García Ramírez
| García Ramírez | |
|---|---|
Modern statue honouring García Ramírez in Pamplona
|
|
| Born | c. 1112 |
| Died | 21 November 1150 Lorca, Navarre |
| Burial | Pamplona Cathedral |
| Spouse |
Margaret of L'Aigle Urraca La Asturiana |
| Issue |
Sancho VI of Navarre Blanche Margaret |
| House | House of Jiménez |
| Father | Ramiro Sánchez, Lord of Monzón |
| Mother | Cristina Rodríguez |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
García Ramírez, sometimes García IV, V, VI or VII (c. 1112 – 21 November 1150), called the Restorer (Spanish: el Restaurador), was Lord of Monzón and Logroño, and, from 1134, King of Navarre. He restored the independence of the Navarrese crown after 58 years of union with the Kingdom of Aragon.
García was born in the early twelfth century. His father, Ramiro Sánchez of Monzón, was son of Sancho Garcés, illegitimate son of García Sánchez III of Navarre and half-brother of Sancho IV. His mother Cristina was a daughter of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid.
In 1076, as a consequence of the murder of king Sancho IV by his siblings, Navarre had been united with Aragon. However, with the loss of the childless warrior king Alfonso the Battler in 1134 the succession fell into dispute. In his unusual will, Alfonso had left the combined kingdoms to three crusading orders, which effectively neutralized the Papacy from exercising a role in selecting among the potential candidates. The nobility immediately rejected the will, with that of Aragon favoring Alfonso's younger brother Ramiro, a monk. The nobility of Navarre, skeptical of Ramiro having the necessary temperament to resist the incursions by their western neighbor, another claimant, king Alfonso VII of León and Castile, and perhaps chafing under the continued Aragonese hegemony, initially favored a different candidate, Pedro de Atarés, a grandson of Alfonso's illegitimate uncle, Sancho Ramírez, Count of Ribagorza. A convocation of the bishops and nobility was convened at Pamplona to decide between Pedro and Ramiro, but were so alienated by Pedro's arrogance that they abandoned him in favor of a scion of their own dynasty, García Ramírez, Lord of Monzón, like Pedro descended from an illegitimate brother of a former king. He was duly elected by the nobility and clergy of Navarre, while Ramiro was enthroned by that of Aragon and strongly opposed García's election in Navarre.
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