García II of Galicia

Political situation in the Northern Iberian Peninsula around 1065:
  Garcia II´s domains (Galicia)
  Badajoz, owing tribute to Garcia
  Seville, owing tribute to Garcia
  Alfonso VI´s domains (León)
  Toledo, owing tribute to Alfonso
  Sancho II´s domains (Castile)
  Zaragoza, owing tribute to Sancho

García II (c. 1042 22 March 1090), King of Galicia and Portugal,[1] was the youngest of the three sons and heirs of Ferdinand I, King of Castile and León, and Sancha of León, whose Leonese inheritance included the lands García would be given.

In the 1065 division of his father's estates, García was given the Galicia, including the County of Portugal, as well as the right to parias from the Taifas of Badajoz and Seville, his brother Sancho received the Kingdom of Castile, and a third brother, Alfonso was given the Kingdom of León. Calling himself 'King of Galicia and Portugal', García thus became the first to use the title King of Portugal. His power in the south of his polity was somewhat limited until 1071, when he defeated rebel Portuguese Count Nuno Mendes in the Battle of Pedroso. However, shortly after this victory, his brothers united against him and forced García to flee to Seville, partitioned his kingdom between them.

The next year, in 1072, Sancho defeated Alfonso and reunited the entire kingdom of their father, but was assassinated within months. Alfonso took control of Sancho's kingdom, and García returned from his exile. It is unclear if he hoped to reestablish himself in his kingdom or had been misled by promises of safety from Alfonso, but García was immediately imprisoned in a monastery where he remained until his death sometime around 1090.

Ancestry

Notes

  1. Although he was the only García to hold this title, a unified system has been used to enumerate the kings of Asturias, Galicia, León, and Castile, and there was an earlier García I of León, making the King of Galicia "García II".
Preceded by
Ferdinand I
King of Galicia
and Portugal

10651071
Succeeded by
Alfonso VI
and
Sancho II
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