Sancho Ramírez

Sancho Ramírez (born before 1045—died July 6, 1094, Huesca, Aragon) was the king of Aragon from 1063 to 1094 and of Pamplona (or Navarre; as Sancho V Ramírez) from 1076 to 1094, the son of Ramiro I of Aragon.

After the murder of Sancho IV of Navarre, Sancho Ramírez, with Navarrese consent, became king of Navarre, forestalling the ambition of Alfonso VI of Castile to annex that kingdom. Sancho’s main importance was as king of Aragon. After his father’s death (1063) fighting the Moors at Graus, the papacy organized three international crusades against Spanish Islām (1063, 1073, and 1087). They all failed, but Sancho reconquered many places from his own resources, notably in the regions of Huesca and Monzón; at the end of his reign Aragon began to edge toward the Mediterranean coast. Sancho placed his kingdoms under the feudal protection of the Holy See in 1089. He died of wounds during the siege of Huesca (1094).