Constance of Castile

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Castile

She was Queen of France as the second wife of Louis VII, who married her following the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine.[1] She was a daughter of Alfonso VII of León and Berengaria of Barcelona, but her year of birth is not certainly known.

Constance died giving birth to her second child. Desperate for a son, her husband remarried a mere five weeks after her death.

Constance bore her husband two children:

1. Margaret, 1157-1197, who married first Henry the Young King of England, and then Béla III of Hungary

2. Alys, 1160-1220, who married William IV of Ponthieu


Buried:
Grave location, biography and effigy photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21065

Constance married King Louis VII of France. Louis (son of King Louis VI France and Adelaide of Maurienne, de Savoy) was born 1120, Paris, France; died 18 Sep 1180, Saint-Pont, Auvergne, France; was buried , Saint Denis Basilique, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet]

1. Alys of France, Countess of Vexin was born 04 Oct 1160; died ca 1220; was buried , Abbey of Valloires, Picardie, France.

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_VII_of_Le%C3%B3n

The son of Urraca of León and Raymond of Burgundy of the first of the House of Ivrea to rule in the Iberian peninsula, he became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once his mother vested him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116.

Alfonso was a dignified and somewhat enigmatic figure. He also sought to make the imperial title meaningful in practice, though his attempts to rule over both Christian and Muslim populations was even less successful. During his tenure, Portugal became de facto independent, in 1128, and was recognized as de jure independent, in 1143. He was a patron of poets, including, probably, the troubadour Marcabru.

In 1111, Alfonso was crowned King of Galicia in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. He was a child, but his mother had in 1109 succeeded to the united throne of León-Castile-Galicia and desired to assure her son's prospects and groom him for his eventual succession.

By 1125 he had inherited the formerly Muslim Kingdom of Toledo. On 10 March 1126, after the death of his mother, he was crowned in León and immediately began the recovery of the Kingdom of Castile, which was then under the domination of Alfonso the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragón. By the Peace of Támara of 1127, the Battler recognised Alfonso VII as King of Castile. This territory had gained much independence during the rule of his mother and experienced many rebellions. After his recognition in Castile, Alfonso fought to curb the autonomy of the local barons.

In 1135, Alfonso was crowned "Emperor of Spain" in the Cathedral of León. By this, he probably wished to assert his authority over the entire peninsula and his absolute leadership of the Reconquest. He appears to strive for the formation of a national unity which Spain had never possessed since the fall of the Visigothic kingdom.

Alfonso was a pious prince. He introduced the Cistercians to Iberia by founding a monastery at Fitero. He adopted a militant attitude towards the Moors of Andalusia and led a series of crusades subjugating the Moors. By 1144, he advanced as far as Córdoba.

When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, Alfonso VII, with García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed army of Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese?Pisan navy, in a crusade against the rich Mediterranean port city of Almería, in Andalusia, which was occupied in October 1147. Six years later, Almería entered into Moorish possession again. Alfonso was returning from an expedition against them when he died in pass of Muradel in the Sierra Morena mountains.

Alfonso was at once a patron of the church and a protector, though not a supporter of, the Moors, who were a minority of his subjects. His reign ended in an unsuccessful campaign against the rising power of the Muslim Almohads. Though he was not actually defeated, his death in the pass, while on his way back to Toledo, occurred in circumstances which showed that no man could be what he claimed to be, "king of the men of the two religions." Furthermore, by dividing his realm between his sons, he ensured that Christendom would not present the new Almohad threat with a united front.

