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Fernando I never claimed the title of "King of Castile". He just was the Count of Castile, under the theoric supeditation to the Leonese King (Vermudo III)
- I believe he did use the title of king from 1035. Srnec 00:45, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
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- Alfonso Sanchez Candeira, in his "Castilla y León en el siglo XI: Estudio Del Reinado de Fernando I" (p. 106) cites charters in which Fernando was using the title of count and expressing his vassalage to Vermudo as late as 1 January 1037. Agricolae 02:08, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
- What is Candeira's conclusion regarding Ferdinand's kingship? Was he a king from 1035 or 1037? The issue of Sancho the Great's succession has never been made clear to me in any work of scholarship. I have read many contradictions. Sancho's reign is horribly under-studied; either that or I have never found the studies... Srnec (talk) 06:13, 20 November 2007 (UTC)
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- He seems to make Fernando only a count until he became king of Leon, (I say "seems" because I am relying on the Google Books version, with only a limited view available) and I would be very much surprised if it was otherwise given the contemporary charters reproduced by Sanchez Candeira in which he appears only as count. I guess he could have been calling himself count in front of Vermudo and king behind his back, but I don't recall any charter from this period in which he is seen using the royal title. There is also an issue as to the role of Fernando before his father's death. A charter of Sancho calls him "king in Castile" but I don't know that this need mean more than that he was a king, and was in Castile at the time the charter was issued, but perhaps also reflected that he considered himself to have some sort of overlord status above his son, which doesn't mesh well with Castile's nominal position as vassal of Leon. Agricolae (talk) 22:54, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
- Ah. A more general question about the succession then. Did Sancho make only his eldest son a king? I know that all his sons were vassals of García, no? Ramiro called himself a regulus if I'm not mistaken. What of Gonzalo? All I know is that Zurita called him a king. Seeing as there was a tradition of kings in Sobrarbe (I think) and Gonzalo was the second-eldest son (correct?), it is plausible to me that García and Gonzalo could have been made kings while their brothers were not. Is there any evidence for Gonzalo as king before his death (1045?)? Srnec (talk) 06:20, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
- Fernando would have been, technically, vassal of Vermudo but the others were vassals of Garcia. If it was presumed that Garcia would hold his father's Imperial title, then Fernando would have been his vassal one step removed. I have seen it claimed that Ramiro only called himself king after he absorbed Galindo's lands, but I have also seen reference to a charter in which he is said to call himself king shortly after his father's death (but I have only seen it mentioned, not an extract of the charter itself). I don't know about Galindo either - very slim documentation. There was no prior kingdom in Sobrarbe (perhaps you think of Viguera). It was a vassal county of Aragon, passing to Ribagorza by marriage at the same time Navarre acquired Aragon, then to Navarre by conquest (following depopulating muslim incursions), as did Ribagorza subsequently (later legitimized when Sancho III married the nominal Ribagorza heiress). Gonzalo was younger than Fernando. My guess would be that they were all intended to be counts except for Garcia, but Ramiro simply ignored this intention and elevated himself in a manner analogous to Affonso I of Portugal or Garcia Ramirez of Navarre.Agricolae (talk) 02:29, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
- Alright. I know there was never a kingdom of Sobrarbe, but there was a tradition of one. I don't know how early that tradition is, however. Do you know what I'm talking about? And I'm pretty sure that Gonzalo was older than Ferdinand, for two reasons: I have seen Ferdinand called "youngest" and Gonzalo listed ahead of him in more than one charter. Srnec 02:05, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
- Not familiar with the Sobrarbe tradition. As to Fernando, unfortunately, I have seen him called everything from oldest to youngest. Sanchez Candeira suggests Fernando might have received Castile because he was the elder(p. 72). To answer another question, he cites (p. 97) a document in which Gonzalo is using the royal title (1036). This leaves open the possibility that he was originally count, but took the title upon himself, as opposed to immediately succeeding as king. Agricolae 21:12, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
- Thankyou very much. This has been quite informative. There seems to me to be two general scenarios possible here. Either Sancho left García and Gonzalo kingdoms and counties for the younger Ferdinand and the illegitimate Ramiro and the latter assumed royal titles only on the death of Vermudo and the death of García, respectively. Or, Sancho left all to García as overlord of his brothers' counties and all of his brothers probably assumed royal titles at some point. Like I said, the career and succession of Sancho the Great are understudied. Srnec 03:45, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
- Ramiro was using the royal title long before Garcia's death, so he either was king from the start, or quickly elevated himself, presumably thereby claiming independence from Garcia. Agricolae 20:43, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
- Oh yes. If the charter you cited above for Gonzalo titling himself king in 1036 is reliable, I might be convinced that all Sancho's sons, either by his testament or their own (dis)agreements, were kings from 1035. Perhaps Ferdinand was the exception just because he was married off to an heiress? Srnec (talk) 03:16, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
- The problem with this interpretation is that Fernando wasn't married to an heiress. There was no way of knowing that Vermudo would be killed in battle without surviving children. I think it more likely that they were originally counts, but it became immediately obvious that Garcia couldn't hold them, and Ramiro and Gonzalo quickly elevated themselves. Fernando would be expected to have followed suit, but when Vermudo was killed it became moot. Sure wish there were more available charters in the immediate post-Sancho period. Agricolae (talk) 14:56, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, that does make more sense I suppose. But what was Sancho's and Ferdinand's attitude towards Vermudo? Do we know the motive behind the conquest of León? Was it pure aggrandisement or was their a legal justification that I'm not aware of? Did García ever attempt to use his father higher titles, such as rex Hispaniarum or imperator? I would think that if used either of those, he may have felt his suzerainty secure over his brother even if they were kings. Srnec (talk) 21:43, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
- It may sound good, but I have since read an article by Ubieto Arteta that convinces me of another model ("Estudos en torno a la division del Reino por Sancho el Mayor de Navarre", Principe de Viana, pp. 5-56,163-236). Specifically, he breaks down Ramiro's charters and wills and shows that Ramiro never considered himself to be anything more than holding his lands in stewardship (from Garcia in his first will, God in the second), and never used the royal title (calling himself simply "Ramiro, son of king Sancho" - his neighbors, sons, vassals, scribes and the church call him king at one time or another, but he never makes the claim himself). Likewise with Sancho Ramirez until he got Navarre, at which point he became King of Navarre and Aragon - in other words, Aragon follows the same path as Castile in acquiring royal status. As to the Imperial title, Sancho III's 'successor' was Vermudo, who never stopped using the title even while Sancho was using it, and continued to use it occasionally through his death. What Garcia did do is copy his father's unique style of rex Dei gratia which none of his brothers used (from 1072, Sancho Ramirez would start to use Dei gratia, but not rex until after the death of Sancho IV and the passing of Navarre). Anyhow, the first will of Ramiro shows he considered himself vassal of Garcia. Agricolae (talk) 15:09, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks! Very intersting. It tells us something about how 11th-century men saw the title "king" (rex). So many histories talk as if 1076 saw an Aragonese "takeover" of little Navarre, when in fact the Navarrese kingdom in effect gave its royal prestige to Aragon. Does the article say anything about Gonzalo, though I think we'd be safe in assuming he was/saw himself as a vassal of his eldest brother, but perhaps he was considered king by his subjects too? Srnec (talk) 14:25, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
