Urraca of Zamora

  General Notes:

Before his death in 1065, Ferdinand divided his widespread conquests in central Spain between his five children, charging them to live at peace with one another. Ferdinand's oldest son Sancho II of Castile (the Strong); received Castile and the tribute from Zaragoza; Alfonso VI (the Brave) received León and the tribute from Toledo; and García received Galicia. His daughters, Elvira and Urraca, received Toro and Zamora respectively.

Sancho however resolved to rule over his father's entire kingdom and made war on his siblings. By 1072, Sancho had overthrown his youngest brother Garcia, and forced his other brother Alfonso to flee to his Moorish vassal city of Toledo. Toro, the city of Sancho's sister Elvira, fell easily. But in a siege of Urraca's better-defended city of Zamora, King Sancho was stalled, and was then mysteriously assassinated on 7 October 1072. It was widely suspected that the assassination was a result of a pact between Alfonso and Urraca. The Chronicle of the Cid, purportedly written by one of the Cid's followers, states that the assassin was a nobleman of Zamora, who then received sanctuary in the city. The chronicle is careful not to place any direct blame on Alfonso or Urraca, just as it takes pains to stress that the participation of the Cid at the siege of Zamora was involuntary and supposedly forced on him by King Sancho.

The Castilian nobility, however, were highly suspicious of both Urraca and Alfonso, and maintained the siege of Zamora for a period after Sancho's death. In the absence of Sancho, however, their siege was pointless. According to the chronicle, the guilt of Zamora was decided by a trial by combat, which proved inconclusive. Urraca sent summonses to the nobles of Sancho's dominions, calling on them to gather, and Alfonso was grudgingly acknowledged as heir to all of the Castilian realm as well as León. Suspicion, however, remained and, led by the Cid and a dozen "oath-helpers," the nobles forced Alfonso to swear to his innocence publicly in front of St. Gadea's Church in Burgos. From this incident dated Alfonso's later antagonism to the Cid.

The Chronicle of the Cid states that in his early years as King, Alfonso followed Urraca's advice in all respects. There were even rumors of an incestuous relationship between the pair. Urraca maintained her rule over Zamora following Alfonso's succession to the Castilian throne. In her later years she gradually gave up her governing duties, finally retiring to a monastery in Leon, where she died in 1101. She is interred in the Chapel of the Kings at the Basílica of San Isidoro of León.