Imperator totius Hispaniae
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The title of Imperator (totius) Hispaniae (Latin for Emperor of [All] Spain) was borne, traditionally, by the monarchs of León, from at least the tenth century. It was used, somewhat sporadically, in the following two centuries as the kings of the various kingdoms of Christian Iberia fought for supremacy and for the imperiale culmen, León. Notice that, before the emergence of the modern country of Spain (beginning with the union of Castile and Aragon in 1492), the Latin word Hispania, in any of the Iberian Romance languages, either in singular or plural forms (in English: Spain or Spains), was used to refer to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, and not exclusively, as in modern usage, to the country of Spain, thus excluding Portugal.
In the first decades of the eleventh century, the Catalan Abbot Oliva referred to the kings of León, Alfonso V and Bermudo III, as imperatores. In 1034, however, the city of León was conquered by Sancho III of Navarre, known as "the Great", and he began to refer to himself as rex Hispaniarum — "King of the Spains" — a style which implied his overlordship over all the Iberian domains. He even minted coins bearing the imperial title, which he undoubtedly aspired too and almost certainly used. He divided the kingdom upon his death, and the title fell into abeyance.
In 1054 upon the death of Sancho's eldest son García V of Navarre, his second son, Ferdinand I of León, gained a position of preeminence and in 1056 had himself crowned "Emperor of Spain". The title again fell into abeyance when, like his father, he divided his kingdom and his heirs disputed the inheritance, but in 1077 his second son, Alfonso VI, having reunified his father's holdings, crowned himself "Emperor of All Spain". He married his daughter and heiress, Urraca, to Alfonso the Battler, the king of Navarre and Aragon, and the Battler began to use the title after his death in 1109. The Aragonese king, though he controlled Castile through his marriage, never had possession of León, though he had the undoubted supremacy of the Christian rulers of Iberia during his tenure.
Alfonso the Battler died in 1134. In 1135, Alfonso VII of León was crowned "Emperor of All the Spains" in the Cathedral of León. He tried his mightiest to justify his title through patronage of the church and success in the Reconquista, and through annexing to his suzerainty his neighbouring kings, so much so that he has gone down in history with the sobriquet the Emperor, but his reign ended in the division of his realm and the imperial title fell out of use permanently.
