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The title of Imperator (totius) Hispaniae (Latin for Emperor of [All] Spain)^[1] was borne, traditionally, by the monarchs of León, from at least the tenth century. It was used, somewhat sporadically, in the following two centuries as the kings of the various kingdoms of Christian Iberia fought for supremacy and for the imperiale culmen, León.

In the first decades of the eleventh century, the Catalan Abbot Oliva referred to the kings of León, Alfonso V and Bermudo III, as imperatores. In 1034, however, the city of León was conquered by Sancho III of Navarre, known as "the Great", and he began to refer to himself as rex Hispaniarum — "King of the Spains" — a style which implied his lordship over all the Iberian domains. He even minted coins bearing the imperial title, which he undoubtedly aspired to and almost certainly used. He divided the kingdom upon his death, and the title fell into abeyance.

In 1054 upon the death of Sancho's eldest son García V of Navarre, his second son, Ferdinand I of León, gained a position of preeminence and in 1056 had himself crowned "Emperor of Spain". The title again fell into abeyance when, like his father, he divided his kingdom and his heirs disputed the inheritance, but in 1077 his second son, Alfonso VI, having reunified his father's holdings, crowned himself "Emperor of All Spain". He married his daughter and heiress, Urraca, to Alfonso the Battler, the king of Navarre and Aragon, and the Battler began to use the title after his death in 1109. The Aragonese king, though he controlled Castile through his marriage, never had possession of León, though he had the undoubted supremacy of the Christian rulers of Iberia during his tenure.

Alfonso the Battler died in 1134. In 1135, Alfonso VII of León was crowned "Emperor of All the Spains" in the Cathedral of León. He tried his mightiest to justify his title through patronage of the church and success in the Reconquista, and through annexing to his suzerainty his neighbouring kings, so much so that he has gone down in history with the sobriquet the Emperor, but his reign ended in the division of his realm and the imperial title fell out of use permanently.

• List of Spanish monarchs
• List of Asturian monarchs
• List of Aragonese monarchs
• List of Castilian monarchs
• List of Leonese monarchs
• List of Navarrese monarchs
• List of Portuguese monarchs
• List of Counts of Barcelona
• Spanish monarchy
• History of Spain
• History of Portugal
• Timeline of Portuguese history

• Lourie, Elena. "The Will of Alfonso I, 'El Batallador,' King of Aragon and Navarre: A Reassessment." Speculum, Vol. 50, No. 4. (Oct., 1975), pp 635–651.
• Reilly, Bernard F. "The Chancery of Alfonso VII of León-Castilla: The Period 1116-1135 Reconsidered." Speculum, Vol. 51, No. 2. (Apr., 1976), pp 243-261.
• O'Callaghan, Joseph F. "The Beginnings of the Cortes of Leon-Castile." The American Historical Review, Vol. 74, No. 5. (Jun., 1969), pp 1503-1537.
• O'Callaghan, Joseph F. "Image and Reality: The King Creates His Kingdom." Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance. Robert I. Burns, ed. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.