#berengaria of Navarre

[wonder-worker]

"By establishing herself as lord of Le Mans, [Berengaria of Navarre] was no longer dependent on Sancho or John to control her future, nor did she have to consign herself to religious life. Her action at this juncture is one of the clearest examples we have of Berengaria’s agency, and it was a remarkable turning point in her path to power. Although she may not have had the ability to influence and intercede successfully with John and Sancho, the young widow negotiated with, and gained assistance from, Philip Augustus. Berengaria was not lacking other protectors, since a series of popes, respectively Innocent III (1198–1216), Honorius III (1216–27), and Gregory IX (1227–41), all upheld their role as protector of the vulnerable, including widows, against the might of rulers and overlords. Berengaria never realised the power that she should have exercised as queen consort, but she established herself in widowhood as a semi‑independent member of the ruling elite of Western Europe, outside the remaining spheres of conflict between the kings of England, France, and Navarre."

-Gabrielle Storey, Berengaria of Navarre: Queen of England, Lord of Le Mans

[angevinyaoiz]

Richard the Lionheart and Berengaria of Navarre

[historyreimagined24]

Berengaria of Navarre: The Queen Who Stood in the Shadows of History

Berengaria of Navarre, born around 1165, is one of the lesser-known figures in European history, yet her life was intertwined with some of the most significant events of the medieval era. As the Queen consort of Richard the Lionheart, Berengaria’s story is one of political intrigue, royal duty, and personal resilience.

Early Life and Royal Lineage

Berengaria was born into the royal family of Navarre, a small but strategically important kingdom that straddled the border between modern-day Spain and France. She was the daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre and Queen Sancha of Castile. Growing up in a world shaped by territorial disputes and alliances, Berengaria's early life was one of privilege and royal education. Her father, King Sancho, was a capable ruler, and Berengaria was groomed to play a vital role in the dynastic politics of medieval Europe.

Marriage to Richard the Lionheart

The most pivotal moment in Berengaria’s life came in 1191 when she married Richard I of England, better known as Richard the Lionheart. The marriage was arranged to strengthen ties between Navarre and England during the Third Crusade. Richard was one of the most renowned crusaders of the time, and his marriage to Berengaria was seen as an important political alliance.

However, the marriage itself was far from conventional. Berengaria did not travel with Richard to the Holy Land; instead, she stayed behind in Sicily, where they were wed. This meant that, despite being crowned Queen of England in 1191, Berengaria did not exercise much influence over the kingdom. Richard spent the majority of his reign away from England, first on Crusade and then as a prisoner of war after being captured on his way back in 1192. During this time, Berengaria’s role was largely symbolic, and she remained in the background while Richard's officials governed in his stead.

Life After Richard's Death

Richard’s sudden death in 1199 marked another turning point in Berengaria’s life. Despite their long separation, Berengaria was deeply affected by her husband's passing. She never remarried, and instead, she returned to her homeland of Navarre. There, she played a role in the political life of the kingdom, though she never returned to England.

Berengaria’s withdrawal from the English court in the aftermath of Richard’s death is significant. It reflects the limited political power she wielded during her marriage. Despite this, she remained a respected figure in Navarre, where she lived a relatively quiet life until her death around 1230.

Legacy

Though Berengaria's time as Queen of England was short-lived and largely ceremonial, her legacy remains noteworthy. She represents the often-overlooked role that women played in the medieval royal landscape. In an age when royal marriages were primarily tools for forming alliances, Berengaria's marriage to Richard, though strained by distance, was an important diplomatic move. Furthermore, her ability to carve out a space for herself within the royal circles of Navarre after Richard's death shows her strength and resilience.

Today, Berengaria of Navarre is remembered not just as the wife of Richard the Lionheart, but as a queen who navigated the complexities of her time with grace, even if her life and reign were not defined by political power. Her story is a testament to the often-hidden roles women played in shaping history, even when their influence seemed less direct.

[maudeboggins]

I’m starting to get obsessed with Berengaria of Navarre

[ardenrosegarden]

95 minutes in and ready or not is many things but it's also ladies married into angevin family covered in blood fighting for their lives

i'm only 6 minutes into Ready or Not and I'm already projecting the Angevins as Horror™ onto it I'm not gonna be able to make it

[247reader]

It’s October - and that means it’s Awesome Ladies of History, Year Four! I’ll be bringing you 31 of history’s most interesting women, from the iconic to the forgotten, starting off, as per usual, with a figure from the iconic side.

