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Birth:           913 
Death:           970 
Burial:         St. Mary of Pamplona

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garc%C3%ADa_S%C3%A1nchez_I_of_Pamplona
García Sánchez I (Basque: Gartzea I.a Santxez; c. 919[a][2] – 970[3][4]), also known 
as García I, was King of Pamplona from 925 until his death in 970. He was the second 
king of the Jiménez dynasty, succeeding his father when he was merely six years old.
Biography[edit]

Son of Sancho I and Toda Aznárez, he succeeded his father in 925 when he was only 
six years old and reigned under the tutelage of his uncle Jimeno Garcés[b] and of his 
mother, Toda.[5] Three of García's sisters married kings of León:[6] Urraca married 
Ramiro II;[7] Oneca was the wife of Alfonso IV;[7] and Sancha Sánchez was first 
married to Ordoño II.[7][8] After Ordoño's death, she became the wife of Álvaro 
Herraméliz, Count of Álava, and after his death married Fernán González, Count of 
Castile.[7][8] Another sister, Velasquita, married Munio Vélaz, who was Álvaro 
Herraméliz's predecessor as count of Álava. According to historian Gonzalo Martínez 
Díez, "the intimate family ties of the Navarrese dynasty with the monarchs of León 
and with the counts of Castile and Álava, would be reflected in the battlefield where 
soldiers from Pamplona frequently fought side by side with the Leonese and Castilians 
against a common enemy, Islam".[7] Thanks to this web of alliances crafted by Queen 
Toda, Pamplona was able to increase its power and play a key role in the affairs of 
the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula.[5]

Upon the death of his uncle and tutor, Jimeno Garcés, on 29 May 931, another uncle, 
Íñigo Garcés, half-brother of García's father, Sancho I, probably tried to become the 
regent of the kingdom and perhaps even usurp the throne, to the detriment of his 
nephew's rights.[9] Both García and his mother Toda appear in a charter at the Abbey 
of San Pedro de Siresa on 9 March 933 without the royal titles.[9][c] A year later, in 
May 934, the Caliph of Córdoba, Abd-ar-Rahman III, led a military expedition against 
King Ramiro II of León.[11] The Caliph's original intention was to penetrate Castile, 
but he changed his plans when the Tujibid governor of Zaragoza, Muhammad ibn 
Hashim, refused to join forces. His armies first attacked the fortress in Maluenda and 
then ibn Hashim's fortress in Rueda de Jalón.[12] When Abd-ar-Rahman was about to 
penetrate the Kingdom of Pamplona, he received an embassy from Toda asking him to 
withdraw his troops, and also reminding him of the family ties that bound them.[d] The 
objective of Toda's embassy to his nephew Abd-ar-Rahman III could also have been 
to seek his protection for herself and her son and to have the Caliph "expressly 
recognize her son, the young monarch García Sánchez I".[14] This would have 
secured García the crown in the face of possible counterclaims (such as Íñigo 
Garcés).[9]

Abd-ar-Rahman, who had never met his aunt, imposed the condition that she was to 
meet him at his camp in Calahorra "as proof of the sincerity of her motives".[9] She 
accepted and went to meet him.[14] As described by historian Ibn Hayyan, as part of 
the "pact of submission and vassalage", she was to submit to him and detach herself 
from the other Christian rulers, allies, relatives, and desist from supporting them and do 
nothing to hurt the Muslims. She was also to allow free passage to his armies through 
the Kingdom of Pamplona and had to liberate the Muslim hostages that she had as a 
pledge for a payment due to her. She consented to all of his demands and he, in turn, 
gave her son, García, Pamplona and all of its districts in investiture. She left on the 
same day taking with her the rich presents that he had given her.[15] Shortly 
afterwards, the Muslim armies rapidly crossed the territory under the Pamplonese 
monarchy so as not to cause damage, and attacked the neighboring Álava and 
Castile, attacking the fortress in Grañón. They burned crops, chopped down fruit 
trees, and destroyed vineyards and buildings along the way.[e]

