García Sánchez II of Pamplona

García Sánchez II, sometimes García II, III, IV or V (died 1004), called the Trembling, the Tremulous, or the Trembler (in Spanish, "el Temblón") by his contemporaries, was the king of Pamplona and count of Aragón from 994 until his death. He was the son of King Sancho II and Urraca Fernández.

Throughout his reign, his foreign policy seems to have been closely linked to that of Castile. His mother was aunt of count Sancho García of Castile, and also of the powerful count of Saldaña, García Gómez of Carrión, and she appears to have played a role in forming a bridge between the kingdom and county.

He joined his cousin Sancho in attempting to break from the submission his father had offered to Córdoba, as a result of which he had to face Almanzor. In 996 he was forced to seek peace in Córdoba. In 997 during an expedition into the land of Calatayud, García killed the governor's brother. Almanzor took revenge by beheading 50 Christians. At the Battle of Cervera in July 1000, he allied with counts Sancho García of Castile, and García Gómez of Saldaña, to defeat and nearly rout Almanzor, and tradition names him one of the Christian leaders at the 1002 Battle of Calatañazor, which resulted in the death of Almanzor, and the consequent crisis in the Caliphate of Córdoba. He died 1004, when his son Sancho succeeded to the kingdom.

Domestically, he granted the rule in Aragon to his brother Gonzalo, under the tutelage of his mother Urraca. [Pérez de Urbel, 318, says it was brother Ramiro, but this appears to be an unintended slip, as his supporting endnote includes a quotation explicitly naming Gonzalo as the count.] A tradition reports that he freed all of the Muslim captives being held in the kingdom. He had married by August 981, Jimena, daughter of Ferdinand Vermúdez, count of Cea by Elvira Díaz (aunt of count García Gómez of Saldaña). Among their children were the future king Sancho Garcés III and Urraca, later the second wife of Alfonso V of Leon.

ources

*Pérez de Urbel, Justo. "Los Primeros Siglos de la Reconquista, (Años 711-1038)" in "España Christiana: Comienzo de la Reconquista (711-1038). Historia de España [dirigida por Don Ramón Menéndez Pidal] ", vol. 6. Espasa Calpe: Madrid, 1964.

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