Berengaria of Navarre

1165 – 1230 · Generation XII

Berengaria of Navarre (1165–1230). Married Richard I the Lionheart in 1191. Traditionally called the only English queen never to set foot in England — true at least of her years as queen. The eldest daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile, she was championed as a bride by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who valued Navarre as a shield for Aquitaine’s southern border. Once Richard had shed his long betrothal to Alys of France, Eleanor escorted Berengaria to Sicily to join him on crusade. When her ship ran aground off Cyprus and its ruler Isaac Comnenus threatened her, Richard seized the island, and at Limassol in May 1191 she was married and crowned on the same day. She travelled with him on the first stage of the crusade but saw little of him afterwards; the marriage was childless, and whether it was ever consummated is uncertain. As a widow she battled King John for her unpaid pension, settled at Le Mans as its lady, and in 1229 founded L’Épau Abbey there, where she was buried.

Partners

Married King Richard I The Lion Heart (1157 – 1199) in 1191

Life

1165 — Born
1191 — Married Richard I the Lionheart
1230 — Died