We had left the first entry dedicated to the fascinating story of the queen of Pamplona, Toda Aznárez, speaking of the alliance of Christian kingdoms and counties that took place at the battle of Simancas in the year 939. To continue with the narrative we have to focus on the links that were agreed with their descendants and how they led to their having a very important role in all the peninsular kingdoms and domains of the Middle Ages.
5.- Fruits of the matrimonial alliances of Toda:the counties of Aragón, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza
It was time to look for a suitable marriage bond for King García I of Pamplona. Her mother, who had been perfecting the art of conjugal alliances for years, was going to graduate cum laude with the wedding of her son.
The Count of Aragon, Galindo Aznárez, had married a sister of Toda's husband, Sancho Garcés I. Only one daughter had been born from this marriage, named Andregoto. Count Galindo had other descendants, but the only one born within the marriage was Andregoto. Despite the fact that she and García I were first cousins (his father and her mother were brothers), Toda thought that a link between the two would be an excellent way to reinforce the link with the kings of Pampona from the rebellious county of Aragón. , where signs of a desire for independence had already been detected.
There was, however, an obstacle to this operation. Count Galindo viewed her favorably (his daughter would be Countess of Aragon and Queen of Pamplona), but the same could not be said of a relative of his, Count Bernardo de Ribagorza, who could claim legitimate rights to the County of Aragon and oppose the link and for Andregoto and García I to inherit the county.
This was where Toda's mastery of the alliance game was demonstrated. We have already seen that one of his daughters, Velasquita, had married a brother of the Count of Ribagorza, also named Galindo. Through this and taking advantage of her family ties with him, Toda offered Count Bernardo the transfer of the Sobrarbe area in exchange for the renunciation of his rights over Aragon. Bernardo accepted and in this way the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza united their destinies, while the county of Aragón reaffirmed its link to the kingdom of Pamplona.
6.- Involvement in the fight for the crown of León
One of the first consequences of what happened in Simancas was that the caliph decided that he had had enough of dealing with military matters in person; he retired to Córdoba and, from then on, entrusted the conduct of the campaigns to his generals.
In addition, there was a change in the treatment with the Christian kingdoms that was going to be revealed as very successful:the caliphate would try from then on to politically destabilize its rivals in the north . As Manzano Moreno expresses:
[…] during the following decades the clashes between Córdoba and the northern kingdoms changed their character:every summer there were skirmishes of greater or lesser importance directed by qadis Cordovans or by the lineages established on the border, which after the defeat saw their dominance increase in the territories they controlled. In this way, the custom of sending annual olive oils covered in large apparatus fell into disuse for a few decades. […] At the time that this border was established with greater clarity and the aceifas were a thing of victorious generals or border chieftains who sent the news of their resounding triumphs to Córdoba, the caliphs chose to intervene in the complex conflicts that devastated the Christian kingdoms. […] It was a very successful strategy. […] To say that during the second half of the 10th century the northern kingdoms became satellites of Córdoba is no exaggeration
A good example of this new way of acting was what happened in León with Sancho I and Ordoño IV. Sancho, called "el Craso", came to the throne in 956. Let us remember that he was the son of Ramiro II of León and Urraca de Pamplona, daughter of Toda Aznárez. The new king had the initial support of the Castilians, but not that of the Leonese. Perhaps the reason was that they considered him more Navarrese than Leonese or that they reproached him for having broken the truce with the caliph, of whose consequences they were the main victims. Also, there was the fact that he was so thick that no horse could bear his weight, so he couldn't lead the kingdom's army in battle.
The brewing rebellion needed a rival for the throne and set its sights on the son of King Alfonso IV, who we remember had retired to a monastery after the death of his wife Onneca (also daughter of Toda Aznárez). This son was Ordoño IV. In short, there was a fight for the Leonese throne between two contenders who had in common that they were both grandsons of Queen Toda of Pamplona. And she wasn't going to remain neutral in that contest.
The rebellion took a decisive step towards success when the Count of Castile, Fernán González, joined it. Supported by him, Ordoño IV went to León, where he entered on August 1, 958. The plump King Sancho, seeing himself lost, sought refuge in the neighboring kingdom of Pamplona, where his grandmother Toda continued to have great influence over the king. Pamplona, García Sánchez I.
Ordoño IV's reign was destined to be very short. Sancho, led by her grandmother Toda, sought the support of her nephew, Abderramán III. We have already pointed out that, after the defeat of Simancas, the caliphate chose not to attack directly (except for the annual aceifas in search of loot) the Christian kingdoms, deciding that the new strategy would be to try to weaken them by getting involved in their internal politics.
Abderramán's first measure was to subject Sancho el Craso to a very harsh diet and exercise regimen that would put him in the physical condition to lead an army on campaign. Once this was achieved, an agreement was reached with the Leonese and with the King of Pamplona, García Sánchez I, in which the hand of Queen Toda, a relative of all those involved and who traveled with the Pamplona monarch and the pretender to the Leonese throne, can be seen. to Cordoba.
