Mayor of Castile

Mayor of Castile (died 1032 or after 1066) was queen of Navarre. She was originally called Muniadona (or Muñadona) and is variously called Munia (or Muña) Mayor (or just Munia or Muña). In Spanish, she is called Muniadona de Castilla. It is said that her husband Sancho III of Navarre (Sancho the Great) renamed her from her contemporary name Muniadona to Mayor, for she was the eldest in her family, yet since she had an aunt of the same name, the story is clearly apocryphal. She was the daughter of Count Sancho García of Castile. Her marriage to Sancho made her Queen consort of Navarre.

In 1029, the Count García Sánchez of Castile, Mayor's brother, was assassinated by the Vela family, Castilian exiles in León. Mayor's husband, Sancho the Great, claimed his role as feudal overlord to pass the county to their second son, Ferdinand. Likewise this brought a nominal legitimate claim to the counties of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe to her husband, who had already taken control of them militarily.

Mayor was the mother of four sons and perhaps two daughters:

• King García Sánchez III of Navarre
• Ferdinand the Great, king of León and Castile
• Ramiro, known from a 1020 charter that also names his brother García and half-brother Ramiro I of Aragon
• Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza
• Bernardo
• Jimena, wife of Bermudo III of León
• Mayor, wife of Pons, Count of Toulouse

References

Preceded by Jimena Fernández	Queen consort of Navarre 1010–1032	Succeeded by Estefanía de Barcelona
New title	Empress of Spain 1134–1135	Succeeded by Sancha of León

Persondata
Name	Mayor of Castile
Alternative names
Short description	Queen of Navarre
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1032 or after 1066
Place of death