Sancha of Aragon (1186, Zaragoza –1241) was the daughter of King Alfonso II of Aragon and his wife, Sancha of Castile, as well as countess of Toulouse from 1222-1241. Sancha was married to Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse in 1211. Upon the death of Raymond's father, Raymond VI, in 1222, she acquired the titles Countess consort of Toulouse and Marquise consort of Provence until their divorce in 1241.
Sancha's paternal grandparents were Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon; her maternal grandparents were Alfonso VII of León and Castile and Richeza of Poland, Queen of Castile. She was the sister of Peter II of Aragon and Alfonso II, Count of Provence. She and Raymond had one child, Joan, Countess of Toulouse, who inherited the same titles upon the death of her father from 1249 to 1271.
The marriage between Sancha and Raymond VII was significant as a consequence of the increasingly disputed affiliations of Toulouse, which nominally owed fealty to the King of France, Phillip II. However, throughout the latter half of the 12<sup>th</sup> Century, and the first half of the 13<sup>th</sup>, Toulouse had increasingly drifted into the Aragonese sphere of influence. This process reached a high-water mark when Raymond VII ceremoniously offered Toulouse to Peter II in exchange for Sancha's hand. Thus, SanchaâÂÂs marriage effectively deepened the existing diplomatic relationship between Toulouse and Aragon and further challenged French control of the Languedoc region. This tension would ultimately climax with the Albigensian Crusade, which aside from suppressing the Cathar faith in Occitania, also represented a sort of proxy conflict through which Phillip II was able to reassert his authority in the region through his vassals.
The Albigensian Crusade was called by Pope Innocent III in 1209 against the Cathars in the Languedoc region, in which Toulouse was the preeminent power. Consequently, Raymond VI and SanchaâÂÂs sister Eleanor, who were accused of protecting the Cathars, would find themselves as targets of this crusade. This conflict would see Aragon, under SanchaâÂÂs brother Peter II, support Toulouse against the French Crusaders who answered Innocent IIIâÂÂs call. The French, under Simon de Montfort would find great success initially, forcing Raymond VI and Raymond VII into exile and defeating the Aragonese-Toulousian alliance at the 1213 Battle of Muret, where Peter II would fall in combat. Although, Raymond VII would eventually return to rule Toulouse by the year 1224, his reign would one of tumult in the region. The 1229 Treaty of Paris would see the end of the large-scale religious fighting in Languedoc, but its terms were relatively harsh. Raymond VII would be forced to cede the county of Trencavel to the new French king, Louis IX, and Raymond and SanchaâÂÂs daughter, Joan would be forced to marry the Louis IXâÂÂs brother.
Later, Sancha would divorce Raymond VII. This was done on the grounds that as Sancha had been the god-daughter of Raymond VI, as well as his sister-in-law, she was too closely related to Raymond VII for their marriage to be legitimate. This was determined in the presence of a collection of Bishops, however, notably the Bishop of Toulouse refused to attend this meeting. This absolution of the marriage also created the possibility for Raymond VII to be betrothed to SanchaâÂÂs niece, the daughter of Peter II, also named Sancha. This supports the political nature of her marriage to Raymond VII, as once the divorce was finalized the Count sought another marriage which would maintain the Aragonese-Toulosian alliance. However, it is believed that this divorce was mutually desired, as Raymond VII had been seen by Sancha as negligent. Resultingly, it can be observed that SanchaâÂÂs agency in this divorce was also the continuation of the expansion of womenâÂÂs political agency in Iberia. This was especially evidentr in domestic or religious affairs, although significant political influence was wielded as well. Additionally, during this period, royal women had become increasingly powerful in Aragonese society, as demonstrated by the prevalence of what came to be known as Lieutenant Queens. Sancha herself, would have held significant power as an Aragonese royal, as well as Countess of Toulouse. As during her lifetime, Toulouse was a seat of significant power, considered one of the dominant counties in the Southern French Languedoc province.