Sancho II Sánchez or Sans II Sancion (died 864) succeeded his brother Aznar Sánchez

Aznar Sánchez of Gascony

Aznar Sánchez was the Duke of Gascony from 820. He was the supposed son of Sancho I of Gascony, though he has been identified with Aznar Galíndez I, Count of Aragon....

 as count of Vasconia Citerior (Gascony

Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

) in 836, in spite of the objections of Pepin I

Pepin I of Aquitaine

Pepin I was King of Aquitaine.-Biography:He was the second son of Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye....

, King of Aquitaine.

After Pepin's death in 838, confusion enveloped southern Gaul. Most Aquitainian counts elected Pepin II

Pepin II of Aquitaine

Pepin II, called the Younger , was King of Aquitaine from 838 as the successor upon the death of his father, Pepin I. Pepin II was eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude, daughter of Theodobert, count of Madrie...

 as their king, but Emperor Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

, urged by his wife Judith

Judith of Bavaria

Judith , was Duchess of Bavaria. She was the eldest daughter of Arnulf the Bad of Bavaria and Judith of Sülichgau....

, redivided his vast realm at Worms

Worms, Germany

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...

 in May 839, granting all of Aquitaine

Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...

, Gascony, Septimania

Septimania

Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...

, and the Hispanic March to his youngest son, Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...

. Louis sent an imperial army into the Limousin

Limousin (région)

Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...

 and then installed his son at Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

. The partisans of Pepin were defeated and Louis proceeded to appoint new counts in new districts. One Seguin

Seguin II of Gascony

Seguin II , called Mostelanicus, was the Count of Bordeaux and Saintes from 840 and Duke of Gascony from 845. He was either the son or grandson of Seguin I, the duke appointed by Charlemagne....

 was appointed in Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 to counter Sancho, now acting virtually alone.

In 845, Seguin joined the faction of Pepin and was made dux Wasconum

Duke of Gascony

The Duchy of Vasconia , later known as Gascony, was a Merovingian creation: a frontier duchy on the Garonne, in the border with the rebel Basque tribes...

— that is, duke of the march guarding the frontier with the Gascons

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

, led by Sancho. Seguin was killed later that year in a battle against the Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

s. In 848, Bordeaux was left without a leader after the withdrawal of the Vikings. It is not known for sure if Sancho took possession of the city, but it is certainly possible. Historian Ferdinand Lot

Ferdinand Lot

Ferdinand Victor Henri Lot was a French historian and medievalist....

 supposed that Sancho was even nominated as duke at Limoges

Limoges

Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

 or Orléans

Orléans

-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

 by Charles the Bald in that year. He certainly submitted by 850. With his brother-in-law Emenon, Count of Périgord

Emenon

Emenon was the Count of Poitou , Périgord , and Angoulême .It is unknown who nominated him count of Poitou, but it was probably Pepin I of Aquitaine, at whose side he had fought against the emperor Louis the Pious. During his tenure in Poitous, the Empress Judith was imprisoned in the abbey of...

, the husband of his sister Sancha, Sancho was captured by the dissident Moorish

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...

 chieftain Musa. Charles negotiated their release and in turn Sancho handed over Pepin II when the latter took refuge in Gascony in September 852.

In 864, Sancho died and the dukeship of Gascony passed to his nephew Arnold

Arnold of Gascony

Arnold was the Count of Fézensac and briefly Duke of Gascony in 864. He was the son of Emenon, Count of Périgord, and Sancha, daughter of Sancho Sánchez of Gascony. He made his claim on Gascony on his uncle's death....

, son of Emenon. The later duke García Sánchez

García II Sánchez of Gascony

García II Sánchez , called the Bent, was the duke of Gascony from sometime before 887 to his death....

may have been his son.

Primary

• Pertz, G, ed. Chronici Fontanellensis fragmentum in Mon. Ger. Hist. Scriptores, Vol. II.
• Pertz, G, ed. Chronicum Aquitanicum in Mon. Ger. Hist. Scriptores, Vol. II.
• Waitz, E, ed. Annales Bertiniani. Hanover: 1883.

Secondary

• Higounet, Charles. Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age. Bordeaux, 1963.
• Lewis, Archibald R. The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965.