Berengaria of Navarre

Berengaria (Spanish: Berenguela, French: Bérengère) (c. 1165-1170 – December 23, 1230), daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre, married Richard I of England on May 12, 1191. Like so many of England's medieval queen consorts, relatively little is known of her life. It seems that she and Richard had met once, years before their marriage, and contemporary writers liked to claim that there was an attraction between them at that time, although 20th century historians claim that Richard was in fact romantically involved with her brother Sancho (the future Sancho VII). Richard had been betrothed many years earlier to Princess Alys, sister of King Philip II of France. Alys, however, became the mistress of Richard's own father, King Henry II, and allegedly the mother of Henry's child; a marriage between Richard and Alys was therefore technically impossible for religious reasons. Richard terminated his betrothal to Alys March 1190 while at Messina. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Events November 23 - Pope Alexander III enters Rome. ... Events December 29: Assassination of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury cathedral City of Dublin captured by the Normans According to folklore, the Welsh prince Madoc sailed to North America and founded a colony. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (358th in leap years). ... Events Kingdom of Leon unites with the Kingdom of Castile. ... Sancho VI Garces, (c. ... Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (133rd in leap years). ... // Events May 12 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Sancho in stained glass in the church at Roncesvalles. ... Alice, Countess of the Vexin (October 4, 1160 – c. ... Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe II Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133-6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland[], eastern Ireland, and western France. ...

He had Berengaria brought to him by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Since Richard was already on crusade, having wasted no time in setting off after his coronation, the two women had a long and difficult journey to catch up with him. They arrived in Sicily during Lent (when they could not marry) in 1191 and were joined by Richard's sister, the widowed Joan. En route to the Holy Land, the ship carrying Berengaria and Joan went aground off the coast of Cyprus, and they were threatened by the island's ruler, Isaac Comnenus. Richard came to their rescue, captured the island, overthrew Comnenus, and married Berengaria in the Chapel of St. George at Limassol. Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine and Gascony and Countess of Poitou (1122[1] –April 1, 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe during the High Middle Ages. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... // Events May 12 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. ... The expression The Holy Land (Hebrew ארץ הקודש: Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeÅ¡, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreá¹£ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta; Arabic الأرض المقدسة, al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah) generally refers to the Land of Israel. ... Isaac Comnenus was the last ruler of Cyprus before the Frankish conquest during the Third Crusade. ... District Limassol Government  - Mayor Andreas Christou Population (2001)  - City 162,000 Time zone EET (UTC+2) Website: http://www. ...

Whether the marriage was ever even consummated is a matter for conjecture. Richard's sexual orientation is hotly debated amongst historians, some claiming exclusive homosexuality, others presenting him as a notorious womanizer (he is recorded as having one bastard son, Philip of Cognac (d. ~1211), and perhaps another, so some heterosexual activity on his part may be assumed), but he took his new wife with him for the first part of the crusade. They returned separately, but Richard was captured and imprisoned. Berengaria remained in Europe, attempting to raise money for his ransom. Although, after his release, Richard returned to England and showed some degree of regret for his earlier conduct, he was not joined by his wife. The fact that the marriage was childless is inconclusive, but Richard had to be ordered by a priest to reunite with Berengaria and to show fidelity to her in future, and the language he (the priest) used (including references to the Biblical Sodom) is evidence cited for the proposition that Richard had been engaged in homosexual activities. Nevertheless, when he died in 1199, she was greatly distressed, perhaps more so at being deliberately overlooked in the general rush to get to his death-bed. Richard's feelings for her were probably merely formal. Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... Sodom can refer to: Sodom, a Biblical city that was said to be destroyed by God for the sins of its inhabitants. ... Events John Lackland, becomes King of England Births Isobel of Huntingdon (d. ...

Berengaria had never visited England during King Richard's lifetime (Richard, already married, only spent three months in England; this was in his second coronation and never returned to England), but there is evidence that she may have done so in the years following his death. The traditional description of her as "the only English queen never to set foot in the country" would still be literally true, as she did not visit England during the time she was Richard's consort. However, she certainly sent envoys to England several times, mainly to inquire about the pension she was due as dowager queen and Richard's widow that King John was not paying her. Although Queen Eleanor intervened, and Pope Innocent III threatened him with an interdict if he did not pay Berengaria what was due, King John owed her more than £4000 when he died, but during his son's reign her payments were made as they were supposed to be. Image File history File links Crusade. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Pope Innocent III (c. ...

Berengaria eventually settled in Le Mans, one of her dower properties. She was a benefactress of the abbey of L'Epau, entered the conventual life, and was buried in the abbey. A skeleton thought to be hers was discovered in 1960 during the restoration of the abbey. Le Mans is a city in France, located at the Sarthe River. ...

The story of Richard and Berengaria's marriage is fictionalized in the 1935 film The Crusades starring Loretta Young and Henry Wilcoxon, and was a prominent feature of the 1960s British television series, Richard the Lionheart, but both versions were highly romanticised and are not reliable sources of information about the queen. Loretta Young in 1935 Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Henry Wilcoxon (or sometimes Harry and/or Wilcoxin) (September 8, 1905 - March 6, 1984) was an actor born in Dominica, British West Indies, and best known as a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMilles movies. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Legacy

Biography

• Ann Trindade, Berengaria: In Search of Richard's Queen (ISBN 1-85182-434-0) (1999). [1]

Ann Trindade is an Principal Fellow in the History Department at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

In fiction

• Margaret Campbell Barnes, The Passionate Brood

• Rachel Bard, Queen Without a Country