He is sometimes referred to as Sancho Abarca by modern sources. This appellation was first applied to Sancho II by chroniclers writing centuries after his time who were confused about the succession to Pamplona, creating a single ruler out of the combined careers of Sancho II and his grandfather Sancho I of Pamplona. The weight of evidence suggests that this nickname originally applied to Sancho I.[2]
Biography
Sancho Garcés was born circa 938, son of García Sánchez I of Pamplona, the second King of Pamplona from the Jiménez dynasty, and his first wife Andregoto Galíndez, daughter of Galindo Aznárez II, Count of Aragon.[3] His maternal grandfather died without any legitimate male children, thus passing down the rights to the Count of Aragon to Sancho's mother who, in turn, passed them down to him and he became Count of Aragon, in 948, while still underage.[3] He was initially under the guardianship of Count Fortún Jiménez. After the death of his father in 970, he became King of Pamplona and was known as Sancho II.
He appears mentioned on the occasion of a donation to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña in 987, when he titled himself "king of Navarre", being the first to use said title. This title, however, did not come into common usage until the late eleventh century.
Under Sancho, the kingdom solidified some of the gains of his predecessor, but also suffered several significant military setbacks at the hands of Umayyad troops. Navarre was linked with the Kingdom of León and the County of Castile by familial bonds, and the realms frequently worked in concert, with the Navarrese monarchy supporting the young Ramiro III of León.
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.
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 it has been suggested that he was captured at the Battle of Estercuel that year.[a]
San Juan de la Peña, King Sancho's final resting place.
In 981 at the Battle of 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. 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. He faced further incursions from Almanzor in 989, 991 and 992, the last of which resulted in a second submission at Córdoba, and the next year he sent his son Gonzalo on an embassy to the Caliphate to consolidate the rapprochement.[5] In 994, the year of his death, the kingdom saw yet another incursion by a caliphate army.
Urraca or Sancha Sanchez, known in Arabic as Abda and nicknamed "the Basque", having been given by her father to Almanzor, whom she married after converting to Islam. Abda and Almanzor had a single son, named Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo.[12][13][14]
^Antonio Ubieto Arteta argues that his younger brother Jimeno, who appears as a hostage at the court of al-Hakim II in Córdoba later in 975, may have been exchanged for Sancho's freedom.[4]
Arco y Garay, Ricardo del (1954). Sepulcros de la Casa Real de Castilla (in Spanish). Madrid: Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. OCLC11366237.
Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El Condado de Castilla (711-1038): la historia frente a la leyenda (in Spanish). 2 volumes. Valladolid. ISBN84-9718-275-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2007). Sancho III el Mayor Rey de Pamplona, Rex Ibericus (in Spanish). Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN978-84-96467-47-7.
Reuter, Timothy; McKitterick, Rosamond, eds. (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Cambridge University Press.
Ubieto Arteta, Antonio (1950). "Monarcas navarros olvidados: Los reyes de Viguera". Hispania: Revista española de história (in Spanish) (38). Madrid: CSIC: 3–324. ISSN0018-2141.