Time for Eleanor of Aquitaine!

Eleanor was the elder surviving daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, the most powerful vassal in 12th century France, a man who controlled far more land than his nominal overlord. Eleanor’s name, Aliénor, or “other Aenor,” referred her her mother, who died when Eleanor was a small child; her father likewise passed when she was twelve or thirteen, leaving her Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Duke William’s will made Eleanor a ward of King Louis VI, who bethrothed her to his heir, another Louis, and then promptly died himself, leaving the two teenagers as king and queen of France. Young Louis initially adored Eleanor, but the monkish king and high spirited duchess were ill-suited. Eleanor, to the horror of church authorities, accompanied her husband on the Second Crusade, but the campaign was a disaster, and their already-shaky marriage disentegrated along route, despite the Pope himself attempting to mediate. With two daughters and no prospect of a son, Louis and Eleanor managed to arrange an annulment… and Eleanor promptly married again, to Louis’s rival Henry FitzEmpress, soon Henry II of England. Initially, this marriage was, though not without turbulence, a happier one. Eleanor and Henry had eight children, including five sons, one of whom died young, and Eleanor, despite later legends, seems to have accepted his affairs with the equanimity of someone whose maternal grandmother eloped with her paternal grandfather. He trusted her enough to eventually allow her to rule her duchy in person on his behalf… trust that proved misplaced. When their sons, including her favorite, Richard, revolted against their father, it was with Eleanor’s support, and it was Eleanor who faced the consequences; Henry imprisoned her for the rest of his reign.

Richard’s accession, however, set her free - and also made her perhaps the most powerful queen mother in English history. She arranged his marriage to Berengaria of Navarre, held his continental lands together during his prolonged absences, and raised his ransom when he was kidnapped returning from the Third Crusade. His death in 1199 devastated her, and her relationship with her youngest son, King John, was more fractious. She took the vows at the nunnery of Fontrevault, and died there soon after, already a legend in her own time.

[forthegothicheroine]

I know this historical romance I'm reading isn't going to end with Joan of England/Berengaria of Navarre because it's from 1965, but it keeps seeming like it will!

[edwardseymour]

Top 5 Angevins?

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

john, fuck OFF about it i don't want to hear SHIT from ANYONE. that man was hysterical. asked the duke of austria to raise richard's ransom price and threatened to convert to islam. lost the crown jewels in the wash. best king we ever had.

geoffrey. i genuinely think that man was evil, there was something deeply rotten within him. the way he handled brittany was incredibly cunty, however.

joan of sicily, richard's favourite sister. love that period where she, her mother (eleanor of aquitaine) and berengaria of navarre effectively went on crusade with richard. we nearly had her as co-ruler of jerusalem and it nearly got richard excommunicated iirc.

henry the young king. succession wants what he has.

richard i comes last because even though i mentioned him with his sister i literally sat here staring at this trying to do the maths trying to work out who i had forgotten for several seconds before remembering mummy's favourite war criminal...

[princesssarisa]

Character Ask: Maid Marian (Disney)

Favorite thing about them: Her blend of sweetness, elegance and romanticism with playfulness and adventurousness. She's both a quintessential "lady fair" for a hero of legend to love and a true kindred spirit to Robin Hood.

Least favorite thing about them: I wish her role were bigger, and while it's perfectly fine that she's not much of a fighter, I wish she were slightly more involved in the action than just throwing one pie in a guard's face.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I like pink and lavender.

*I get along well with children.

*I admire people who defy oppressors and help the poor.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not a king's niece.

*I'm not British.

*I'm not an anthropomorphic fox.

Favorite line: When Robin proposes marriage mid-battle:

"Oh, darling, I thought you'd never ask me! But you could have chose a more romantic setting!"

brOTP: Lady Kluck.

OTP: Robin Hood.

nOTP: Prince John, Sir Hiss, or the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Random headcanon: I'll take this one from TV Tropes: She's the niece of Berengaria of Navarre, King Richard's wife, making her Richard's niece by marriage. This explains why she's a vixen instead of a lioness, and why neither she nor Prince John behave as if they're related to each other.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one.

