Jimena Sánchez (also spelled Ximena) was an infanta of Pamplona and queen of León (1035–1037). She was the daughter of King Sancho III of Pamplona, who probably arranged her marriage to King Vermudo III of León as part of a peace settlement. She was still living in 1062, possibly as a nun.
Her short time as queen to the last king of the Astur-Leonese dynasty assured that by the 13th century she was forgotten, with chroniclers from then onward assigning Vermudo III a queen named Theresa.
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Life
Jimena was the daughter of King Sancho III the Great, king of Pamplona and Nájera, and Queen Muniadona. She was their youngest child, probably born around 1018–1020 and named for her paternal grandmother, Jimena Fernández. In a genealogy from the monastery of Leire dated 1074, she is the last of Sancho's children listed, after her four brothers and her sister Mayor.
In 1035, Sancho arranged the marriage of Jimena to King Vermudo III of León, who was about the same age or slightly older. Their marriage took place sometime between 2 February, when Sancho was still reigning in León, which he had conquered the previous year, and 17 February, when Vermudo, restored to power, was reigning with Jimena as queen. Perhaps as part of the same peace agreement between Sancho and Vermudo, Sancho's son Ferdinand was to be married to Vermudo's sister, Sancha, although this marriage did not take place until later.
On 17 February 1035, Vermudo and Jimena issued a diploma defining the boundaries of the diocese of Palencia, which her father had restored. They also dedicated the new cathedral of Palencia to the Virgin Mary and Saint Antoninus, inciting a wave of devotion to this saint in León.