In November 1128, he married Berenguela, daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona. She died in 1149. Their children were:

1. Sancho III of Castile (1134-1158)

2. Ramon, living 1136, died in infancy

3. Ferdinand II of León (1137-1188)

4. Constance (c.1138-1160), married Louis VII of France

5. Sancha (c.1139-1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre

6. García (c.1142-1145/6)

7. Alfonso (c.1144-by 1149)

In 1152, Alfonso married Richeza of Poland, the daughter of Ladislaus II the Exile. They had:

8. Ferdinand, (1153-1157)

9. Sancha (1155-1208), the wife of Alfonso II of Aragón.

Alfonso also had two mistresses, having children by both. By an Asturian noblewoman named Guntroda Pérez, he had an illegitimate daughter, Urraca (1132-1164), who married García Ramírez of Navarre, the mother retiring to a convent in 1133.

Later in his reign, he formed a liaison with Urraca Fernández, widow of count Rodrigo Martínez and daughter of Fernando Garcés de Hita, an apparent grandson of García Sánchez III of Navarre, having a daughter Stephanie the Unfortunate (1148-1180), who was killed by her jealous husband, Fernán Ruiz de Castro.



Buried:
Grave location, biography, and historical portraits:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88303926

Alfonso married Berenguela (Berengaria) of Barcelona, Queen of Castille, León and Galicia. Berenguela (daughter of Ramon Berenguer, III of Barcelona, Count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona , and Count of Provence and Douce I of Provence, Countess of Provence) was born ca 1116, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; died 15 Jan 1149, Palencia, Castile and León, Spain; was buried , Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela Provincia da La Coruña Galicia, Spain. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Barcelona

Berenguela or Berengaria of Barcelona was Queen consort of Castile, León and Galicia. She was the daughter of Raimon III of Barcelona and Dulce Aldonza Milhaud. Berenguela was the sister of Ramon Berenguer IV who was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aragon.

In November 1128, she married Alfonso VII. Their children were:

1. Sancho III of Castile (1134-1158)

2. Ramon, living 1136, died in infancy

3. Ferdinand II of León (1137-1188)

4. Constance (c.1138-1160), married Louis VII of France

5. Sancha (c.1139-1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre

6. García (c.1142-1145/6)

7. Alfonso (c.1144-by 1149)

In her lifetime a new political entity was formed in the northeast Iberian Peninsula: Portugal seceded from León in the west, giving more balance to the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula. Her brother Ramon Berenguer successfully pulled Aragon out of its pledged submission to Castile, aided no doubt by the beauty and charm of his sister Berengaria, for which she was well known in her time.

Her niece Dulce of Aragon married Sancho I of Portugal, while her famous granddaughter was Queen Berengaria of England.

She died in Palencia, and was buried at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.


Buried:
Grave location, biography, photos of effigy and cathedral:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90699229

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_of_Burgundy

The fourth son of Count William I of Burgundy and Stephanie, he was was the ruler of Galicia from about 1090 until his death.

When Raymond and his cousin, Henry of Burgundy, first arrived in Spain is uncertain, but it probably it was with the army of Duke Odo I of Burgundy in 1086, to prosecute the Reconquest against the Muslims. Most of the army returned home, but Odo and his retinue went west. By 21 July 1087 they were probably at Burgos, at the court of Alfonso VI, and by 5 August he was in the capital city of León. There Odo arranged Raymond's marriage to Alfonso's heiress, Urraca.

By his marriage Raymond received as dowry the government of the Kingdom of Galicia (which included the County of Portugal and the County of Coimbra), although shortly after, in 1095, Alfonso VI gave the County of Portugal and the County of Coimbra to Henry of Burgundy, father of the first Portuguese King Afonso Henriques of Portugal. During his government Raymond was titled Count, Dominus, Prince, Emperor and Consul of Galicia or of the Galicians, exercising near absolute power in his domains.

He died at the castle of Grajal de Campos after a short illness. He was father of Alfonso VII of León and Castile.