Song I associate with them:

"Love"

Favorite picture of them:

[histoireettralala]

Blanche, Marguerite, and Queenship

Blanche's actions as queen dowager amount to no more than those of her grandmother and great-grandmother. A wise and experienced mother of a king was expected to advise him. She would intercede with him, and would thus be a natural focus of diplomatic activity. Popes, great Churchmen and great laymen would expect to influence the king or gain favour with him through her; thus popes like Gregory IX and Innocent IV, and great princes like Raymond VII of Toulouse, addressed themselves to Blanche. She would be expected to mediate at court. She had the royal authority to intervene in crises to maintain the governance of the realm, as Blanche did during Louis's near-fatal illness in 1244-5, and as Eleanor did in England in 1192.

In short, Blanche's activities after Louis's minority were no more and no less "co-rule" than those of other queen dowagers. No king could rule on his own. All kings- even Philip Augustus- relied heavily on those they trusted for advice, and often for executive action. William the Breton described Brother Guérin as "quasi secundus a rege"- "as if second to the king": indeed, Jacques Krynen characterised Philip and his administrators as almost co-governors. The vastness of their realms forced the Angevin kings to rely even more on the governance of others, including their mothers and their wives. Blanche's prominent role depended on the consent of her son. Louis trusted her judgement. He may also have found many of the demands of ruling uncongenial. Blanche certainly had her detractors at court, but she was probably criticsed, not for playing a role in the execution of government, but for influencing her son in one direction by those who hoped to influence him in another.

The death of a king meant that there was often more than one queen. Blanche herself did not have to deal with an active dowager queen: Ingeborg lived on the edges of court and political life; besides, she was not Louis VIII's mother. Eleanor of Aquitaine did not have to deal with a forceful young queen: Berengaria of Navarre, like Ingeborg, was retiring; Isabella of Angoulême was still a child. But the potential problem of two crowned, anointed and politically engaged queens is made manifest in the relationship between Blanche and St Louis's queen, Margaret of Provence.

At her marriage in 1234 Margaret of Provence was too young to play an active role as queen. The household accounts of 1239 still distinguish between the queen, by which they mean Blanche, and the young queen — Margaret. By 1241 Margaret had decided that she should play the role expected of a reigning queen. She was almost certainly engaging in diplomacy over the continental Angevin territories with her sister, Queen Eleanor of England. Churchmen loyal to Blanche, presumably at the older queen’s behest, put a stop to that. It was Blanche rather than Margaret who took the initiative in the crisis of 1245. Although Margaret accompanied the court on the great expedition to Saumur for the knighting of Alphonse in 1241, it was Blanche who headed the queen’s table, as if she, not Margaret, were queen consort. In the Sainte-Chapelle, Blanche of Castile’s queenship is signified by a blatant scattering of the castles of Castile: the pales of Provence are absent.

Margaret was courageous and spirited. When Louis was captured on Crusade, she kept her nerve and steadied that of the demoralised Crusaders, organised the payment of his ransom and the defence of Damietta, in spite of the fact that she had given birth to a son a few days previously. She reacted with quick-witted bravery when fire engulfed her cabin, and she accepted the dangers and discomforts of the Crusade with grace and good humour. But her attempt to work towards peace between her husband and her brother-in-law, Henry III, in 1241 lost her the trust of Louis and his close advisers — Blanche, of course, was the closest of them all - and that trust was never regained. That distrust was apparent in 1261, when Louis reorganised the household. There were draconian checks on Margaret's expenditure and almsgiving. She was not to receive gifts, nor to give orders to royal baillis or prévôts, or to undertake building works without the permission of the king. Her choice of members of her household was also subject to his agreement.

Margaret survived her husband by some thirty years, so that she herself was queen mother, to Philip III, and was still a presence ar court during the reign of her grandson Philip IV. But Louis did not make her regent on his second, and fatal, Crusade in 1270. In the early 12605 Margarer tried to persuade her young son, the future Philip III, to agree to obey her until he was thirty. When Philip told his father, Louis was horrified. In a strange echo of the events of 1241, he forced Philip to resile from his oath to his mother, and forced Margaret to agree never again to attempt such a move. Margaret had overplayed her hand. It meant that she was specifically prevented from acting with those full and legitimate powers of a crowned queen after the death of her husband that Blanche, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, had been able to deploy for the good of the realm.

