Sancha, Lady of Alenquer

For the daughter of Afonso III of Portugal, see Sancha of Portugal (born 1264).

Sancha of Portugal (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃ʃɐ]; 1180 in Coimbra – 13 March 1229 in Celas Monastery), was a Portuguese infanta, second daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon.^[1][2]

Blessed Sancha
Lady of Alenquer
Infanta Sancha, in Antonio de Hollanda's Genealogy of the Royal Houses of Spain and Portugal (1530-1534)
Born	1180 Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	13 March 1229 (aged 48–49) Celas Monastery, Celas, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial	Lorvão Abbey, Portugal
House	Portuguese House of Burgundy
Father	Sancho I
Mother	Dulce of Aragon
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Life

She was born 1180 and was the feudal Lady of Alenquer.

Sancha and her sisters Teresa and Malfada were very wealthy, having inherited large estates after the death of their father in 1211. In 1212, their brother Ferdinand married Joan, Countess of Flanders and was imprisoned by the French after Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

Their brother, King Afonso II of Portugal contested ownership of his sisters' castles of Seia, Alenquer and Montemor-o-Novo and their right to use the title of queen. Afonso wanted to centralize power and feared that this could create a problem of sovereignty that could come to divide the country. Much of the Portuguese nobles sided with the princesses, but they were defeated.^[3] The king's brother Peter, had also sided with his sisters and was banished. On the death of Afonso II, his son Sancho II granted some lands and castles to his aunts but he made them renounce the title of princess-queen. The final peace came in 1223.

In 1219, she welcomed the Franciscan Berard of Carbio and his companions to Alenquer. Upon hearing that they planned to go to Morocco to preach the Gospel, she provided them with laymen's clothes so they could pass through Seville, which remained under Muslem rule.^[4]

A significant portion of her wealth she spent on acquiring property to establish and support her monastery. Sancha founded the Monastery Santa Maria de Celas, near Coibra, around January 1223. Part of the work of the nuns at Celas was the care of the sick. It later affiliated with the Cistercian order.^[5]

Sancha died at the Monastery Santa Maria de Celas. Her body was moved to Lorvão Abbey by her sister Theresa of Portugal.^[6]

On 13 December 1705 she was beatified by Pope Clement XI's papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Theresa of Portugal.^[6][7] Her feast day and that of her two sisters Teresa and Mafalda is 20 June.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Sancha of Portugal

16. Henry of Burgundy 8. Henry, Count of Portugal 4. Afonso I of Portugal 18. Alfonso VI of León and Castile 9. Teresa of León 19. Jimena Muñoz 2. Sancho I of Portugal 20. Humbert II, Count of Savoy 10. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy 21. Gisela of Burgundy 5. Matilda of Savoy 22. Guigues III, Count of Albon 11. Mahaut of Albon 23. Matilda ... 1. Sancha of Portugal 24. Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona 12. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona 25. Mahalta of Apulia 6. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona 26. Gilbert I, Count of Gévaudan 13. Douce I, Countess of Provence 27. Gerberga, Countess of Provence 3. Dulce of Aragon 28. Sancho Ramírez of Aragon 14. Ramiro II of Aragon 29. Felicia of Roucy 7. Petronilla of Aragon 30. William IX, Duke of Aquitaine 15. Agnes of Aquitaine 31. Philippa, Countess of Toulouse

References

1. Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 84 y 89.
2. Pizarro 1997, p. 165, vol. I.
3. McMurdo, Edward. The History of Portugal: From the Commencement of the Monarchy to the Reign of Alfonso III, S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1888
4. Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor n.p., TAU Franciscan Communications - Malta, 2013
5. Shadis, Miriam. "Founders, Sisters, and Neighbors in the Thirteenth Century", Women and Community in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia (Michelle Armstrong-Partida et al, eds.) Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2020 ISBN 9781496205117
6. Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 89.
7. Carvalho Correia 2008, p. 187.

Bibliography

• Carvalho Correia, Francisco (2008). O Mosteiro de Santo Tirso, de 978 a 1588: A silhueta de uma entidade projectada no chao de uma história milenária (in Portuguese). Santiago de Compostela: Facultade de Xeografía e História. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. ISBN 978-8498-8703-81. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013.
• Rodrigues Oliveira, Ana (2010). Rainhas medievais de Portugal. Dezassete mulheres, duas dinastias, quatro séculos de História (in Portuguese). Lisbon: A esfera dos livros. ISBN 978-989-626-261-7.
• Pizarro, José Augusto de Sottomayor (1997). Linhagens Medievais Portuguesas: Genealogias e Estratégias (1279-1325) (in Portuguese). Porto: Thesis, published by author. hdl:10216/18023.