Three Blancas???

[Bert45]

I'm going through the photos I took last June in the Monastery of Santa María la Real, Nájera. I found another "Reyna" Blanca, which makes three. Can one of you (probably Kathar1na) sort them out for me?
The first photo is of the one in the Panteón de los Infantes, and the information given with it says it is the cover of the sarcophagus of Blanca Garcés (1135-56), daughter of García Ramírez, wife of Sancho III and mother of Alfonso VIII. The second photo says that it is the tomb of "La Reina Doña Blanca de Castilla Mujer de Don Sancho Deseado de Castilla". The third photo is of another tomb on which is the inscription: "LA REYNA DONA BLANCA MUJER DE DON SANCHO REY".
There are too many Sanchos, and seemingly three Blancas.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

1) Blanca Garcés (1135-56), daughter of García Ramírez [King of Pamplona], wife of Sancho III [King of Castile] and mother of Alfonso VIII

Blanca Garcés de Pamplona - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

es.m.wikipedia.org

​

File:Tapa del sepulcro de la reina Blanca Garcés de Navarra, madre de Alfonso VIII de Castilla, y panteón de infantes del monasterio de Nájera.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.m.wikimedia.org

2) La Reina Doña Blanca de Castilla Mujer de Don Sancho Deseado de Castilla

Same as #1. See Wikipedia article for #1. Blanca's body was moved so there is both a sarcophagus and a tomb.​

3) LA REYNA DONA BLANCA MUJER DE DON SANCHO REY

​

I haven't completely figured this out and Peg is looking towards going for a walk now. However check out these:​

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a) http://hesperia.ucm.es/consulta_aehtam/imagen.php?nombre_archivo=LAMINA_045&id=5479​

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b) http://hesperia.ucm.es/consulta_aehtam/Texto.php?filtrar=&valor=&id=5479​

​

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Solution: #1 and #2 are the same Blanca and #3 is really a Placencia.

Translated clips from

Sancho IV Garcés, rey de Pamplona (1054-1076) - Historia del Condado de Castilla

[ ¿Pamplona?, c. 1040 – Peñalén (Funes, Navarra), 4 junio 1076] Llamado el de Peñalén. Rey de Pamplona (1054 – 1076), último de la dinastía de los Jimenos Hijo primogénito…

www.condadodecastilla.es

Sancho IV Garcés, king of Pamplona (1054-1076)​

King Sancho was buried, along with his wife Placencia, in the royal pantheon of Santa María la Real de Nájera.​

​

Here's the English translation of part of

Banco de Datos AEHTAM-Texto y aparato crítico

Over the years, the identity of King Sancho's wife has been confused. It seems that a misinterpretation of the texts may have confused the name Placencia with that of Blanca (CIHM 6, 24).​

BTW, Sancho IV died after being thrown off a cliff. My guess is probably very soon after.

Also, Bert had a question on another thread about the figures on #1’s sarcophagus. A translation from

Blanca Garcés de Pamplona - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

es.m.wikipedia.org

​

On the tomb of the queen, made of sandstone and resembling a two-sided tomb lid, a bas-relief was sculpted depicting the queen lying on her funeral bed, accompanied by two angels who were carrying her soul to Heaven, with the inscription "REGINA DONNA BLANCA" appearing below. On the right side of the tomb is represented Sancho III the Desired, with a crown, tunic and sad appearance, and consoled by several courtiers, with six mourners appearing on the right of the scene, while on the left side are represented two groups of women. On the cover of the tomb was sculpted the Pantocrator and the apostles, with six apostles represented on one side of the seated Christ, and another six on the opposite side, and on the tomb was sculpted the following epitaph, of which only a few remains are visible today: [Latin omitted by Rick]​

About the pantheon (translated)

Los Reyes de Nájera-Pamplona

En el Panteón Real de Nájera, se hallan enterrados 5 reyes y 7 reinas del Reino Nájera-Pamplona. ¿Conoces su historia?

najera.es

As a result of these reigns, the Royal Pantheon was established in the Monastery of Santa María La Real de Nájera, where 5 kings, 7 queens, 19 princes, 1 duke, many knights with titles of count and important figures are buried, distributed in the Royal Pantheon, Cave of the Virgin, Nave del Evangelio, Chapel of the Cross, Cloister of the Knights, Cloister and Chapel of the Vera Cruz.​

​

 

[AidaYYC]

I'm going through the photos I took last June in the Monastery of Santa María la Real, Nájera. I found another "Reyna" Blanca, which makes three. Can one of you (probably Kathar1na) sort them out for me?
The first photo is of the one in the Panteón de los Infantes, and the information given with it says it is the cover of the sarcophagus of Blanca Garcés (1135-56), daughter of García Ramírez, wife of Sancho III and mother of Alfonso VIII. The second photo says that it is the tomb of "La Reina Doña Blanca de Castilla Mujer de Don Sancho Deseado de Castilla". The third photo is of another tomb on which is the inscription: "LA REYNA DONA BLANCA MUJER DE DON SANCHO REY".
There are too many Sanchos, and seemingly three Blancas.

... too many Sanchos

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Let me add a note of speculation. The body of Blanca (died 1156) was first interred in the Panteón de los Infantes because Sancho was not King at the time and he would have been interred there if he died before his father. I suspect her body was moved to a more prestigious location when Sancho either became King or died.

BTW, Wikipedia has this introductory paragraph for Sancho:

Sancho III (c. 1134 – 31 August 1158), called the Desired (el Deseado), was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. He was the son of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his wife Berengaria of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son Alfonso VIII. His nickname was due to his position as the first child of his parents, born after eight years of childless marriage.​

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

... too many Sanchos

No kidding. Note though that not only did the Sanchos under discussion have different identifying numbers but they also reigned in different kingdoms.

BTW, look at the Forerunners section and its subsections on this webpage:

List of Spanish monarchs - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org