Why was Margaret treated so differently from Blanche? Were attitudes to the power of women changing? Not yet. In 1294 Philip IV was prepared to name his queen, Joanna of Champagne-Navarre, as sole regent with full regal powers in the event of his son's succession as a minor. She conducted diplomatic negotiations for him. He often associated her with his kingship in his acts. And Philip IV wanted Joanna buried among the kings of France at Saint-Denis - though she herself chose burial with the Paris Franciscans. The effectiveness and evident importance to their husbands of Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor of Castile in England led David Carpenter to characterise late thirteenth-century England as a period of ‘resurgence in queenship’.

The problem for Margaret was personal, rather than institutional. Blanche had had her detractors at court. It is not clear who they were. There were always factions at courts, not least one that centred around Margaret, and anyone who had influence over a king would have detractors. They might have been clerks with misgivings about women in general, and powerful women in particular, and there may have been others who believed that the power of a queen should be curtailed, No one did curtail Blanche's — far from it. By the late chirteenth century the Capetian family were commissioning and promoting accounts of Louis IX that praise not just her firm and just rule as regent, but also her role as adviser and counsellor — her continuing influence — during his personal rule. As William of Saint-Pathus put it, because she was such a ‘sage et preude femme’, Louis always wanted ‘sa presence et son conseil’. But where Blanche was seen as the wisest and best provider of good advice that a king could have, a queen whose advice would always be for the good of the king and his realm, Margaret was seen by Louis as a queen at the centre of intrigue, whose advice would not be disinterested. Surprisingly, such formidable policical players at the English court as Simon de Montfort and her nephew, the future Edward I, felt that it was worthwhile to do diplomatic business through Margaret. Initially, Henry III and Simon de Montfort chose Margaret, not Louis, to arbitrate between them. She was a more active diplomat than Joinville and the Lives of Louis suggest, and probably, where her aims coincided with her husband’s, quite effective.

To an extent the difference between Blanche’s and Margaret’s position and influence simply reflected political reality. Blanche was accused of sending rich gifts to her family in Spain, and advancing them within the court. But there was no danger that her cultivation of Castilian family connections could damage the interests of the Capetian realm. Margaret’s Provençal connections could. Her sister Eleanor was married to Henry III of England. Margaret and Eleanor undoubtedly attempted to bring about a rapprochement between the two kings. This was helpful once Louis himself had decided to come to an agreement with Henry in the late 1250s, but was perceived as meddlesome plotting in the 1240s. Moreover, Margaret’s sister Sanchia was married to Henry's younger brother, Richard of Cornwall, who claimed the county of Poitou, and her youngest sister, Beatrice, countess of Provence, was married to Charles of Anjou. Sanchia’s interests were in direct conflict with those of Alphonse of Poitiers; and Margaret herself felt that she had dowry claims in Provence, and alienated Charles by attempting to pursue them. Indeed, her ill-fated attempt to tie her son Philip to her included clauses that he would not ally himself with Charles of Anjou against her.

Lindy Grant- Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

[everydayshalloween]

Berengaria of Navarre: How about this? You leave us alone and you don't die. Great deal, huh?

Isaac Comnenus: Oh really? And how do you plan to stop us?

Berengaria: Oh, I won't! But my buddy will. Say hi, buddy! :D

Joan of England, who somehow got her hands on a sword: Hi. :)

[wonder-worker]

A central element of the myth of [Eleanor of Aquitaine] is that of her exceptionalism. Historians and Eleanor biographers have tended to take literally Richard of Devizes’s conventional panegyric of her as ‘an incomparable woman’ [and] a woman out of her time. […] Amazement at Eleanor’s power and independence is born from a presentism that assumes generally that the Middle Ages were a backward age, and specifically that medieval women were all downtrodden and marginalized. Eleanor’s career can, from such a perspective, only be explained by assuming that she was an exception who rose by sheer force of personality above the restrictions placed upon twelfth-century women.

