Garcia Sanchez (Earl of Castile)

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Garcia Sanchez was the son of Count Sancho Garcia and Urraki . At the age of 7 years, after the death of his father on February 15, 1017 , he became a count of Castile, but the first mention of his name in the charters refers only to September 1, 1018 . Historical chronicles do not report the creation of any council for managing the county during the early years of Count Garcia, but it is assumed that the mother of the new graph, Urrac, and Bishop Ok Pedro had the greatest influence on the administration of Castile, since their signatures are almost under all the royal letters of the first years of the reign of Count Garcia.

Taking advantage of the early years of Garcia Sanchez, the king of Leon Alfonso V in the fall of 1017 made a trip to Castile and rejoined the land between the Sea and Pisuerga rivers, previously conquered by Count Sancho Garcia, to his kingdom. The king of Leon also made a claim for custody of the minor Count of Castile, but it is not known whether such custody was established. In the historical chronicles, which very briefly describe the events of this time in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, there is no information about this, but a number of Castilian charters remained for the period 1019-1025 , dated not only by the years of the reign of Count García Sánchez, but also by King Alfonso V, testifies to the recognition of the power of King Leon in some areas of Castile.

At the same time, King Navarre Sancho III Garcés announced his right to custody of García Sánchez, whose wife, Muniadonna Sanchez , was the sister of Count García. Sancho III began the war against Alfonso V and by 1020 he conquered the land between Cea and Pisuerga, and by 1022 captured some territories directly of the kingdom of Leon. At the end of 1022, a peace agreement was concluded between the two monarchs, fastened in 1023 by the marriage of King Leon to Urrac, sister of the King of Navarre. The lands seized by Sancho III were returned to the Kingdom of León as a dowry by Urraki Garcés. The successful actions of Sancho III in favor of the Count of Garcia Sanchez allowed the King of Navarre to begin to have a significant influence on the management of Castile ^[1] . After 1023, charters began to appear in Castile dating back to the years of King Sancho III's rule, and in Navarre itself documents are published, titling Sancho not only by the King of Navarre, but also by the ruler of Castile. About how the relationship between Navarre and Castile changed after Garcia Sanchez reached the age of majority in 1027, ^[2] is not exactly known, but the constant mention of King Sancho III in connection with the events in Castile testifies to his continued influence on Count Garcia.

Killing Garcia Sanchez

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The historical chronicles very briefly describe the circumstances of the death of Count García Sánchez, most often confining themselves to mentioning the fact of the murder ^[3] . More detailed testimonies are found in the 12th century " Chronicle of Nahera " , as well as in the writings of chroniclers of the XIII century Luca Tui and Rodrigo de Rada , but most of the new facts they cited are based on the folk legends that arose by this time about the death of Count Garcia. In these chronicles, for the first time, the members of the family of Vela are called the murderers of the Count of Castile. The further development of folk tales about this event was reflected in the romancer : “The romance of the infanta Garcia” in the facts conveyed to them already significantly contradicted the information of the early historical chronicles. Being widely known, this romancer became the basis for several dramas written by Spanish authors in the 18th — 19th centuries.

Assassination of the Count of Castile

In August 1028, the 11-year-old Bermudo III became the new king of Leon. At the beginning of 1029, Count García Sánchez received from him an offer to strengthen the alliance between Leon and Castile by marriage between the sister of the king, Sanchea de Leon , and the count of Castile. Historians suggest that the conclusion of this marriage was one of the conditions of the peace treaty previously concluded between the kings Alfonso V and Sancho III. Having received approval for marriage from the King of Navarre, Count García Sánchez in May, accompanied by Sancho III, went to Leon , where the marriage ceremony was to take place. Reaching Sahagun , the king of Navarre interrupted the trip to worship the sacred relics that were here, and Count Garcia, accompanied by a small retinue, arrived in the capital of the kingdom.

At this time there was a conspiracy to assassinate Count García Sánchez. He was headed by members of the Vela family, who had been at enmity with the count family of Castile for many years. The feud began in 932 , when Count Castilla Fernan González, thanks to marriage, annexed the county of Alava to his domain, which was also claimed by the Vela family. All subsequent years, the representatives of the family of Vela, the vassals of the Counts of Castile, staged numerous revolts against their lords. At the end of the tenth century, they entered into an alliance with al-Mansur and participated in several campaigns of the Moors in Castile and Leon. After his death, Vela reconciled with Count Sancho Garcia, but when he began pursuing supporters of King Leon in his county in 1014, Vela's family members fled to King Alfonso V. For the first time mentioned in the documents of Leon in 1017 , Vela became one of the closest people to monarch, and Rodrigo Vela became the closest adviser to Alfonso V and the godfather of his son Bermudo III.

Wanting to take revenge for depriving their family of Alava and for the exile, which their father subjected to Count Garcia, the three graphs of Vela, brothers Rodrigo, Diego and Iñigo ^[4] , decided to kill Count of Castile. On the wedding day, May 13, 1029 , they, together with a group of their supporters, entered the city of Leon. Along the way, killing all the Castilians they came across, the conspirators reached the square in front of the royal palace. At this time, King Bermudo III, Count García Sánchez and his bride Sancha, accompanied by noble secular and clergymen, went to the Cathedral of San Juan Batista de Leon, where the wedding ceremony was to take place. On the steps of the cathedral the conspirators unexpectedly attacked the procession. Despite Sanchi's tearful pleas, one of the Vela brothers ^[5] killed Count Garcia. The attack was so unexpected that the conspirators managed to easily leave the capital and take refuge in the castle of Monson (modern Monson de Campos ). Upon learning of the death of his relative, King Sancho III, still in Sahagun, swore to avenge his murderers. Having collected an army, he besieged Monson and, despite the resistance of the besieged, took the castle. All defenders of the castle were executed. Captured graphs Vela on the orders of the King of Navarre burned alive. The body of the murdered Count Garcia Sanchez was king of Sancho III transported to Castile and buried in the tomb of Castilian earls in the monastery of San Salvador de Onii .

The fate of the county of Castile

Countless children García Sánchez became the last male representative of the Lara dynasty on the throne of Castile. The county was succeeded by his elder sister Muniadonna (Major), wife of King Sancho III of Navarre. Although she officially had the title of Countess of Castile, the actual administration of the county was in the hands of the King of Navarre and this did not cause any discontent among the Castilians. In 1032, Fernando was declared a new earl, who took the royal title in 1035 . In 1037 , after the death of the king of Bermudo III in the battle of Tamarone , Fernando I united Castile and León into a single state - the Kingdom of León and Castile .

• Garcia II . - Encyclopedic vocabulary. - SPb. , 1838. - V. 13. - p. 324-325. - 464 s. (biography of Count Garcia Sanchez, based on folk lore)
• Martínez Díez G. El condado de Castilla, 711-1038: La historia frente a la leyenda . - Marcial Pons Historia, 2005. - 819 p. - ISBN 978-8495379948 .

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