Sancho I of Portugal

Sancho I (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃ʃu]), nicknamed "the Populator" (Portuguese: "o Povoador"), King of Portugal (Coimbra, 11 November 1154 – 26 March 1211) was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fifth child of Afonso I of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father and was crowned in Coimbra when he was 31 years old on 9 December 1185. He used the title King of Silves from 1189 until he lost the territory to Almohad control in 1191.

Early life

Sancho was baptized with the name Martin (Martinho) since he was born on the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. On 15 August 1170, he was knighted by his father, King Afonso I, and from then on he became his second in command, both administratively and militarily. At this time, the independence of Portugal (declared in 1139) was not firmly established. The kings of León and Castile were trying to re-annex the country and the Roman Catholic Church was late in giving its blessing and approval. Due to this situation Afonso I had to search for allies within the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal made an alliance with the Crown of Aragon and together they fought Castile and León. To secure the agreement, Sancho married Dulce, younger sister of King Alfonso II of Aragon, in 1174. Aragon was thus the first Iberian kingdom to recognize the independence of Portugal.

Succession

With the death of Afonso I in 1185, Sancho I became the second king of Portugal. Coimbra was the centre of his kingdom; Sancho terminated the exhausting and generally pointless wars against his neighbours for control of the Galician borderlands. Instead, he turned all his attentions to the south, towards the Moorish small kingdoms (called taifas) that still thrived. With Crusader help he took Silves in 1188. Silves was an important city of the South, an administrative and commercial town with population estimates around 20,000 people. Sancho ordered the fortification of the city and built a castle which is today an important monument of Portuguese heritage. However, military attention soon had to be turned again to the North, where León and Castile threatened again the Portuguese borders. Silves was again lost to the Moors in 1191.

Legacy

Sancho I dedicated much of his reign to political and administrative organization of the new kingdom. He accumulated a national treasure, supported new industries and the middle class of merchants. Moreover, he created several new towns and villages (like Guarda in 1199) and took great care in populating remote areas in the northern Christian regions of Portugal – hence the nickname "the Populator". The king was also known for his love of knowledge and literature. Sancho I wrote several books of poems and used the royal treasure to send Portuguese students to European universities. He died in Coimbra, aged 56.

Marriage and issue

Sancho married Dulce, daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, and Petronilla, Queen of Aragon. Eleven children were born from her marriage to King Sancho, nine of whom reached adulthood:

• Theresa (1175/1176 – 18 June 1250), she became the wife of King Alfonso IX of León and was beatified in 1705;
• Sancha (1180 – 13 March 1229), founded the Monastery of Celas near Coimbra where she lived until her death. Her sister Theresa arranged for her burial at the Monastery of Lorvão. She was beatified by Pope Clement XI in 1705, the same year as Theresa;
• Constanza (May 1182 – 3 August 1202). She must have died before 1186 since her name is not registered in any of the documents of the chancellery of Sancho I which begins in that year";
• Afonso (23 April 1186 – 25 March 1223), succeeded his father as the third king of Portugal;
• Raymond (1187/88 – 9 March bef. 1188/89), who died in infancy;
• Peter (23 February 1187 – 2 June 1258), spouse of Aurembiaix, countess of Urgell;
• Ferdinand (24 March 1188 – 27 July 1233), count through his marriage to Joan, Countess of Flanders;
• Henry (aft. March 1189 – 8 Dec aft. 1189), who died during infancy;
• Mafalda (1195/1196 – 1 May 1256), the wife of Henry I of Castile, was beatified in 1793;
• Branca (1198 – 17 November 1240), probably the twin sister of Berengaria, was raised in the court with her father and his mistress "a Ribeirinha" and, when she was eight or ten years old, was sent to live with her sisters at the Monastery of Lorvão. She was a nun at a convent in Guadalajara and was buried at the same monastery as her mother;
• Berengaria (1198 – 27 March 1221), probably the twin sister of Branca, married Valdemar II of Denmark in 1214.

Children out of wedlock

With Maria Aires de Fornelos, daughter of Aires Nunes de Fornelos and Maior Pais, who was buried at the Monastery of Santo Tirso in accordance with her last will, Sancho had two children, both born before his marriage to Dulce of Aragon:

• Martim Sanches (born before 1175) Count of Trastámara. Martim married Elo Pérez de Castro, with no issue from this marriage;
• Urraca Sanches (born before 1175), was married to Lourenço Soares, son of Soeiro Viegas and Sancha Bermúdez de Traba.

After Dulce's death, he had an affair with María Pais de Ribeira "a Ribeiriña" for whom he wrote and dedicated a cantiga de amigo, A Ribeirinha, composed in 1199, the oldest text known in Portuguese poetry. At least six children were born of this relationship:

• Rodrigo Sanches (died 1245), had a bastard son with Constança Afonso de Cambra called Afonso Rodrigues, a Franciscan friar and the "Guardian of the Convent of Lisbon";
• Gil Sanches (died on 14 September 1236), a cleric and troubadour, his father left him 8,000 morabetinos in his will. Gil granted fueros to the settlers of Sardezas in 1213;
• Nuno Sanches, he died in his childhood on a 16 of December in an unknown year. He could also have been the son of Maria Aires de Fornelos;
• Maior Sanches, also died at an early age on 27 of August of an unknown year;
• Teresa Sanches, her father left her 7,000 morabetinos in his will. She was the second wife of Alfonso Téllez de Meneses whom she married before 1220 and with whom she had issue;
• Constança Sanches (1204-8 August 1269). Her father left her 7,000 morabetinos in his will. She was the God-mother of her grand-niece, Infanta Sancha and left her half of Vila do Conde, Avelaneda, Pousadela, Parada and Maçãs. She also owned estates in Torres Vedras.

King Sancho also had one son with Maria Moniz de Ribeira, daughter of Munio Osorio, tenente of the comarca of Cabreira and Ribera,and of Maria Nunes of Grijó,:

• Pedro Moniz, who married a woman whose name is not recorded, and was the father of Maria Peres de Cabreira, the wife of Martim Peres Machado, the first to use the last name Machado.

• Mattoso 2014, p. 334.
• ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 84.
• Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 84 and 89.
• Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 89.
• ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 85.
• Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 85 and 92.
• Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 85 and 93.
• Carvalho Correia 2008, p. 180.
• ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 94.
• Carvalho Correia 2008, p. 2.
• Carvalho Correia 2008, pp. 178,180-182.
• ^ Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1997, p. 166.
• Carvalho Correia 2008, pp. 180-182.
• Carvalho Correia 2008, p. 187.
• Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 44.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, pp. 223-224.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, p. 223.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, p. 224.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, pp. 224-225.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, p. 225.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, pp. 168 and 261.
• Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1987, p. 168.

Ancestors