Sancha of Aragon (died 1097)

Sancha Ramírez (born c. 1045, died 1097) was an Aragonese princess, the daughter of King Ramiro I and Queen Ermesinda. She was the Countess of Urgell from c.1063 until 1065 as the wife of Count Ermengol III. Her brothers Sancho Ramírez and García Ramírez became king of Aragon and bishop of Pamplona, respectively. During her brother's reign she played an important role in consolidating the kingdom of Aragon, which had been founded by her father in 1035.

Around 1063, when she was only about 18 years old, Sancha married the much older count of Urgell. She was his fourth wife and he had been count since 1038. He died after only a few years of marriage in 1065. As a twenty-year-old widow, Sancha remained for a while in Urgell, appearing in acts beside he stepson, Count Ermengol IV. On 12 April 1065, she made a donation for the sake of her late husband's soul.

When Sancha finally returned to Aragon she entered the convent Santa María of Santa Cruz de la Serós, the oldest house of nuns in Aragon, founded in 922. Her sister Urraca was already a nun there, having entered at their father's request in 1061. Her other sister, Theresa, later also entered the monastery, probably on her brother Sancho's orders because no suitable husband could be found for her. Sancha does not appear to have become a nun, but to have instead acted as administrator of the convent. She was a beneficiary of her brother's donations, and her estates formed almost an apanage (infantazgo) of the royal family. They would form the nucleus of the monastery's later territory.

On 27 October 1070 in the atrium of the abbey of Santa Cruz, before the abbess and the nuns, Sancha de Aibar, the mother of King Ramiro, gave to her granddaughter and namesake, the countess Sancha, the monastery of Santa Cecilia de Aibar with its appurtenances and revenues, the Villa Miranda in the Cinco Villas and the estate of San Pelayo de Atés. The elder Sancha had received the estate at Aibar with the monastery from Queen Jimena Fernández, the mother of Sancho III of Pamplona and thus grandmother of Ramiro. From Ramiro her son she received Miranda and San Pelayo after he became king. After her gift to her granddaughter she entered the convent of Santa Cruz. The younger Sancha was to enjoy the profits of her acquisitions until her own death, when they would pass to Santa Cruz. This donation and its stipulations is evidence that Sancha, although quite young, had no intention of remarrying as of 1070.

...
Wikipedia