Urraca of León, Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia

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.

Urraca married Raymond of Burgundy. Raymond was born ca 1070, Besançon, County of Burgundy, France; died 24 May 1107, Grajal de Campos, Provincia de León Castilla y León, Spain; was buried , Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela Provincia da La Coruña Galicia, Spain. [Group Sheet]

1. Alfonso VII Raimúndez of León, King of Galicia, King of León and Castille was born 01 Mar 1105, Caldas de Reis, Galicia, Spain; died 21 Aug 1157, Muradel Pass, Sierra Morena mountains, Spain ; was buried , Cathedral of Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

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.

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I,_Duke_of_Burgundy

Known as Robert the Old and "Tete-Hardi", he was Duke of Burgundy from 1032 to his death. Robert was son of King Robert II of France and brother of Henry I of France.

In 1025, with the death of his eldest brother Hugh Magnus, he and Henry rebelled against their father and defeated him, forcing him back to Paris. In 1031, after the death of his father the king, Robert participated in a rebellion against his brother, in which he was supported by his mother, Constance of Arles. Peace was only achieved when Robert was given Burgundy in 1032.

Throughout his reign, he was little more than a robber baron who had no control over his vassals, whose estates he often plundered, especially those of the Church. He seized the income of the diocese of Autun and the wine of the canons of Dijon. He burgled the abbey of St-Germain at Auxerre. In 1048, he repudiated his wife, Helie of Semur followed by the assassination of her brother Joceran and the murdering her father, his father-in-law, Lord Dalmace I of Semur, with his own hands. In that same year, the Bishop of Langres, Harduoin, refused to dedicate the church of Sennecy so as not "to be exposed to the violence of the duke."

His first son, Hugh, died in battle at a young age and his second son, Henry, also predeceased him. He was succeeded by Henry's eldest son, his grandson, Hugh I.

He married his first wife, Helie of Semur about 1033, and repudiated her in 1048. Robert and Helie had five children:

1. Hugh (1034-1059), killed in battle

2, Henry (1035-ca.1074). He died shortly before his father, thus making his son Robert's heir. His children included Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (1057-1093), Odo I, Duke of Burgundy (1058-1103), and Henry, Count of Portugal (1066-1112), among others

3. Robert (1040-1113), poisoned; married Violante of Sicily, daughter of Roger I of Sicily

4. Simon (1045-1087)

5. Constance (1046-1093), married Alfonso VI of León and Castile

From his second wife, Ermengarde, daughter of Fulk III of Anjou, he had one daughter:

1. Hildegarde (c.1056-1104), married William VIII of Aquitaine

Robert married Helie of Semur-en-Brionnais. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I,_Duke_of_Burgundy

She was the daughter of Lord Dalmace I of Semur and married Robert I, Duke of Burgundy, who was little more than a robber baron who had no control over his vassals, whose estates he often plundered, especially those of the Church. In 1048, he repudiated Helie, followed by the assassination of her brother Joceran and the murdering her father with his own hands.

Robert and Helie had five children:

1. Hugh (1034-1059), killed in battle

2, Henry (1035-ca.1074). He died shortly before his father, thus making his son Robert's heir. His children included Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (1057-1093), Odo I, Duke of Burgundy (1058-1103), and Henry, Count of Portugal (1066-1112), among others

3. Robert (1040-1113), poisoned; married Violante of Sicily, daughter of Roger I of Sicily

4. Simon (1045-1087)

5. Constance (1046-1093), married Alfonso VI of León and Castile

Notes:

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

Called the Pious (French: le Pieux) or the Wise (French: le Sage), he was King of the Franks from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine.

Immediately after his own coronation, Robert's father Hugh Capet, Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December 987. A measure of Hugh's success is that when Hugh died in 996, Robert continued to reign without any succession dispute, but during his long reign actual royal power dissipated into the hands of the great territorial magnates. began to push for the coronation of Robert. "The essential means by which the early Capetians were seen to have kept the throne in their family was through the association of the eldest surviving son in the royalty during the father's lifetime," Andrew W. Lewis has observed, in tracing the phenomenon in this line of kings who lacked dynastic legitimacy.

Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December 987. A measure of Hugh's success is that when Hugh died in 996, Robert continued to reign without any succession dispute, but during his long reign actual royal power dissipated into the hands of the great territorial magnates.

He was a devout Catholic, hence his sobriquet "the Pious." He was musically inclined, being a composer, chorister, and poet, and made his palace a place of religious seclusion where he conducted the matins and vespers in his royal robes. Robert's reputation for piety also resulted from his lack of toleration for heretics, whom he harshly punished. He is credited with advocating forced conversions of local Jewry. He supported riots against the Jews of Orléans who were accused of conspiring to destroy the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Furthermore, Robert reinstated the Roman imperial custom of burning heretics at the stake.

The kingdom Robert inherited was not large, and in an effort to increase his power, he vigorously pursued his claim to any feudal lands that became vacant, usually resulting in war with a counter-claimant. In 1003, his invasion of the Duchy of Burgundy was thwarted, and it would not be until 1016 that he was finally able to get the support of the Church to be recognized as Duke of Burgundy.

