Sancho of Aragon (1250-1275)
Sancho of Aragon (1250– Martos, 1275) was an Infante of Aragon and Archbishop of Toledo, who was killed by the Moors.
Biography
Sancho was a son of James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolanda of Hungary. He joined the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy at a young age and had Peter Pascual as a tutor. He became Archbishop of Toledo in 1266, when he was only 16 years old.
He participated in the Reconquista against the Spanish Moors. In October 1275 he attacked a numerically superior Marinid army under command of Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq, and was defeated and taken prisoner. He was tortured and beheaded.
His body was recovered and buried in the Toledo Cathedral.
Because of his heroic death, he was worshipped by the people as a martyr and considered Blessed.
Sources
- Fernández Serrano, Francisco (October 1979). La muerte y el epitafio de don Sancho de Aragón, hijo de Jaime I, 1275 (in Spanish). ISBN 84-00-05009-6.