Abderramán provided Sancho with an army that headed for León (in exchange for Sancho giving him ten border castles if he succeeded in taking the crown), while the king of Pamplona attacked Castile , to prevent Fernán González from coming to the aid of his ally Ordoño IV. The delivery to the caliph of the Castilian count was also agreed. The maneuver was successful, Sancho regained the throne after first taking Zamora in the spring of 959 and then going to León, while the people of Pamplona took Fernán González prisoner (between 961 and 962).
Ordoño IV took refuge first in Asturias and then in Burgos. From there, according to the Chronicle of Sampiro , he was expelled by the inhabitants of it and had to seek refuge in al-Andalus,
As for the Count of Castile, he was released when the Pamplona monarch verified that he would need his support before Ordoño IV's trip to Córdoba and the predictable support of the caliphate to East. As always, Toda sealed this new alliance between Castile and Pamplona with a marriage. Fernán González, who had been widowed by Sancha (daughter of Toda), married a daughter of the Pamplona king García Sánchez I, named Urraca.
But Ordoño IV died in Córdoba in the year 961 without being able to carry out his attempt to recover the crown. Sancho I el Craso, with considerable support from his grandmother Toda Aznárez, consolidated himself on the throne of León. It could be thought that the already elderly Toda had exhausted her prominence in the peninsular kingdoms, but we still have to talk about some of her grandchildren, especially one of her granddaughters.
7.- Urraca Fernández, the granddaughter of Toda Aznárez who was queen three times
The importance of the spouses chosen by Toda for her offspring ensured that the next generational lines of her descent would occupy preeminent places in the royal and earl families of the Peninsula in the following decades. The most obvious of these branches of descendants is that of the Pamplona throne. His son García I, already mentioned, was succeeded by several monarchs in a direct line until reaching Sancho III el Mayor, king of Pamplona. This is not the time to go into details about this capital figure of the Middle Ages, but for the purposes that interest us, suffice it to say that his sons were one (García II) king of Pamplona, another (Fernando I el Magno) first count of Castile and king of León later, another (Gonzalo) count of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza and the last (Ramiro I) count and then regulus of Aragon and also count of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza.
We have already talked about the descendants of his daughters Onneca (Ordoño IV) and Urraca (Sancho I) above. But the case in which the hand and mastery of Toda Aznárez in his matrimonial policy is probably more clearly seen is that of one of his granddaughters, born from the marriage with Fernán González of his daughter Sancha (who we remember, after being widowed from Ordoño II of León and Álvaro Herraméliz, married the Castilian count). This granddaughter was called Urraca Fernández and married three times, her three husbands sat on a throne and she was, through those marriages, three times queen of two different kingdoms.
Urraca Fernández's first husband was Ordoño III, King of León between 951 and 956. He was the son of Ramiro II's first marriage and after the period of civil war between Sancho I and Ordoño IV, were the children he had with Urraca Fernández who sat on the throne of León.
When Ordoño III died, his widow Urraca Fernández became a strategic pawn in the war for her succession between Sancho I and Ordoño IV. Precisely the latter became Urraca's second husband, which was surely an essential factor for her father, Fernán González, to grant Ordoño her support in his fight for the throne with Sancho I.
But we have already seen that Ordoño IV died early in exile in al-Andalus. This left Urraca a widow again and, therefore, susceptible to becoming a bargaining chip for a new alliance that would suit her father, Fernán González, for the interests of her county of Castile. After being twice queen of León, Urraca's new home was elsewhere. It can be thought that fate is capricious, because the crown that was given to this granddaughter of Toda Aznárez was the same that her grandmother had worn:that of Queen of Pamplona. Indeed, Urraca's third husband was her cousin Sancho Garcés II, king of Pamplona and also the grandson of Toda.
8.- Death and grave of Toda Aznárez
All Aznárez died, according to some sources in the year 965, although others date her death in the year 958. Her tomb is in the monastery of Suso, in San Millan de la Cogolla. Incomprehensibly, there is no sign that marks the place where one of the most important figures of the peninsular Middle Ages rests, nor in the guided tours of the monastery is there any special reference to her tomb, which is located next to that of two other queens of Pamplona, Jimena and Elvira. Brochures are even placed on these graves. It would be desirable for this circumstance to be corrected in the future and for Toda Aznárez to see her grave marked in a more respectful and appropriate way. 
Manzano Moreno, E. (2015). History of Spain. He medieval few, volume 2. Madrid. Criticism. Editorial Marcial Pons
Women in History. All Aznárez, the matchmaker queen.
County of Castile. Toda Aznárez, wife of Sancho I Garcés of Pamplona.
Image| Wikimedia Commons. Author Archive
Family Trees elaborated by Ventura Contents for the book From Covadonga to Tamarón.