Ediciones Trea.
Makki, Mahmoud (1994). "The Political History of al-Andalus (92/711-897/1492)". In Jayyusi, Salma Khadra (ed.).The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Brill.
Mann, Janice (2009).Romanesque Architecture and Its Sculptural Decoration in Christian Spain, 1000-1120: Exploring Frontiers and Defining Identities. University of Toronto Press.
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