Sancho II of Pamplona

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Sancho, centred, flanked by his queen, Urraca, left, and his brother, Ramiro, right.
From the Codex Vigilanus.

Sancho II Garcés Abarca (after 935 – December 994) was the Jiménez King of Pamplona and Count of Aragon from 970 until his death. He was the son of García Sánchez I and Andregota, daughter and heiress of Galindo Aznárez II, Count of Aragon. After his succession, he recognised his younger brother Ramiro as King of Viguera.

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.

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: