García Sánchez III

García Sánchez III
Late medieval representation of García Sánchez III in a book about the Portuguese monarchs
King of Pamplona
Tenure	1035–1054
Predecessor	Sancho III
Successor	Sancho IV
Died	1054
Burial	Monastery of Santa María la Real of Nájera
Spouse	Stephanie of Foix
Issue	Sancho Garcés Urraca Ermesinda Ramiro Fernando Ramón Jimena Mayor Sancha Sancho (illegitimate) Mencía(illegitimate)
House	House of Jiménez
Father	Sancho III
Mother	Muniadona of Castile
Religion	Catholicism

García Sánchez III (Basque: Gartzea III.a Sanoitz; c. 1012 – 15 September 1054), nicknamed García from Nájera (Basque: Gartzea Naiarakoa, Spanish: García el de Nájera) was King of Pamplona from 1034 until his death. He was also Count of Álava and had under his personal control part of the County of Castile. As the eldest son of Sancho III he inherited the dynastic rights over the crown of Pamplona, becoming feudal overlord over two of his brothers: Ramiro, who was given lands that would serve as the basis for the Kingdom of Aragón; and Gonzalo, who received the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. Likewise, he had some claim to suzerainty over his brother Ferdinand, who under their father had served as Count of Castile, nominally subject to the Kingdom of León but brought under the personal control of Sancho III.

García Sánchez inherited the crown of Pamplona after the death of his father Sancho III in 1035, bypassing the late king's eldest son Ramiro, who was illegitimate. In 1043 he defeated his half-brother in battle, setting the eastern border of the kingdom. García Sánchez III took advantage of the weakened state of the numerous Islamic taifa kingdoms that arose after the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba to push the southern border over their territory, taking the city of Calahorra in 1045. He also inherited from his father the County of Álava and a great part of the County of Castile (La Bureba, Trasmiera, Montes de Oca, the Encartaciones and Las Merindades).