-Michael R. Evans, Inventing Eleanor: The Medieval and Post-Medieval Image of Eleanor of Aquitaine

"...The idea of Eleanor’s exceptionalism rests on an assumption that women of her age were powerless. On the contrary, in Western Europe before the twelfth century there were ‘no really effective barriers to the capacity of women to exercise power; they appear as military leaders, judges, castellans, controllers of property’. […] In an important article published in 1992, Jane Martindale sought to locate Eleanor in context, stripping away much of the conjecture that had grown up around her, and returning to primary sources, including her charters. Martindale also demonstrated how Eleanor was not out of the ordinary for a twelfth-century queen either in the extent of her power or in the criticisms levelled against her.

If we look at Eleanor’s predecessors as Anglo-Norman queens of England, we find many examples of women wielding political power. Matilda of Flanders (wife of William the Conqueror) acted as regent in Normandy during his frequent absences in England following the Conquest, and [the first wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, played some role in governing England during her husband's absences], while during the civil war of Stephen’s reign Matilda of Boulogne led the fight for a time on behalf of her royal husband, who had been captured by the forces of the empress. And if we wish to seek a rebel woman, we need look no further than Juliana, illegitimate daughter of Henry I, who attempted to assassinate him with a crossbow, or Adèle of Champagne, the third wife of Louis VII, who ‘[a]t the moment when Henry II held Eleanor of Aquitaine in jail for her revolt … led a revolt with her brothers against her son, Philip II'.

Eleanor is, therefore, less the exception than the rule – albeit an extreme example of that rule. This can be illustrated by comparing her with a twelfth century woman who has attracted less literary and historical attention. Adela of Blois died in 1137, the year of Eleanor’s marriage to Louis VII. […] The chronicle and charter evidence reveals Adela to have ‘legitimately exercised the powers of comital lordship’ in the domains of Blois-Champagne, both in consort with her husband and alone during his absence on crusade and after his death. […] There was, however, nothing atypical about the nature of Adela’s power. In the words of her biographer Kimberley LoPrete, ‘while the extent of Adela’s powers and the political impact of her actions were exceptional for a woman of her day (and indeed for most men), the sources of her powers and the activities she engaged in were not fundamentally different from those of other women of lordly rank’. These words could equally apply to Eleanor; the extent of her power, as heiress to the richest lordship in France, wife of two kings and mother of two or three more, was remarkable, but the nature of her power was not exceptional. Other noble or royal women governed, arranged marriages and alliances, and were patrons of the church. Eleanor represents one end of a continuum, not an isolated outlier."

[angevinyaoiz]

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!

[historyreimagined24]

"Isabella of Angoulême: A Tale of Power, Love, and Ambition"

Step into the captivating world of Isabella of Angoulême, a tale of power, love, and ambition. Follow Isabella's remarkable journey from a young, spirited princess to a formidable queen, navigating treacherous courts and forging alliances. With its rich historical backdrop, this enchanting storybook invites you to discover the captivating life of one of the most intriguing women in medieval history. Available now, don't miss your chance to embark on this captivating adventure.

[valkyries-things]

BERENGARIA OF NAVARRE // QUEEN OF ENGLAND

“She was Queen of England as the wife of Richard I of England. She was the eldest daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. As is the case with many of the medieval English queens, little is known of her life. Traditionally known as "the only English queen never to set foot in the country", she may in fact have visited England after her husband's death, but did not do so before, nor did she see much of Richard during her marriage, which was childless. She did (unusually for the wife of a crusader) accompany him on the start of the Third Crusade, but mostly lived in his French possessions, where she gave generously to the church, despite difficulties in collecting the pension she was due from Richard's brother and successor John after she became a widow.”

[coloursofunison]

I'm delighted to welcome Carol McGrath's new historical fiction novel, The Lost Queen, to the blog #newrelease #histfic #blogtour

I'm delighted to welcome Carol McGrath's new historical fiction novel, The Lost Queen, to the blog #newrelease #histfic #blogtour @rararesources

Here’s the blurb 1191 and the Third Crusade is underway . . .It is 1191 and King Richard the Lionheart is on crusade to pitch battle against Saladin and liberate the city of Jerusalem and her lands. His mother, the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine and his promised bride, Princess Berengaria of Navarre, make a perilous journey over the Alps in midwinter. They are to rendezvous with Richard in the…