Buried:
Grave location, historical portrait, and photo of cathedral:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=67221138

Raymond married Urraca of León, Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia. Urraca (daughter of Alfonso VI of León and Castile, King of León, Castille and Galicia and Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Castile and Léon) was born Apr 1079, Burgos, Provincia de Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain; died 08 Mar 1126, Saldaña, Provincia de Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain; was buried , Basilica Of San Isidoro, León, Provincia de León, Castilla y León, Spain. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urraca_of_Le%C3%B3n

Born in Burgos, Urraca was the eldest and only surviving child of Alfonso VI of León with his second wife Constance of Burgundy; for this, she was heiress presumptive of the Kingdoms of Castile and León until 1107, when her father recognized his illegitimate son Sancho as his heir.

Urraca?s place in the line of succession made her the focus of dynastic politics, and she became a child bride at age eight (1087) to Raymond of Burgundy, a mercenary adventurer. Author Bernard F. Reilly suggests that, rather than a betrothal, the eight-year-old Urraca was fully wedded to Raymond of Burgundy, as he almost immediately appears in protocol documents as Alfonso VI's son-in-law, a distinction that would not have been made without the marriage. Reilly doubts that the marriage was consummated until Urraca was 13, as she was placed under the protective guardianship of a trusted magnate. Her pregnancy and stillbirth at age 14 suggest that the marriage was indeed consummated when she was 13 or 14 years old.

Urraca's marriage to Raymond was part of Alfonso VI's diplomatic strategy to attract cross-Pyrenees alliances, and she gave birth two children: a daughter, Sancha Raimúndez and a son, Alfonso Raimúndez, who would become Alfonso VII. However, Raymond died in 1107, leaving Urraca a widow with two small children.

Urraca became again an heiress presumptive after the death of her brother Sancho at the Battle of Uclés in 1108. Alfonso VI reunited the nobles of the Kingdom in Toledo and announced that his widowed daughter was the chosen one to succeeded him.

The nobles agreed with the royal designation but demanded that Urraca should marry again. Several candidates for the hand of the heiress to the thrones of León and Castile appeared immediately. Alfonso VI feared that the rivalries between Castilian and Leonese nobles would be increased if she married any of these suitors and decided that his daughter should wed Alfonso I of Aragon, known as the Battler, opening the opportunity for uniting León-Castile with Aragon.

Marriage negotiations were still underway when Alfonso VI died on 29 June/1 July 1109 and Urraca became queen. Many of Alfonso VI?s advisers and leading magnates in the kingdom formed a ?quiet opposition? to the marriage of the queen to the King of Aragon. According to Bernard F. Reilly, these magnates feared the influence the King of Aragon might attempt to wield over Urraca and over Leonese politics.

Urraca protested against the marriage but honored her late father's wishes (and the Royal Council's advice) and continued with the marriage negotiations, though she and her father's closest advisers were growing weary of Alfonso I's demands. Despite the advisers' opposition, the prospect of Count Henry of Portugal filling any power vacuum led them to go ahead with the marriage which took place in early October 1109 at the Castle of Monzón de Campos. As events unfolded, these advisers underestimated Urraca's political prowess, and later advised her to end the marriage.

The marriage of Urraca and Alfonso I almost immediately sparked rebellions in Galicia and scheming by her illegitimate half-sister Theresa and brother-in-law Henry, the Countess and Count of Portugal. Also, they believed that the new marriage of Urraca could put in jeopardy the rights of the son of her first marriage, Alfonso Raimúndez.

The Galician rebellion against the royal power was only the beginning of a series of political and military conflicts which, with the complete opposite personalities of Urraca and Alfonso I and their mutual dislike, gave rise to a continuous civil war in the Hispanic kingdoms over the following years.

As their relationship soured, Urraca accused Alfonso of physical abuse, and by May 1110 she separated from Alfonso. Additionally, as Urraca was married to someone many in the kingdom objected to, the queen's son and heir became a rallying point for opponents to the marriage.

