Ramiro Garcés of Viguera

Ramiro (Ranimirus rex), contemporary image from the Codex Vigilanus. The sword is indicative of his active military career, the sceptre of his royal rank.

Ramiro Garcés (dead by 991) was the King of Viguera from 970 to his death. He was the son of García Sánchez I of Pamplona by his second wife, Theresa of León. It is suggested that while Theresa pushed for the disinheritance of García's eldest son Sancho II of Pamplona in favour of Ramiro, García compromised and willed the region of Viguera to Ramiro with the title of king.

Ramiro was a subregulus and vassal of his brother. In 975 he tried to raid neighbouring Muslim territory, but was defeated in the Battle of Estercuel on 6 July.

The precise date of his death is not recorded. A surviving document dated 981, but apparently misdated by a decade and actually from 991, reports that he had already died. Arabic sources report that he died in the Battle of Torrevicente in 981, where he and García Fernández of Castile fought Almanzur in support of Cordoban rebel Galib. He had two known children, sons Sancho and García, who succeeded him in turn.

Sources

• Bishko, Charles Julian. "Salvus of Albelda and Frontier Monasticism in Tenth-Century Navarre." Speculum, Vol. 23, No. 4. (October 1948), pp 559–590. At JSTOR and at LIBRO.
• Cañada Juste, Alberto. "Un milenario navarro: Ramiro Garcés, rey de Viguera", Príncipe de Viana 42 (1982), pp. 21–37.
• Ubieto Arteta, Antonio. "Monarcas navarros olvidados: los reyes de Viguera", Hispania X (1950), pp. 8–25.