Garcia Sanchez I of Pamplona

García Sánchez I (c. 919-22 February 970) was the first king of Nájera and by paternal inheritance king of Pamplona who ruled the kingdom from 925 until his death. He was the son of the King of Pamplona Sancho Garcés I and Queen Toda Aznárez, granddaughter of King Fortún Garcés.

Reign

In the year 923 his father, the king of Pamplona Sancho Garcés I, in collaboration with Ordoño II of León, recovered Nájera and La Rioja Media and Alta, these new lands were left under the domain of García Sánchez I with the name of Kingdom of Nájera, thus becoming the first monarch of said kingdom.

On the death of Sancho Garcés I, on December 10, 925, he was inherited by his six-year-old son García Sánchez, under the guardianship of his uncle Jimeno Garcés, whose death in 931 caused a crisis over control of tutoring. Thanks to the intervention of her mother Queen Toda and the mediation of Abderramán III, her nephew by blood, the situation was controlled: the queen visited her nephew the Caliph in his camp in Calahorra in 934 and asked him to to recognize his son García as the new King of Pamplona. In exchange, Abderramán obtained from her the commitment to break relations with the Asturian monarchy. However, this submission to the Caliphate of Córdoba did not last long.

After García Sánchez came of age in 933, he assumed the guardianship of Andregoto Galíndez, his fiancée, and consequently the government of the county of Aragón, until the marriage was annulled before 943, the year in which he appears for the first time time with his second wife, Teresa Ramírez.

The intervention of the queen mother in government affairs influenced the kingdom of Pamplona to reach a key position among the Christian kingdoms in the years to come. Three of García Sánchez's sisters were married to Kings of Leon: Urraca with Ramiro II, Sancha with Ordoño II and Onneca with Alfonso IV. For this reason, the Navarrese intervened in the civil wars of the kingdom of León. When Ramiro II died, the Navarrese mediated, Queen Toda helping her grandson Sancho to occupy the throne. Later, when Sancho was expelled by his other grandson Ordoño el Malo, the queen mother interceded for Abderramán to help his grandson Sancho to recover the throne.

In 939 he participated in the coalition formed by Ramiro II of León, Fernán González and Asturian and Galician troops, who won a great victory over those of Abderramán III in the battle of Simancas.

In 953 he donated, together with his mother Toda, to the monastery of San Martín de Albelda (La Rioja), the town of Bagibel, located in the Cameros mountains, the first time that this geographical denomination appears in writing.

In 961 he took part in the disputes between the county of Castilla and the kingdom of León and captured Fernán González, Count of Castilla, but refused to hand him over to the Muslims. In 963 he formed a Christian alliance against Alhakén II and was defeated by the Muslims.

He died on February 22, 970. He was buried in the portico of the small church of San Esteban, in the castle of Monjardín.

Marriages and offspring

He contracted his first marriage with Andregoto Galíndez, daughter of the count of Aragón Galindo Aznárez II and Sancha Garcés. Galindo Aznárez had no legitimate sons, so the county of Aragón was inherited by his daughter Andregoto and later by his son Sancho. Andregoto was repudiated by her husband before 943 and retired to her lands in Aybar where she died after 971. This marriage would give rise to the subsequent union of Aragon and Pamplona. From this first marriage were born:

• Sancho Garcés II Abarca, king of Najera-Pamplona and count of Aragon.
• All of Garcés.
• Urraca Garcés, hired a first marriage with Fernán González, Count of Castilla. After enviudar in 970, Urraca returned to Pamplona and after July 972, he contracted a second marriage with Guillermo Sánchez, Count of Gascuña. Urraca had already died in 1008 when his son, Bernardo Guillén de Gascuña, mentioned it as deceased.

García Sánchez married for the second time before 943 with Teresa, possibly the daughter of King Ramiro II of León and Adosinda Gutiérrez, born of this marriage:

• Ramiro Garcés de Viguera, the first king of Viguera, died on July 9, 981 fighting against Almanzor.

• Jimeno Garcés, Count. He was in Cordoba as a hostage. He appeared with his brothers in 978 when they were invited by Count García Fernández to the founding of the infantazgo of Covarrubias.

Ancestors

García Sánchez I had ancestors of: