| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Berengaria (Spanish: Berenguela, French: Bérengère) (c. 1165- 70 - 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. Richard was already betrothed to Princess Alice, sister of King Philip II of France. Alice, however, had become the mistress of Richard's own father, King Henry II, and a marriage between Richard and Alice was therefore technically impossible for religious reasons.
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 Joanna. En route to the Holy Land, the ship carrying Berengaria and Joanna 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 LimassolLimassol (population 107,000) is the English name for Lemesos ( Greek: , Turkish: Leymosun), the second-largest city of Cyprus. The city is situated on Akrotiri Bay, on the southside of the island. Limassol was built between two ancient cities, Amathus an.
Whether the marriage was ever even consummated is a matter for conjecture. Richard had a terrible reputation with women (and had a bastard son, Philip (d. ~1211)), 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 it is certainly true that Richard had to be ordered by a priest to reunite with Berengaria and to show fidelity to her in future, and the language he used is the main evidence cited for the proposition that Richard had been engaged in homosexual activities. Nevertheless, when he died in 1199Events John Lackland, becomes King of England Births Deaths 6 April Richard I of England, from a crossbow during a minor siege in France Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan Heads of states England Richard I th, she was greatly distressed, perhaps more so at being deliberately overlooked in the general rush to get to his death-bed.
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 IIIInnocent III ne Lotario de Conti ca. 1161 June 16, 1216), was Pope from January 8, 1198 until his death. He was the son of Count Trasimund of Segni and nephew of Pope Clement III, born at Anagni, Italy. His father was a member of the famous house of Conti 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.
Berengaria eventually settled in Le MansLe Mans is a city in France, located at the Sarthe River. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Sarthe departement''. History First mentioned by Ptolemy GEography 2. 8), the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a client tribe of the Aedui., 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, but her remains were later moved to the Cathedral of St. Julien in Le Mans.
The story of Richard and Berengaria's marriage is fictionalized in the 1935 film The Crusades starring Loretta YoungLoretta Young ( January 6, 1913 — August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Born Gretchen Michaela Young in Salt Lake City, Utah, she moved with her family to Hollywood when she was three years old. Her sisters, Polly Ann Young and Elizabeth Jane Young (s and Henry WilcoxonHenry 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. DeMille's movies. Wilcoxon, Henry Wilcoxon, Henry., and was a prominent feature of the 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around British television series, Richard the Lionheart, but both versions were highly romanticised and are not reliable sources of information about the queen.