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Thursday, October 18, 2012

[October 18] Sancho III, king of Navarre

Surnamed: "The Great" (El Mayor)
Parents: García II, king of Navarre, and Jimena of Cea
Born: circa 992
House: Jiménez
Spouse(s): Muniadona Mayor, daughter of Sancho, count of Castile, and Urraca of Castile
Predecessor: García II
Reign: 1004 – 1035
Brief: Becoming king of Navarre as a minor, Sancho had great aspirations for his country and for Iberia in general. As early as 1015, he was working to expand his frontiers into Umayyad Spain. Opportunities arose to annex Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, and the county of Barcelona was forced to become a vassal to the Navarrese king. Next, he managed to annex Castile in 1027 following the untimely death of its count. The majority of Christian Spain was now under Sancho's control. Borders now secured, Sancho improved the major thoroughfare through the Pyrenees to Gascony where his ally, the duke of Gascony, could send pilgrims and knights to fight in the Reconquista. In 1034, after years of fighting, Sancho subdued and annexed León, the ancestral senior kingdom in Iberia, and had himself crowned Emperor of Spain. Unfortunately, a year later he was assassinated. His Iberian empire was divided between his many sons, never to be reunited again.
Date of Death: 18 October 1035
Successor: García III

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
  • Jin Mingdi, emperor of China (325)
  • Leopold IV, duke of Bavaria (1141)
  • Gregory XII, pope of Rome (1417)
  • Pius III, pope of Rome (1503)
  • Fasilides, emperor of Ethiopia (1667)
  • Ludwig III, king of Bavaria (1921)

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