Margaret of Navarre
Overview
Title social-statusQueen of SicilyDate of Birth1138Date of Death1183Biography
The daughter of King Garcia Ramirez of Navarre and Marguerite de l’Aigle, Margaret of Navarre and Perche married William I of Sicily, son of Roger II. They had four sons, of whom two died young, the others were William II and Henry, prince of Capua. William I died in 1166 and Margaret became regent for her son, William II (d.1189). She declared an amnesty and abolished the penalty payments which had been imposed on various towns during a rebellion against her husband, but her power was contested by powerful factions. She was mistrusted by some of her subjects as a foreigner, she had several French clerks, and she appointed a [French] cousin, Stephen of Perche, Chancellor and later Archbishop of Palermo; they were rumored to be having an incestuous affair, and Stephen was eventually exiled. The queen did have allies in pope Alexander III and Thomas Becket who sent some of his exiled relatives to her court. Her son, William II, married Joan of England, daughter of Henry II and Eleanor , in 1177.