Estrangement between husband and wife escalated from discrete and simmering hostilities into open armed warfare between the Leonese-Castilians and the Aragonese. By the fall of 1112 a truce was brokered between Urraca and Alfonso with their marriage annulled. Though Urraca recovered Asturias, Leon, and Galicia, Alfonso occupied a significant portion of Castile (where Urraca enjoyed large support), while her half-sister Theresa and her husband Count Henry of Portugal occupied Zamora and Extremadura. Recovering these regions and expanding into Muslim lands would occupy much of Urraca's foreign policy.

She is characterized in her contemporary history Historia Compostelana as prudent, modest, and with good sense. But this source also attributes her "failings" to her gender, "the weakness and changeability of women, feminine perversity, and calls her a Jezebel" for her liaisons with her leading magnates, with at least one relationship producing an illegitimate son. The measure of success for Urraca?s rule was her ability to restore and protect the integrity of her inheritance, that is, the kingdom of her father, and transmit that inheritance in full to her own heir.

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_III,_Count_of_Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona, Besalú, Cerdanya, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire until his death in Barcelona in 1131. As Ramon Berenguer I, he was Count of Provence from 1112 in right of his wife.

Born on 11 November 1082 in Rodez, Viscounty of Rodez, County of Toulouse, Francia, he was the son of Ramon Berenguer II.

During his rule Catalan interests were extended on both sides of the Pyrenees. By marriage or vassalage he incorporated into his realm almost all of the Catalan counties (except Urgell and Peralada). He inherited the counties of Besalú and Cerdanya and in between married Douce, heiress of Provence. His dominions then stretched as far east as Nice.

He also established relations with the Italian maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa, and in 1114 and 1115 attacked with Pisa the then-Muslim islands of Majorca and Ibiza.[1] They became his tributaries and many Christian slaves there were recovered and set free. Ramon Berenguer also raided mainland Muslim dependencies with Pisa's help, such as Valencia, Lleida and Tortosa. By 1118 he had captured and rebuilt Tarragona, which became the metropolitan seat of the church in Catalonia.

Toward the end of his life he became a Templar. He gave his five Catalonian counties to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer IV and Provence to the younger son Berenguer Ramon.

He died on 23 January/19 July 1131 and was buried in the Santa Maria de Ripoll monastery.

Ramon's first wife was María Rodríguez de Vivar, second daughter of El Cid (died ca. 1105). They had one child, María, who married Bernat III, Count of Besalú. His second wife Almonds produced no children.

His third wife was Douce, heiress of Provence (died ca. 1127) had at least six children who lived to adulthood:

1. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (1113/1114-1162) married Petronilla of Aragon, daughter of Ramiro II, King of Aragon.

2. Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Provence (ca. 1115?1144)

3. Berenguela or Berengaria (1116-1149), married Alfonso VII of Castile

4. Jimena (1117-1136), also known as Eixemena, married Roger III, Count of Foix

5. Estefania (b. 1118), married Centule II, Count of Bigorre

6. Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera

Ramon married Douce I of Provence, Countess of Provence. Douce was born ca 1090, Provence, France; died 1127. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douce_I,_Countess_of_Provence

She was the daughter of Gilbert I of Gévaudan and Gerberga of Provence and wife of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona. In 1112, she inherited the county of Provence through her mother. She married Ramon Berenguer at Arles on 3 February that year.

In 1113, Douce ceded her rights in Provence, Gévaudan, and the viscounty of Millau to her husband. According to a once prevailing opinion, "Provençal troubadours ... entered Catalonia at the time" and even the Catalan language was imported from Provence. It was the beginning of a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the Pyrenees.

In reality the marriage gave the House of Barcelona extensive interests in southern France and put it in conflict with the Counts of Toulouse, with whom a partition of Provence was signed in 1125, shortly before Douce's death. Her death inaugurated a period of instability in Provence. A branch of the House of Barcelona was set up to rule, but a disputed succession opened up wars between 1144 through 1162, which terminated in Provençal victory.

