Sancho VI of Navarre

Who was Sancho VI of Navarre?

Sancho VI Garcés, called the Wise, was the king of Navarre from 1150 until his death in 1194.

Son of King García Ramírez and Queen Margaret of L'Aigle, Sancho was the first to use the title "King of Navarre" as the sole designation of his kingdom, dropping Pamplona out of titular use.

His reign was full of clashes with Castile and Aragón. He was a monastic founder and many architectural accomplishments date to his reign. He is also responsible for bringing his kingdom into the political orbit of Europe.

He tried to repair his kingdom's borders which had been reduced by the Treaties of Tudején and Carrión, which he had been forced to sign with Castile and Aragón in his early reign. By the Accord of Soria, Castile was eventually confirmed in its possession of conquered territories. He was hostile to Raymond Berengar IV of Aragón, but Raymond's son Alfonso II divided the lands taken from Murcia with him by treaty of Cazorla in 1179. In 1190, the two neighbours again signed a pact in Borja of mutual protection against Castilian expansion.

He died on 27 June 1194, in Pamplona, where he is interred.

He married Sancha of Castile in 1157, the daughter of Alfonso VII. Their children were: