Sancho III of Castile

Sancho III
Sancho III of Castile in a miniature of the Compendium of Chronicles of Kings of 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	House of Ivrea
Father	Alfonso VII of León and Castile
Mother	Berenguela of Barcelona
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Sancho III (1134 – 31 August 1158), called the Desired (el Deseado),^[1] 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 Berenguela of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son Alfonso VIII. During the Reconquista, in which he took an active part, he founded the Order of Calatrava.^[2] His nickname due to his position as the first child of his parents, born after eight years of childless marriage.

Life

He was the eldest son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and Berengaria of Barcelona.^[3] During his father's reign, he appears as "king of Nájera" as early as 1149. His father's will partitioned the kingdom between his two sons: Sancho inherited the kingdoms of Castile and Toledo, and Ferdinand inherited León.^[4] The two brothers had just signed a treaty when Sancho suddenly died in the summer of 1158, being buried at Toledo.^[5]

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

• Alfonso VIII of Castile, his successor
• infante García, who died at birth in 1156, apparently also resulting in the death of Queen Blanche.

There may also have been an older son who died in infancy.

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

1. The early 13th-century historian Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada called him desiderabilis Sancius.
2. Kenneth John Conant, 311.
3. M. M. Busk, 31.
4. Peter Linehan, 8.
5. Joseph F. O'Callaghan, 235.

References

• M. M. Busk, The history of Spain and Portugal from B.C. 1000 to A.D. 1814, Baldwin and Cradock, 1833.
• Kenneth John Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200, Yale University Press, 1959.
• Peter Linehan, Spain:A Partible Inheritance 1157-1300, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2011.
• Joseph F. O'Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain, Cornell University Press, 1975.

Further reading

• Szabolcs de Vajay, "From Alfonso VIII to Alfonso X" in Studies in Genealogy and Family History in Tribute to Charles Evans on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday, 1989, pp. 366–417.