His reign was fleeting, troubled and controversial, but Sancho I de León deserves to go down in the history books of the country. And he deserves it for two compelling reasons, never better said. The first is that if he was removed from the throne in 958, it was not because of a game of palace conspiracies and disputes between nobles. Or those weren’t the only reasons, at least. The trigger was his bulging belly, a belly so prominent that it earned him the nickname of ‘el Gordo’ and made his subjects doubt whether he was the most suitable person for the throne. The second is that it can boast of having completed perhaps the most successful (and early) “miracle diet” in Spain.
We explain ourselves.
When he was a boy, in the 1940s, there was little reason to think that Sancho could one day become a prominent figure in the kingdom of León. His condition as the third son of Ramiro II relegated him to a secondary position, behind his brothers Vermudo (died in 944) and Ordoño. And if his birth had not favored him, his health was not buoyant either: he was not a young man given to long rides or exercises. His thing was rather the comforts of the palace, especially those that were dispatched in fountains, well watered with oil.
From Ramiro ‘el Grande’ to Sancho ‘el Gordo’
Miniature representing King Sancho I of León.
At the table, the infante Sancho did not hold back. They say that it was given to anthological feasts, with seven meals a day, sometimes consisting of 17 dishes, including stews with game meat. History may exaggerate and have deformed his figure, but it has left us at least one piece of information to give us an idea of how plump Sancho was and to what extent he developed morbid obesity: it is said that, already in his adult stage, he came to weigh 240 kilos.
If his father had been nicknamed Ramiro ‘el Grande’ —or ‘el Diablo’, as his enemies referred to him— and his predecessor Alfonso “el Monje”, Sancho was given a much less epic and much more descriptive nickname: ‘the Crassus’.
Or directly ‘el Gordo’.
However, it was one thing to be fond of sumptuous banquets and quite another to renounce the throne and settle for the delegated government of the county of Castile, a responsibility that had been assigned to him in 944. Once his father died and his older brother became Ordoño III, Sancho organized a rebellion between 954 and 955 to expel him from power. The ruse worked out for him.
His attempt to overthrow him by force was a resounding failure, but in a surprisingly timely turn for Sancho’s interests, Ordoño III died not long after, thus clearing his ascent in 956 to the crown of a kingdom that was facing delicate moments due to tensions. internal and Muslim incursions.
His belly wasn’t helping either. It was bad to weigh 240 kilos, but it was worse to combine such a weight with that of a crown that required being willing to stuff yourself into armor. As Professor Margarita Torres recalls in an article from the Royal Academy of History (RAH), in the 10th century a king was expected to will combine certain qualities: good judgment, balance, firmness… and the skills of a warlord. It would have been very difficult for Sancho I to appear on the back of a horse on the battlefield, just like fighting brandishing a sword or even something as crucial for the crown as providing offspring.
Such a condition undermined his image among the kingdom’s aristocracy, who ended up losing respect for him. Add to that the memory of Sancho’s failed coup against his brother Ordoño III and the decisions he made once sitting on the throne, which led him, for example, to distance himself from his uncle, the influential Count Fernán González, and you get a perfect cocktail. for the fall from grace of a novice monarch.
Barely two years after being crowned in Compostela, ‘el Crasso’ lost his precious scepter, which passed in 958 —by siege— to the infante Ordoño Alfonso. Sancho managed to save his skin and took refuge where he knew he would be safe: in Navarre, with his grandmother, Queen Toda, an old woman from over 70 years.
The story of Sancho I could have ended then. Fortunately, his maternal grandmother was a woman of resources and she decided to ask for help from someone who would have the least qualms about conspiring against a Christian monarch: Abderramán III, the Caliph of Córdoba, an interesting ally both because of his position and because of the resources of he. At his service was a renowned doctor, the wise Jew Hasday ibn Shaprut, a skilled, polyglot, cultured man who could help the king overcome his overweight.
in exchange for the alliance with Abderrahman, to which the Navarrese are added, the supporters of Sancho I agreed to hand over fortresses on the border. It was not bad pay for a movement that not long after, in April 959, allowed him to return triumphantly to the capital of his kingdom while Ordoño IV, alias ‘el Malo’, was forced to flee to end up in Córdoba. The second and definitive stage of the reign of Sancho I began, which would last until his death, in 966.
What is surprising is that —if we believe tradition— the Sancho who returned exultant to León had little to do with the one who had fled long ago to take refuge in his maternal grandmother’s castle. In fact, the nickname ‘Crasus’ was too big for him. The reason? The strict “biquini operation” to which Shaprut had submitted him before his return to the throne, in Cordoba.
The remedy was so effective that it is said that Sancho lost more than 100kg in a matter of a few weeks. Before launching yourself into following the diet of the wise Jew, it is better that you take note of what you will need, according to historical divulgators interviewed by ABC: infusions, exercise, ropes… and a needle and thread.
It is difficult to know how much is real and how much is exaggerated in that chapter of the story of Sancho I, but according to what they say, Shaprut ordered his mouth to be sewn up, leaving just an opening so that he could use a straw. Some say that during a good part of that ordeal the king remained tied hand and foot to prevent him from getting food. To complete it, he underwent steam baths and exercise sessions. All in order to stop gulping down and burn fat.
It probably wasn’t the kind of weight-loss therapy Sancho was thinking of, but at least it produced results. According to the chronicles, he lost 120 kilos in a matter of 40 days. The situation that he lived in León did not allow him to indulge in long treatments for being overweight. Even so, the balance is more than striking: three kilos per day. Today there are experts who question whether the king could lose such a burden in a month, no matter how strict the prohibition on eating and intense sweating to which his doctor subjected him.
However, its history remains.
And the chronicle of a king who saw how his throne be reeling because of his overweight.
Cover image: Wikipedia
In Xataka: How Alfonso XIII became the first great promoter of porn cinema in Spain
