Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia

     Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia was born in April 1079 at Burgos, Castile, Spain.^1,2 She was the daughter of Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Constance of Burgundy. La Temeraria means the Reckless.^1,2 She was the heiress of Castile and León.^1,2

Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia married Raymond of Burgundy and Ivrea ~ Count of Castile, son of William II the Great ~ Comte de Bourgogne et Mâcon and Stephanie de Longwy, in 1087 at Toledo, Castile–La Mancha, Spain. By this marriage, Raymond received as dowry the government of the Kingdom of Galicia (which included the County of Portugal and the County of Coimbra), although shortly after, in 1095, Alfonso VI gave the County of Portugal and the County of Coimbra to Henry of Burgundy, father of the first Portuguese King Afonso Henriques of Portugal, basing it in Bracara Augusta (nowadays Braga).^1,3,2 Urraca’s place in the line of succession made her the focus of dynastic politics, and she became a child bride at age eight (1087) to Raymond of Burgundy, a mercenary adventurer. Urraca's marriage to Raymond was part of Alfonso VI's diplomatic strategy to attract cross-Pyrenees alliances. Author Bernard F. Reilly suggests that, rather than a betrothal, the eight-year-old Urraca was fully wedded to Raymond of Burgundy, as he almost immediately appears in protocol documents as Alfonso VI's son-in-law, a distinction that would not have been made without the marriage. Reilly doubts that the marriage was consummated until Urraca was 13, as she was placed under the protective guardianship of a trusted magnate. Her pregnancy and stillbirth at age 14 suggest that the marriage was indeed consummated when she was 13 or 14 years old.² Urraca became, in 1093, the Countess of Galicia.¹      Urraca became again an heir presumptive after the death of her half-brother Sancho at the Battle of Uclés in 1108. Alfonso VI reunited the nobles of the Kingdom in Toledo and announced that his widowed daughter was the chosen one to succeeded him. The nobles agreed with the royal designation but demanded that Urraca should marry again. Several candidates for the hand of the heiress to the thrones of León and Castile appeared immediately, including counts Gómez González and Pedro González de Lara. Alfonso VI feared that the rivalries between Castilian and Leonese nobles would be increased if she married any of these suitors and decided that his daughter should wed Alfonso I of Aragon, known as the Battler, opening the opportunity for uniting León-Castile with Aragon.² Urraca was crowned the Queen of Galicia, Castile, León, and Toledo on 1 July 1109.²

Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia, age 30, married Alfonso I the Battler ~ King of Aragon, son of Sancho Ramirez I , King of Aragon and Felicie de Roucy, in October 1109 at Monzón Castle, Monzón, Aragon, Spain.¹ Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia died on 8 March 1126 at Saldaña, Palencia, Castile and León, Spain, at age 46.^1,3,2 She was buried at Basilica of San Isidoro, León, Castile and León, Spain.¹

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