Daughter of Constance of Burgundy and Alfonso VI of León, King of León, Urraque became, in 1109, Queen of Castile, León and Galicia and claimed the title of Queen of Spain.
Very young bride
Born in April 1079, Urraque was the eldest surviving child of Constance of Burgundy and Alfonso VI of Leon. Her place in the line of succession places her at the heart of political interests and she was eight years old when she was engaged and then married to Raymond de Bourgogne, son of the Count of Burgundy and Count of Galicia. When she was thirteen or fourteen, the marriage was consummated and she gave birth to a stillborn child. In 1105, she gave birth to a son.
In 1107, Raymond succumbed to an illness and Alfonso VI of León contracted a new promise of marriage with Alfonso I of Aragon, known as the Battler, to reunite Castile and León with Aragon. In 1109, Alfonso VI died and Urraque became queen. She does not wish to marry Alfonso I of Aragon but honors her father's wishes.
Pacification of the kingdom
Their marriage, however, provoked rebellions in Galicia. Alphonse I is badly accepted by the kingdom. Urraque takes a dim view of the way he treats the rebels and, accusing Alfonso of violence, she leaves him in May 1110. The conflict degenerates into open war between Castile-León and Aragon, until a truce in 1112, with the annulment of the marriage. The kingdom of Urraque then lost territories, which she will work to regain.
Urraque does not remarry. Her military leader, Count Pedro González de Lara, becomes her lover and they have two children. She reigns alone over her kingdom, of which she manages to restore the integrity and which she transmits to her son, whole and pacified, on his death in 1126.