Sancho III of Castile

Sancho III
Sancho III
	Sancho III of Castile in the Castilian manuscript Compendium of Chronicles of Kings (...) (c. 1312-1325). Currently located at the National Library of Spain
King of Castile and Toledo
Reign	21 August 1157 – 31 August 1158
Predecessor	Alfonso VII
Successor	Alfonso VIII
Born	c. 1134; Toledo
Died	31 August 1158 (aged 23–24); Toledo
Burial	Cathedral of Toledo
Consort	Blanche of Navarre
Issue	Alfonso VIII of Castile; Infante Garcia
House	Castilian House of Ivrea
Father	Alfonso VII of León and Castile
Mother	Berengaria of Barcelona
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Sancho III (1134 – 31 August 1158), called the Desired (el Deseado),^[a] was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. He was the son of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his wife Berengaria of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son Alfonso VIII. His nickname was due to his position as the first child of his parents, born after eight years of childless marriage.

During his reign, the castle of Calatrava-la-Vieja was conceded to Abbot Raymond Serrat of Fitero, who propposed using the lay brothers of his monastery as knights to defend this castle. These knights would give rise to the Order of Calatrava, which was confirmed in 1164 by Pope Alexander III.^[1]^[2] It was also in his reign that the Leonese and Castilian spheres of conquest against al-Andalus were decided in the Treaty of Sahagún (May 1158), besides an exclusion of the conquering rights and a possible division of the Portuguese kingdom among the two sons of Alfonso VII, which would come to nothing possibly due to the premature death of Sancho.^[3]^[4]

Life[]

Sancho was the eldest son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and Berengaria of Barcelona.^[5] He was endowed with the "Kingdom of Nájera" in 1152, and according to Carolina Carl never appears in documents as "king of Nájera".^[6] His father's will partitioned the kingdom between his two sons: Sancho inherited the kingdoms of Castile and Toledo, and Ferdinand inherited León.^[7] The two brothers had just signed a treaty when Sancho suddenly died in the summer of 1158, being buried at Toledo.^[8]

He had married, in 1151, Blanche of Navarre, daughter of García Ramírez of Navarre,^[9] and had two sons:

Alfonso VIII of Castile, his successor^[10]
infante García, who died at birth in 1156, apparently also resulting in the death of Queen Blanche.^[11]

Ancestry[]

Ancestors of Sancho III of Castile

16. Reginald I, Count of Burgundy

8. William I, Count of Burgundy

17. Alice of Normandy

4. Raymond of Burgundy

9. Stephanie

2. Alfonso VII of León and Castile

20. Ferdinand I of León and Castile

10. Alfonso VI of León and Castile

21. Sancha of León

5. Urraca of León and Castile

22. Robert I, Duke of Burgundy

11. Constance of Burgundy

23. Hélie of Sémur

1. Sancho III of Castile

24. Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona

12. Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona

25. Almodis de La Marche

6. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona

26. Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia

13. Maud of Apulia

27. Sikelgaita of Salerno

3. Berengaria of Barcelona

28. Berenguer II, Viscount of Rodés

14. Gilbert I, Count of Gévaudan

29. Adela, Viscountess of Carlat

7. Douce I, Countess of Provence

30. Geoffrey I, Count of Provence

15. Gerberga, Countess of Provence

31. Stephanie-Douce de Marseille

Notes[]

^ The early 13th-century historian Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada called him desiderabilis Sancius.

References[]

^ Linehan 2008, p. 10.
^ Lay 2009, p. 184.
^ Linehan 2008, p. 8-10.
^ Mattoso 2007, p. 286-287.
^ Van-Houts 2013, p. 160.
^ Carl 2011, p. 155.
^ Linehan 2011, p. 8.
^ O'Callaghan 1975, p. 235.
^ Hourihane 2012, p. 548.
^ Shadis & Berman 2002, p. 204.
^ del Alamo & Pendergast 2000, p. 45.

Sources[]

Carl, Carolina (2011). A Bishopric Between Three Kingdoms: Calahorra, 1045-1190. Brill.
Conant, Kenneth John (1959). Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200. Yale University Press.
del Alamo, Elizabeth Valdez; Pendergast, Carol Stamatis (2000). Memory and the Medieval Tomb. Ashgate.
Hourihane, Colum, ed. (2012). "Carrion de la Condes". The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press.
Lay, Stephen (2009). The Reconquest Kings of Portugal. Political and Cultural Reorientation on the Medieval Frontier. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-35786-4.
Linehan, Peter (2011). Spain:A Partible Inheritance 1157-1300. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Mattoso, José (2007). D. Afonso Henriques (2nd ed.). Temas e Debates. ISBN 9789727599110.
O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (1975). A History of Medieval Spain. Cornell University Press.
Shadis, Miriam; Berman, Constance Hoffman (2002). "A Taste of the Feast: Reconsidering Eleanor of Aquitaine's Female Descendents". In Wheeler, B.; Parsons, John C. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady. Palgrave Macmillan.
Van-Houts, Elisabeth (2013). Medieval Memories: Men, Women and the Past, 700-1300. Pearson Education Limited.

Regnal titles
Sancho III of Castile Castilian House of Ivrea Born: circa 1134 Died: 31 August 1158
Preceded by Alfonso VII	King of Castile and Toledo 1157–1158	Succeeded by Alfonso VIII

v t e Monarchs of Castile
House of Jiménez	Ferdinand I "the Magno" Sancho II "the Strong" Alfonso VI "the Brave" Urraca "the Reckless"
House of Burgundy	Alfonso VII "the Emperor" Sancho III "the Desired" Alfonso VIII "the Noble" Henry I Berengaria Ferdinand III "the Saint" Alfonso X "the Wise" Sancho IV "the Brave" Ferdinand IV "the Summoned" Alfonso XI "the Avenger" Peter "the Cruel"
House of Trastámara	Henry II "the Fracticidal" John I Henry III "the Mourner" John II Henry IV "the Impotent" Isabella I "the Catholic" Ferdinand V "the Catholic" Joanna "the Mad"
House of Habsburg	Philip I "the Handsome" Charles I "the Emperor" Philip II "the Prudent" Philip III "the Devotional" Philip IV "the Stunned" Charles II "the Bewitched"