In 937, King García allied himself with Ramiro II of León and Muhammad ibn Hashim, 
governor of Zaragoza, resulting in a military campaign by Abd-ar-Rahman III via 
Calatayud and Zaragoza into García's lands.[17] He participated in July 939 in the 
Battle of Simancas alongside Ramiro II and Fernán González with the Christian armies 
defeating the caliphal forces.[18] After this reversal, Abd-ar-Rahman III was planning 
another expedition for March 940 but suspended all plans when he received a 
messenger from Ramiro II to negotiate a truce. The Caliph, in response, also sent an 
envoy to the Leonese court for the negotiations.[19] At about the same time or 
sometime before, he had also began talks with Sunyer, Count of Barcelona the result 
of which was a two-year truce. The accord, very advantageous for the Christians in 
commercial terms, included several conditions, one of which was the cancellation of 
the plans (or the annulment of the marriage) of King García with Count Sunyer's 
daughter.[f] The peace negotiations between King Ramiro II and Abd-ar-Rahman III 
were not concluded until the summer of 941.[21] The peace included "all the frontier 
communities between the kingdoms of Leon and Pamplona, from Santarém to Huesca 
since Ramiro had a great interest in including García Sánchez I, the king who 
governed the destinies of the Pyrenean kingdom, rather than leaving him in the hands 
of Abd-ar-Rahman as the only Christian ruler remaining in a state of war with the 
Cordoban caliphate".[21]

Following the death of Ramiro II and his successor Ordoño III of León, the Pamplona 
kingdom threw support behind the deceased king's younger brother, Sancho I of 
León,[3] who was García's nephew. When García's brother-in-law, later also his son-
in-law, and ally Fernán González of Castile switched his support and installed his own 
son-in-law Ordoño IV of León in place of Sancho, Fernán's relationship with García 
became strained[3] and the death of Fernán's wife, García's sister Sancha the next 
year led to a break. García directly intervened in León, capturing Fernán and restoring 
Sancho. Fernán was forced to make territorial concessions to García to gain his 
release and their alliance wasn't fully restored until 954, when Fernán remarried, this 
time, García's daughter Urraca.

He died on 22 February, 970 and was interred in the church of San Esteban, next to 
the Castle of Monjardín.

Marriage and children[edit]

García married his first cousin Andregoto Galíndez, daughter of Galindo Aznárez II, 
Count of Aragon and his wife Sancha Garcés.[g] Given that Galindo Aznárez II did not 
have any legitimate male heirs,[23] the rights to the County of Aragon passed down to 
Andregoto, and then to her first son with García Sánchez, who ruled both the Kingdom 
of Pamplona and the County of Aragon in a personal union.[h]

The following children were born of this marriage:
Sancho II of Pamplona, King of Pamplona and Count of Aragon until his death in 994. 
He was married to his first cousin, Urraca Fernández, daughter of Fernán González of 
Castile, Count of Castile and his wife Sancha Sánchez, who was Urraca's paternal 
aunt.[24]
Toda Garcés[i]

Andregoto was repudiated by her husband in 942.[24] She retired to her lands in Aibar 
where she died sometime after June 971.[j]

The King had reached an agreement to marry the daughter of Sunyer, Count of 
Barcelona, but the forced submission of Sunyer to Abd-ar-Rahman included the 
abandonment of this plan.[20] By 943, García had married Teresa of León,[24][k] 
daughter of his ally King Ramiro II of León and Adosinda Gutiérrez. They had the 
following children:
Ramiro Garcés of Viguera (died 981),[28] first King of Viguera.[29]
Jimeno Garcés[l]
Urraca Garcés (died before 1008),[24][m] was the second wife of Fernán González, 
Count of Castile, and, after his death, married to Guillermo Sánchez, Count of 
Vasconia.[33][34][n]

Parents
GARCES Sancho I "Optimo Imperator" (ABT  880 - 10 Dec  925)
AZNAREZ OF LARRON Toda (ABT  876 - AFT  970)

Siblings
SANCHEZ Garcia III ( 913 -  970)
SANCHEZ OF NAVARRE Sancha (ABT  915 - Dec  959)

Marriage To SANCHEZ Andregota (ABT  915 -  972)
    m.  920 

Notes
contract marriage, see date of child's birth

Parents
AZNAREZ Galindo II (ABT  850 - ABT  922)
GARCES Sancha (ABT  890 - )

Children by SANCHEZ Andregota ABT  915 -  972
ABARCA Sancho II (ABT  936 - Dec  994)

Marriage To OF LEON Teresa (ABT  926 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Ramiro II (ABT  900 - 1 Jan  951)
GUTIERREZ Adosinda (ABT  900 - )

Children by OF LEON Teresa ABT  926 - 
GARCIA OF NAVARRE Urraca (ABT  943 - )

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