Queen Urraca of León and Castile

  General Notes:

Queen regnant of León, Castile, and Galicia, and claimed the imperial title as suo jure Empress of All the Spains from 1109 until her death in childbirth, as well as Empress of All Galicia.

Urraca's place in the line of succession made her the focus of dynastic politics, and she became a child bride at age eight to Raymond of Burgundy, a mercenary adventurer. Author Bernard F. Reilly suggest that rather than a betrothal, the eight-year-old Urraca was fully wedded to Raymond of Burgundy as he almost immediately appears in protocol documents as Alfonso VI's son-in-law, a distinction that would not have been made without the marriage. Reilly doubts that the marriage was consummated until Urraca was 13, as she was placed under the protective guardianship of a trusted magnate. However, Urraca's pregnancy and stillbirth at age 14 suggests the marriage was consummated when she was 13 or 14 years old.

Urraca's marriage to Raymond was part of Alfonso VI's diplomatic strategy to attract cross-Pyrenees alliances, and in 1105 she gave birth to a son, who would become Alfonso VII. However, after Raymond died in 1107, Urraca's father contracted with Alfonso I of Aragon, known as the Battler, for a dynastic marriage with Urraca, opening the opportunity for uniting León-Castile with Aragón.

Urraca married Count Raymond of Burgundy of Amous, son of Count William of Burgundy I and Stephanie de Etiennette, in 1090. (Count Raymond of Burgundy of Amous was born in 1070 in Besançon, , Franche-Comté, FRA and died in 1107.)

Urraca next married King Alfonso of Aragon and Navarre the Battler in 1109. The marriage ended in annulment. (King Alfonso of Aragon and Navarre the Battler was born in 1073 and died on 8 Sep 1134.)