A letter from Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England (1215)

Translated letter:

Berengaria by the grace of God once humble queen of England, greetings to all, etc. Know that that what we asked has been agreed between the illustrious lord of England, John, and us about our dower and the settlement that had once been made between him and us over the dower from which we should receive a thousand marks annually, namely that he give us 2000 marks now for all arrears and for this year's payment, and for the rest he will give us annually a thousand pounds of good and legal sterling, 500 pounds on the feast of All Saints and 500 on the Ascension. This money he will pay into the home of the New Temple in London. It will be permitted moreover to seek our dower again outside the kingdom of England from every holder, especially from him or his successors; and he will not oppose us in this, unless he is bound by law to guarantee it. And neither he nor his successors could seize those things in hand about which we had made claims against the holders. We could, however, end it at our will with those holders, save for his rights and his heirs' after our death. The king also granted that we and the men of our household would have at all times free entry to his land and exit from it, and we can remain there as long as we wish; and he takes us and all our things in safe conduct and his protection for coming, remaining, and going; we having sworn that no harm will occur to him or his kingdom through us. He also granted that in all the sea ports we would have free transit whenever we wished, prohibiting any man or bailiff of his from preventing us or the men of our household, or receiving customs/tolls from them. He made this agreement for himself as well as for his heirs, declaring that if perhaps — let it not be — he or any of his successors should breach the settlement, which they can not do in good faith, and if within twenty days of their having been notified they have not emended it, he or his justiciary if he should be out of the kingdom is bound to restore our dower to us completely, with no deferral or cause. Moreover he had his knight Geoffrey Luterell swear on his soul that he will observe all the things that are contained in that charter in their integrity and, for greater assurance, he will request that the lord Pope confirm them all. He also asks the lord Pope and humbly requests him to add assurances to this settlement which seem effective to him and he [the king] will confirm whatever he [the pope] establishes. For he wishes all things to be faithfully observed and does not wish us to be harmed over this by anyone in the future. And it should be known that in this feast of All Saints, in the 17th year of his reign, he will pay us the first 500 pounds of the aforesaid 1000 pounds to be paid us annually. With these witnesses, H[erbert] Tuc‚seneschal at that time of the queen, Herbert of March, Gervase of Prinsiac, Paulain Boutier, Robert of Longland, Ph[ilip] of Susa, Ph[ilip] of Planche, knights. Dated at LeMans, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation, 1215, 7th kalends of October.

Original letter:

Berengaria, Dei gratia, quondam humilis Angliae Regina, omnibus, etc., salutem. Sciatis ita convenisse inter dominum Angliae Johannem illustrem, et nos de dote nostra quam petebamus, et de quadam compositione quae quondam inter ipsum et nos facta fuerat super eadem dote, de qua mille marc' de ipso recipere debebamus annuatim, videlicet, quod ipse, ad praesens, dat nobis duo mill' mar' pro omnibus arreragiis, et pro solutione anni praesentis, et de caetero dabit nobis annuatim mille libr' bonorum et legalium sterlingorum, scilicet, quingentas libr' in festo Omnium Sanctorum: et quingentas libr' in festo Ascensionis. Hanc pecuniam solvet in domo Novi Templi apud London. Licebit autem repetere dotalicium nostrum ab omni detentore extra regnum Angliae, praeterquam ab ipso, vel a successoribus suis; et ipse, de hoc, non erit contra nos, nisi teneatur de jure illud warrantizare: et neque ipse, neque successores ejus poterunt capere in manum suam res illas, super quibus nos in causam traxerimus detentores; poterimus autem finem facere, ad nostram voluntatem, eum eisdem detentoribus, salvo ei et haeredibus suis post nostrum obitum jure suo. Concessit etiam ipse Rex quod, tam nos quam homines de familia nostra, liberum habeamus omni tempore introitum in terram suam, et exitum de eadem, possumusque ibidem morari quamdiu voluerimus; et tam nos quam omnes res nostras in salvum conductum suum recepit, et suam securitatem in veniendo, morando, redeundo; praestito sacramento quod, per nos, malum sibi non eveniet, nec regno. Concessit etiam, quod in omnibus portubus maris liberum habeamus transitum, quandocumque voluerimus; prohibendo quod nullus hominum, vel ballivorum suorum nos, vel homines de familia nostra impediat, vel consuetudinem recipiat ab eisdem. Compositionem autem istam fecit tam pro se, quam pro haeredibus suis, statuendo quod, si forte, quod absit, ipse veli aliquis successorum ejus ipsam compositionem infringeret, quod facere non possunt salva fide, et infra viginti dies commoniti ipse, vel justic' ejus, si ipse extra regnum fuerit, id non emendaverint, dotalitium nostrum integre teneatur restituere nobis, omni dilatione et occasione remota. Praeterea fecit jurare in animam suam Galfridum Luterell militem suum, quod omnia quae in carta illa continentur, obserbavit illibat; et, ad majorem securitatem, ea omnia a domino Papa confirmari impetrabit. Rogat etiam dominum Papam, et humiliter petit, ut praesenti compositioni addat securitates, quas viderit expedire, et ipse ratum habebit quicquid inde statuerit; vult enim quod omnis fideliter observentur, et non vult quod nos possumus, super hoc, ab aliquo in posterum molestari. Et sciendum est quod in hoc festo Omnium Sanctorum, anno regni ejus xvii, solvet nobis primas quingentas libras de supradictis mille libr' nobis annuatim solvendis. His testibus, H. de Tuseio, senescallo tunc temporis Regineae. Herberto de Marchia Gervasio de Prinsiac'. Paulin' Boterii. Roberto de Landa longa. Ph' de Susa. Ph' de Planchis militibus. Dat' Cenom', anno Dominicae Incarnationis MCCXV, vii kalend' Octobr'.

Historical context:

Berengaria, widowed in 1199, worked hard and long to recover her dower. There is a letter as early as 1201 from her brother-in-law John to his justiciary and barons of the exchequer describing his agreement with Berengaria to pay her 1000 silver marks annually, 150 from revenues of Segreio, the rest from the exchequer on different dates, instructing them to make the payments, Rymer, Foedera, 1.124 (84). But the payments were not made; pope Innocent III wrote to John, pressing him to pay or the papacy would take action, to no avail (Foedera, 1.142-43, 1207, 1.152-53, 1209). In this document, she reveals the terms of the new dower arrangements with her brother-in-law, king John. John sent exactly the same terms in the first person (we give, etc.) with the appropriate pronoun changes and a different set of witnesses to pope Innocent III, requesting the addition of any assurances he saw fit (PL 217 c.303-05) and Honorius III sent a copy of John's letter to Berengaria (Horoy, Ep.1.114).

Printed source:

Rymer, Foedera, 1.208-09 (138).

Date:

1215