Toda of Navarre

Who was Toda of Navarre?

Toda Aznárez, also Teuda de Larraun or Tota, was the queen-consort of Pamplona through her marriage to Sancho I, who reigned 905–925, and was regent of Pamplona, 931–934. Later in life, she ruled a subkingdom created for her.

She was the daughter of Aznar Sánchez, lord of Larraun, paternal grandson of king García Íñiguez of Pamplona, while her mother Onneca Fortúnez was a daughter of king Fortún Garcés. Thus, Toda's children were also descendants of the Arista dynasty of Navarrese monarchs. She was sister of Sancha Aznárez, wife of king Jimeno Garcés, her husband's brother and successor, while Toda and Sancha were also aunts of Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III, through their mother's first marriage to ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad.

With the death of her brother-in-law Jimeno in 931, she became regent and guardian for her young son, García Sánchez I. In 934 Toda signed a treaty pledging allegiance to her nephew Abd-ar-Rahman III, and released hostages of the Banu Di n-Nun clan, the caliph confirming the rule of her son García. This led to the rebellion in Falces by a count Fortún Garcés, an "irascible man who hated Muslims", the uprising being suppressed with Cordoban arms. Toda violated her treaty in 937, forcing a punitive campaign.