Sancho II of León and Castile

Who was Sancho II of León and Castile?

Sancho II, called the Strong, was King of Castile, Galicia and León.

Born at Zamora, Sancho was the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Castile and Sancha of León, the eventual heiress to the Leonese crown. He was married to Alberta, a woman, probably foreign, of unknown origin. He succeeded in Castile while his younger brother Alfonso succeeded in their mother's inheritance of León and Galicia was given to the youngest son García.

In 1068, Sancho defeated his cousins Sancho IV of Navarre and Sancho of Aragon in the War of the Three Sanchos. He reconquered Bureba, Alta Rioja, and Álava, which his father had given to Sancho of Navarre's father, García, in return for aid against Bermudo III of León. In that year, he defeated Alfonso, his brother, at Llantada, but he soon teamed up with him to conquer Galicia. They succeeded and partitioned it, but Sancho then turned on Alfonso. With the aid of his alférez El Cid, he defeated Alfonso at Golpejera. He then forced him into exile in Toledo and took over León as king, being crowned in the city of León on 12 January 1072..

Some Leonese resistance still persisted, and his sister, Urraca, Lady of Zamora, held that city against his rule.