The pious Robert made few friends and many enemies, including his own sons: Hugh, Henry, and Robert. They turned against their father in a civil war over power and property. Hugh died in revolt in 1025. In a conflict with Henry and the younger Robert, King Robert's army was defeated, and he retreated to Beaugency outside Paris, his capital. He died in the middle of the war with his sons on 20 July 1031 at Melun. He was interred with Constance in Saint Denis Basilica and succeeded by his son Henry, in both France and Burgundy.

As early as 989, having been rebuffed in his search for a Byzantine princess, Hugh Capet arranged for Robert to marry Rozala, the recently widowed daughter of Berengar II of Italy, many years his senior, who took the name of Susanna upon becoming Queen. She was the widow of Arnulf II of Flanders, with whom she had two children. Robert divorced her within a year of his father's death in 996.

He tried instead to marry Bertha, daughter of Conrad of Burgundy, around the time of his father's death. She was a widow of Odo I of Blois, but was also Robert's cousin. For reasons of consanguinity, Pope Gregory V refused to sanction the marriage, and Robert was excommunicated. After long negotiations with Gregory's successor, Sylvester II, the marriage was annulled.

Finally, in 1001, Robert entered into his final and longest-lasting marriage to Constance of Arles, the daughter of William I of Provence. Her southern customs and entourage were regarded with suspicion at court. After his companion Hugh of Beauvais urged the king to repudiate her as well, knights of her kinsman Fulk III, Count of Anjou had Beauvais murdered. The king and Bertha then went to Rome to ask Pope Sergius IV for an annulment so they could remarry. After this was refused, he went back to Constance and fathered several children by her. Her ambition alienated the chroniclers of her day, who blamed her for several of the king's decisions. Constance and Robert remained married until his death in 1031.

They had the following children:

1. Hedwig (or Advisa), Countess of Auxerre (c. 1003-after 1063), married Renauld I, Count of Nevers on 25 January 1016 and had issue.

2. Hugh Magnus, co-king (1007-17 September 1025)

3. Henry I, successor (4 May 1008-4 August 1060)

4. Adela, Countess of Contenance (1009-5 June 1063), married (a) Richard III of Normandy and (b) Count Baldwin V of Flanders.

5. Robert (1011-21 March 1076) Duke of Burgundy

6. Odo or Eudes (1013-c.1056), who may have been intellectually disabled and died after his brother's failed invasion of Normandy

7. Constance (1014-1052), married Count Manasses de Dammartin.

Robert married Constance of Arles, Queen of the Franks. Constance (daughter of William I of Provence and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou) was born ca 986, Arles, France; died 28 Jul 1032, Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France; was buried , Saint Denis Basilique, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

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

Born ca 986 Constance was the daughter of William I, count of Provence and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou.

Constance was married to King Robert, after his divorce from his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy. The marriage was stormy; Bertha's family opposed her, and Constance was despised for importing her Provençal kinfolk and customs. Robert's friend, Hugh of Beauvais, tried to convince the king to repudiate her in 1007. Possibly at her request twelve knights of her kinsman, Fulk Nerra, then murdered Beauvais.

In 1010 Robert went to Rome, followed by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. Pope Sergius IV was not about to allow a consanguineous marriage which had been formally condemned by Pope Gregory V and Robert had already repudiated two wives. So the request was denied. After his return according to one source Robert "loved his wife more."

Robert and Constance had the following children:

1. Hedwig (or Advisa), Countess of Auxerre (c. 1003-after 1063), married Renauld I, Count of Nevers on 25 January 1016 and had issue.

2. Hugh Magnus, co-king (1007-17 September 1025)

3. Henry I, successor (4 May 1008-4 August 1060)

4. Adela, Countess of Contenance (1009-5 June 1063), married (a) Richard III of Normandy and (b) Count Baldwin V of Flanders.

5. Robert (1011-21 March 1076) Duke of Burgundy

6. Odo or Eudes (1013-c.1056), who may have been intellectually disabled and died after his brother's failed invasion of Normandy

7. Constance (1014-1052), married Count Manasses de Dammartin.

At Constance's urging, her eldest son Hugh Magnus was crowned co-king alongside his father in 1017. But later Hugh demanded his parents share power with him, and rebelled against his father in 1025. Constance, however, on learning of her son's rebellion was furious with him, rebuking him at every turn. At some point Hugh was reconciled with his parents but shortly thereafter died, probably about age eighteen.

Robert and Constance quarreled over which of their surviving sons should inherit the throne; Robert favored their second son Henry, while Constance favored their third son, Robert. Despite his mother's protests and her support by several bishops, Henry was crowned in 1027. Constance, however, was not graceful when she didn't get her way.

Constance encouraged her sons to rebel, and they began attacking and pillaging the towns and castles belonging to their father. Son Robert attacked Burgundy, the duchy he had been promised but had never received, and Henry seized Dreux. At last King Robert agreed to their demands and peace was made which lasted until the king's death.

King Robert died on 20 July 1031. Soon afterwards Constance was at odds with both her surviving sons. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henry fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henry began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.

Constance died 28 July 1032. and was buried beside her husband Robert at Saint-Denis Basilica