 All the uses of this title by the queen come early in her reign, and perhaps formed "a conscious device to offset the authority of her ‘imperial’ husband", Alfonso the Battler, who was at the height of his power in the "dark days" of 1112.One of Urraca's most prolific known notaries, Martín Peláez, with fifteen surviving charters, three original, to his name, occasionally paired the title "chancellor" ("cancellarius") for himself with that of "empress" for his sovereign.The use of a more dignified title than "notary" ("notarius") may have been designed to buttress the use of the imperial title, which was probably considered excessively masculine, even in comparison to Urraca's regal powers.