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The title of Imperator (totius)
Hispaniae (Latin for Emperor of [All] Spain)[1] was
borne, traditionally, by the monarchs of León, from at
least the tenth century. It was used, somewhat sporadically, in the
following two centuries as the kings of the various kingdoms of
Christian Iberia fought for supremacy and for
the imperiale culmen ("imperial summit"), the city of León.
Notice that before the emergence of the modern country of Spain
(beginning with the union of Castile and Aragon in 1492), the Latin word Hispania, in any of the Iberian Romance languages,
either in singular or plural forms (in English: Spain or Spains),
was used to refer to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, and not
exclusively, as in modern usage, to the country of Spain, thus excluding Portugal.
The imperial title is found in the Roda Codex, where Sancho I
of Pamplona (ruled 905 to 925) is named "Sanzio Garseanis
optime imperator", while "Ordonii imperatoris" refers
to Ordoño II of León, other kings of León being
styled simply as "regis".[2]
However, this document is thought to date from the late 10th
century and may not reflect contemporary usage. Likewise, it
appears to derive from an Iberian Arabic original, and the imperial
title may be an imprecise representation of some Arabic title such as Caliph. In the first decades of
the eleventh century, the Catalan Abbot Oliva referred to the kings of León,
Alfonso
V and Bermudo III, as
imperatores. In 1034, however, the city of León was
conquered by Sancho III of Navarre, known as
"the Great", and he began to refer to himself as rex
Hispaniarum — "King of the Spains" — a style which implied his
lordship over all the Iberian domains. He may even have minted
coins bearing the imperial title, "NAIARA/IMPERATOR",
although these may instead be coins of Sancho I.[3]
In 1054 upon the death of his elder brother García Sánchez III of
Navarre, Ferdinand I of
León gained a position of preeminence and was crowned "Emperor
of Spain" in 1056. Ferdinand I divided his lands between his sons
and the imperial title again fell into abeyance. By 1077 Alfonso VI, Fedinand I's second son,
reunified the kingdoms of his father through conquest and claimed
the imperial title. Alfonso VI of León married his daughter and
heiress Urraca to Alfonso the Battler, the king of Aragón, who would later lay claim
to the imperial title jure uxoris, through the right of his wife,
once she inherited her faither's kingdoms. However, the marriage
between Urraca and Alfonso of Aragon deteriorated precipitously
into open warfare between the couple until the annulment of their
marriage in 1112. Though now divorced from Urraca, Alfonso
continued to lay claim to the imperial title.[4] Urraca
herself claimed the imperial title suo jure, by hereditary and civil right as
heiress of her father, and was styled "Queen of Spain".[5] With
his mother's approval, Urraca's son and heir Alfonso VII Raimundez began using the
imperial title alongside his mother once he was granted the rule of
the city Toledo from 1116.[6][7] In
1135, Alfonso VII of
León was formally crowned "Emperor of All the Spains" in the Cathedral of León, emphasizing his
preeminence in the Iberian peninsula. Alfonso VII gave substance to
the imperial title by continuing patronage of the church and
success in the Reconquista, and through annexing to his
suzerainty his neighboring kings, so much so that he has gone down
in history with the sobriquet the Emperor, but his reign
ended in the division of his realm and the imperial title fell out
of use permanently.
See also
Sources
- Lourie, Elena. "The Will of Alfonso I, 'El
Batallador,' King of Aragon and Navarre: A Reassessment."
Speculum, Vol.
50, No. 4. (Oct., 1975), pp 635–651.
- Reilly, Bernard F. "The Chancery of Alfonso VII
of León-Castilla: The Period 1116-1135 Reconsidered."
Speculum, Vol. 51, No. 2. (Apr., 1976), pp 243-261.
- Reilly, Bernard F. (1982). The Kingdom of Leon-Castilla under Queen Urraca,
1109-1126. New York: Princeton University Press. ISBN
0-69-105-3448-b.
- O'Callaghan, Joseph F. "The Beginnings of the Cortes
of Leon-Castile." The
American Historical Review, Vol. 74, No. 5. (Jun., 1969),
pp 1503-1537.
- O'Callaghan, Joseph F. "Image and Reality: The King
Creates His Kingdom." Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the
Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance.
Robert I. Burns, ed. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.
Notes
- ^
The title is commonly translated "Emperor of Spain", as in Lourie,
651; O'Callaghan, 1505; O'Callaghan, in Burns, 15; and Reilly,
249.
- ^
José Maria Lacarra de Miguel, "Textos navarros del Códice de Roda".
Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragon. 1:194-283
(1945).
- ^
Antonio Ubieto Arteta, "Estudios en torno a la división del Reino
por Sancho el Mayor de Navarra." Princípe de Viana.
21:5-56, 163-236 (1960).
- ^
As well as occupation of a significant portion of eastern
Castile
- ^
The use of Queen of Spains (Ispanie regina)
reflected the style used by Sancho III of Navarre in the 11th
century, and is analogous to that of imperator totius
Hispaniae used by her grandfather but without any excessive
masculine connotations that imperator suggested, according
to Bernard F. Reilly.
- ^
As heir, Alfonso Raimundez had already been crowned as the mediatized King
of Galicia (alongside the rulership of his mother there) in
1111 in an effort to reassure the Raimundist party based in Galicia
that Urraca fully recognized Alfonso Raimundez as her heir. The
Raimundist party, historically weary of a loss of influence in the
kingdom, was concerned that Urraca may attempt, or be forced into,
a reconciliation with Alfonso I of Aragon during her wars against
the Battler throughout 1111-1114. According to Bernard Reilly,
Urraca may have formally recognized her son as the titular King
of Galicia and his rights there, but “[Urraca] fully intended
to rule [Galicia] directly, as subsequent events made clear.
Indeed, it is the entire point of her policy [concerning Galicia]
as it was developing at that time.” (The Kingdom of Leon-Castilla under Queen Urraca,
Chapter 3). By 1116 Alfonso Raimundez ceased to be the ward of
Count Pedro Froilez and left Galicia to establish a more
cosmopolitan court under the tutelage of his mother and her chief
advisor Bernard de Sedirac, the Archbishop
of Toledo. Professor Bernard F. Reilly asserts that Galicia
comprised the lands under Urraca's suzerainty in two snapshot maps
for 1114 and 1126. Please note the Lands Held by
Urraca identified on the map of Iberia.
- ^
Alfonso Raimundez used the title King of Spain during the
reign of his mother, who also used the title Queen of
Spain (Ispanie regina)
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