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hurch was built to contain the remains of the saint; the same building was to serve as a royal pantheon. About a century later Alfonso VII. was battling against the pagans in Andalusia when, in the field of Baeza, the "warlike apparition of San Isidoro appeared in the heavens and encouraged the Christian soldiers." Thanks to this divine aid, the Moors were beaten, and Alfonso VII., returning to Leon, enriched the saint's shrine, enlarged it, and raised it to a suffragan church, destined later to serve as the temporary see while the building of the real cathedral was going on. In 1135 Alfonso VII. was crowned Emperor of the West Roman Empire with extraordinary pomp and splendour in the Church of San Isidoro. The apogee of Leon's importance and power coincides with this memorable event. The emperor's sister, Sancha, a pious infanta, bequeathed her vast fortune as well as her palace to San Isidoro, her favourite saint; the church in Leon became, consequently, one of the richest in Spain, a privilege it was, however, unable to retain for any length of time. In 1029, shortly after the erection of the primitive building, its front was sullied, according to the tradition, by the blood of one Count Garcia of Castile. The following is the story: The King of Asturias at the time was Bermudo II., married to Urraca, the daughter of Count Sancho of Castile. Political motives had produced this union, for the Condes de Castile had grown to be the most important and powerful feudal lords of the kingdom. To assure the count's assistance and friendship, the king went even further: he promised his sister Sancha to the count's son Garcia, who lost no time in visiting Leon so as to become acquainted with his future spouse. Three sons of the defeated Count of Vela, a Basque nobleman whom the Counts of Castile had put to death, were in the city at the time. Pretending to be very friendly with the young _fiance_, they conspired against his life, and, knowing that he paid matinal visits to San Isidoro, they hid in the portal one day, and slew the youth as he entered. The promised bride arrived in haste and fell weeping on the body of the murdered man; she wept bitterly and prayed to be allowed to be buried with her sweetheart. Her prayer was, of course, not granted: so she swore she would never marry. She was not long in breaking this oath, however, for a few months later she wedded a prince of the house of Navarra. The
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