A letter from Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England (1220)

Translated letter:

To her venerable father in Christ and most beloved friend P[eter] by the grace of God bishop of Winchester, Berengaria, by that same grace humble former former queen of England, greetings. We send you our beloved bearer of the presents, brother Walter of the Cistercian order, asking with all the humility we can, humbly and devoutly, that you ensure that both for the coming feast of all saints and for the other dates already past, we be paid the money owed us for the settlement of our dower which, with your mediation, we made with our brother J[ohn] of good memory, formerly king of England. Fare well.

Original letter:

Venerabili in Christo patri suo et amico praecordialissimo P. dei gratia Wintoniensis episcopo. B. eadem gratia humilis quondam Angliae Regina salutem. Dilectum nostrum latorem presentium fratrem Gauterum Cisterciensis ordinis ad vos mittimus, cum omni humilitate qua possumus, rogando humiliter ac devote ut, tam de hoc instanti festo omnium sanctorum quam de aliis terminis iam transactis, nobis satisfieri faciatis de pecunia nobis debita pro compositione nostri dotalitii, quam, vobis mediante, fecimus cum J. bonae memoriae quondam rege Angliae fratre nostro. Valete.

Historical context:

Berengaria, widowed in 1199, worked hard and long to recover her marriage dower. She made a settlement with her brother-in-law king John, in which Peter was a mediator, but John never paid. She renegotiated the settlement with John's son Henry III and now appeals to the bishop to see that Henry observes it.

Manuscript source:

PRO SC 1/1/23

Printed source:

Wood, M.A.E., ed., Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain, 3 v (London: Henry Colburn, 1846), 1, #9; translation in Wood and Anne Crawford, Letters of the Queens of England 1100-1547 (Bath: Alan Sutton, 1994), 46.

Date:

1220