Her children with Ramon Berenguer were:

1. Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera

2. Berenguela (1116-1149), married Alfonso VII of Castile

3. Ramon Berenguer (1113-1162), Count of Barcelona

4. Berenguer Ramon (c. 1115-1144), Count of Provence

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_VI_of_Le%C3%B3n_and_Castile

He was the son of Ferdinand I of León and Queen Sancha, daughter of Alfonso V and sister of Bermudo III. As the second Alfonso was not meant to inherit the crown. Nevertheless, in 1063, his father convened the royal court to announce his decision to divide the kingdom among his sons: Alfonso was allotted León; Castile was given to his older brother Sancho; and Galicia to his younger brother García. His two daughters each received cities: Elvira that of Toro and Urraca that of Zamora. In giving them these territories, he expressed his desire that they respect his wishes and abide by the split.

After his father's death in 1065, Alfonso was crowned king of León in January 1066. He had to face the expansionist desires of his brother Sancho who, as the firstborn son, considered himself the legitimate heir of all of his father's kingdoms. The conflict began in 1067 upon the death of Queen Sancha, an event that would lead to a seven-year period of war among the three siblings.

Despite this, however, both brothers maintained friendly relations as evidenced by the fact that on 26 May 1069, Alfonso was present at the wedding of his brother Sancho where both agreed to join forces to divide among themselves the Kingdom of Galicia which had been allotted to their brother Garcia, the youngest son of King Fernando. Sancho marched across Alfonso's León to conquer García's northern lands at the time that Alfonso was in the southern part of the Galicia. García fled to Seville. The remaining brothers then turned on each other. This conflict culminated in the Battle of Golpejera in early January 1072. Sancho proved victorious and Alfonso was forced to flee to Toledo.

Later that year as Sancho was mopping up the last of the resistance, besieging his sister Urraca at Zamora in October, he was assassinated. This opened the way for Alfonso to return to claim Sancho's crown. García, induced to return from exile, was imprisoned by Alfonso for life, leaving Alfonso in uncontested control of the reunited territories of their father. In recognition of this and his role as the preeminent Christian monarch on the peninsula, in 1077 Alfonso proclaimed himself "Emperor of all Spain."

Alfonso VI stands out as a strong king whose interest was in law and order. He was a leader of his state during the Reconquista who was regarded by the Arabs as a very fierce and astute enemy. He showed a greater degree of interest than his predecessors in increasing the links between Iberia and the rest of Christian Europe. The past marital practices of the Iberian royalty had been to limit the choice of partners to the peninsula and Gascony, but Alfonso had French and Italian wives, and arranged to marry his daughters to French princes and an Italian king. He was tolerant towards the Arabs living in Iberia. He protected the Muslims among his subjects and struck coins with inscriptions in Arabic letters. He also admitted to his court and to his bed the refugee Muslim princess Zaida of Seville.

Alfonso married at least five times and had one or two mistresses. In 1069, Alfonso married Agnes of Aquitaine, daughter of William VIII of Aquitaine and his second wife Mateoda. They had no children.

Apparently between his first and second marriages he formed a liaison with Jimena Muñoz, a "most noble"concubine "derived from royalty." She appears to have been put aside, given land in Ulver, at the time of Alfonso's remarriage. By her Alfonso had two illegitimate daughters, Elvira and Teresa.

His second wife, whom he married by May 1080, was Constance of Burgundy, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. This marriage initially faced papal opposition, apparently due to her kinship with Agnes. Her tenure as queen consort brought significant Cluniac influences into the kingdom. She died in September or October, 1093, the mother of Alfonso's eldest legitimate daughter Urraca, and of five other children who died in infancy.

