Sancho II "Abarca" García Rey de Pamplona y conde de Aragón

  Information about this person:

• Dates & Events.
Sancho II "Abarca", rey de Pamplona y conde de Aragón was known as Sancho Abarca, from the fact that he provided his troops with leather-soled shoes to increase their mobility.

• Dates & Events. ⁴⁸⁸
Sancho succeeded his father in 970 as Sancho II Garcés Abarca King of Navarre, and his mother in 972 as Sancho Garcés Conde de Aragón. He inherited a kingdom which had been considerably weakened by Muslim attacks during the last years of his predecessor's rule, and on his accession accepted the suzerainty of Caliph al-Hakam II.

King Sancho attempted unsuccessfully to reassert his authority but was defeated in 975 at Estercuel near Tudela. A period of calm followed, presumably due to a pact with al-Mansor confirmed by the latter's marriage with King Sancho's illegitimate daughter. The Muslims renewed their attacks on Navarre from 990, obliging King Sancho to visit Córdoba in 992 to negotiate peace.

~Del Pino, p. 163
~-Sevilla Quiñones de León, M. El Régimen de Almanzor, Álvarez Palenzuela, V. A. (coord.) (2002) Historia de España de la Edad Media (Barcelona, Ariel Historia), p. 182.

• Web Reference: Sancho II of Pamplona.
Sancho II Garcés Abarca was King of Pamplona from 970 until his death. He was the son of García Sánchez I and Andregota, daughter of Galindo Aznárez II, Count of Aragon. Sancho married Urraca, the daughter of the Castilian count Fernán González and Sancha of Navarre, Sancho's aunt. T he marriage occurred after 962 and before 970. Before 950, Urraca had been married twice previously, to Ordoño III and Ordoño IV of León, from both of whom she separated. Sancho was her third and last husband.

Sancho married Urraca Fernández de Castilla, daughter of Fernán González Conde de Castilla and Sancha Sánchez de Navarre, circa 962. (Urraca Fernández de Castilla died after 1007 in Iberian Peninsula.)