Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England
Overview
Biography
(See also Genealogical Table(s): 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 3.)Berengaria was the daughter of Sancho (el Sabio) VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. Sancho was a descendant of Garcia Ramirez el Restaurador (the Cid). Berengaria was closely related to royalty in France and England as well as Spain. A brother, Sancho el Fuerte, succeeded his father; a sister, Blanche, married Thibaut of Champagne (grandson of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII), whose son succeeded Sancho VII as king of Navarre. Berengaria was a witness at Blanche's marriage, which she may have participated in arranging, and Blanche took Berengaria in when she was widowed and unable to claim her dower and later when her city was under interdict.1 One aunt, sister of Berengaria's father, married William the Bad of Sicily and their son William the Good married Joan (Joanna), daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, and eventual sister-in-law of Berengaria. Another paternal aunt married Sancho of Castile; their son Alfonso VIII married Eleanor of England, a sister-in-law of Berengaria, and their daughter Blanche married Louis VIII of France, son of Philip Augustus, who made it possible for Berengaria to live in and rule Le Mans. Queen Blanche and her son treated Berengaria as a close relation and helped her to buy the land she needed to found her monastery. Berengaria married Richard Lionheart, king of England in 1191. She was brought from Navarre to Sicily by Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine; from there Eleanor's daughter and Berengaria's future sister-in-law, Joan, the widowed queen of Sicily, accompanied her to meet Richard. They were shipwrecked on Cyprus, where they could not land for fear of being taken hostage by its ruler Isaac Comnenus; Richard came to the rescue with many crusading allies and took the island. Richard and Berengaria were married at Limassol on Cyprus and Berengaria was crowned queen of England. Berengaria and Joan accompanied Richard to Syria, but when they returned, Richard went by land and was captured, Berengaria and Joan by sea, stopping in Rome as guests of the pope for six months. Berengaria never went to England, and bore no children. When Richard died in 1199, therefore, she had no role. She entered into a long struggle just to recover her dower lands which were in France; she was also supposed to receive Eleanor's lands in England, Normandy and Poitou after her death. Despite various agreements and pressure from the papacy, John never paid his sister-in-law what was owed her. She fought on various levels: there are records of her claims to a particular castle, see RHP III, #61, October 18, 1216, in which pope Honorius tells an archbishop, dean, and archdeacon of Tours to conclude the case committed to them by Innocent III over possession of the castle of Segreio which Berengaria claimed as her dower right against William of Verchia/Wirchia/Guerchia who had despoiled her of it. In July 1217, Honorius ordered them to compel William to restore the castle to Berengaria, RHP III, #678. When John lost Normandy, Berengaria petitioned the victorious Philip Augustus and he settled the county of Maine on her in return for her dower properties in Normandy which he now controlled. She lived and ruled in Maine, in the city of Le Mans, from 1204 until she died in 1230. Berengaria founded the abbey of l'Espau, and was directly involved in ruling Le Mans. She engaged in various struggles with the local bishop over corrupt practices in his church and jurisdictional issues. Her authority over the city was recognized by the French crown in matters of extending city boundaries or enlarging cathedral precincts (Trindade, 161). She arbitrated disputes and appointed functionaries. But when she levied certain taxes and attempted to collect certain revenues, she encountered opposition from the cathedral chapter and the bishop who imposed interdicts. On one occasion, described in a letter from Honorius III to the abbot of St. Genevieve and two Paris deans, when Berengaria and a "large multitude of people" had come to the church for Palm Sunday services, the bishop and the chapter refused them entry and shut the doors in their face "to the confusion, injustice/injury, and scandal of many," RHP III #4237. The conflict between the cathedral chapter of St. Julien and rival chapter, St. Pierre de la Cour, began before the arrival of Berengaria, and continued beyond her life (see Trindade, 163ff).
Letters from Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England
A letter to Henry III, king of England (10/26/1225)A letter to Peter, Bishop of Winchester (1220)
A letter to Public (1193)
A letter to Public (1204, January)
A letter to Public (1215)
Letters to Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England
A letter from Henry III, king of England (11/12/1218)A letter from Henry III, king of England (1219)
A letter from Henry III, king of England (2/10/1220)
A letter from Henry III, king of England (2/10/1220)
A letter from Henry III, king of England (July, 1220)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (1/19/1221)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (12/23/1216)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (1217)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (4/10/1218)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (4/10/1218)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (4/12/1218)
A letter from Honorius III, pope (4/9/1218)
A letter from John, king of England (1206)
A letter from John, king of England (1214)
A letter from John, king of England (1216)
A letter from John, king of England (8/2/1201)