Either before or shortly after Constance's death, Alfonso formed a liaison with a second mistress, Zaida of Seville, said by Iberian Muslim sources to be daughter-in-law of Al Mutamid, the Muslim King of Seville. She fled the fall of Seville for Alfonso's kingdom in 1091, and soon became his lover, having by him Alfonso's only son, Sancho, who, though illegitimate, was apparently not born of an adulterous relationship, and hence born after the death of Constance. He would be named his father's heir. Several modern sources have suggested that Zaida, baptised under the name of Isabel, is identical with Alfonso's later wife, Queen Isabel (or that she was a second queen named Isabel whom he married in succession to the first). Zaida/Isabel died in childbirth, but the date is unknown, and it is unclear whether the child being delivered was Sancho, an additional illegitimate child, otherwise unknown, or legitimate daughter Elvira (if Zaida was identical to Queen Isabel).

Alfonso married Bertha. Chroniclers report her as being from Tuscany, Lombardy, or alternatively, say she was French. Several theories have been put forward regarding her origin. Based on political considerations, proposals make her daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy or of Amadeus II of Savoy. She had no children and died in late 1099.

Alfonso again remarried, to Isabel, having by her two daughters, Sancha, (wife of Rodrigo González de Lara), and Elvira, (who married Roger II of Sicily). It has been speculated that she was of Burgundian origin, but others conclude that Alfonso married his former mistress, Zaida, who had been baptized as Isabel. By May 1108, Alfonso married his last wife, Beatrice. She, as widow of Alfonso, is said to have returned home to France, but nothing else is known of her origin.

Alfonso was defeated on 23 October 1086, at the battle of Sagrajas, and was severely wounded in the leg. However, he recovered to continue as king of Leon and Castile.

Alfonso's designated successor, his son Sancho, was slain after being routed at the Battle of Uclés in 1108, making Alfonso's eldest legitimate daughter, the widowed Urraca as his heir. In order to strengthen her position as his successor, Alfonso began negotiations for her to marry her second cousin, Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre, but died before the marriage could take place.



Buried:
Grave location, biography, historical photo, and photo of monastery:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65896805

Alfonso married Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Castile and Léon. Constance (daughter of Robert I of Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy and Helie of Semur-en-Brionnais) was born 08 May 1046, County of Burgundy, France; died 1093, Castilla y León, Spain; was buried , Sahagun Monastery, Sahagun, Provincia de León Castilla y León, Spain. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Burgundy

The daughter of Duke Robert I of Burgundy and Helie de Semur-en-Brionnais, she was Queen consort of Castile and León by her marriage to Alfonso VI of León and Castile. Also she was the granddaughter of King Robert II of France, the second monarch of the French Capetian dynasty. She was the mother of Urraca of León, who succeeded her father in both Castile and León.

In 1065, Constance married her first husband, Hugh II, Count of Chalon. They were married for fourteen years until Hughes' death in 1079, they had no children.

In late 1079, Constance remarried to Alfonso VI of León and Castile. The marriage appears to have been orchestrated via the Cluniac connections at Alfonso's court. He had previously been married to Agnes of Aquitaine, whom he had either divorced or had been widowed by. The marriage of Constance and Alfonso initially faced papal opposition, apparently due to a kinship between Constance and Agnes.

Constance and Alfonso had several children but only one of these lived to adulthood:

Urraca (b. April 1079-March 8, 1126) Queen of Castile and León in her own right. Married firstly to Raymond of Burgundy, and arried secondly to Alfonso the Battler.

Constance died in 1093 leaving her fourteen-year-old daughter and her husband a widower. He went on to marry three further wives after her death, but only had a son by his Muslim mistress, Zaida of Seville.

After her death, the corpse of Constance was taken to the town of Sahagún and was buried in the Monastery of St. Facundo and Primitivo, where her husband, King Alfonso VI would be buried along with all his wives. The grave that contained the remains of Alfonso VI was destroyed in 1810 during a fire in the Monastery. Today, the remains of Alfonso VI are buried in the Royal Monastery of San Benito in Sahagún, at the foot of the temple, in a stone chest covered with smooth, modern marble and in a tomb near equally plain, lie the remains of several of the king's wives, including those of Constance.