Berengaria of Navarre

## Origin

As the real life Queen consort of England married to King Richard once her husband became entangled in the Robin Hood story so too did she, despite being known as "the only English queen never to set foot in the country" as she is thought to have only entered England after her husband's death.

## In Robin Hood

She appears in novels taking place during the Crusade in which Robin is accompanying King Richard as she herself accompanied her husband on the Crusade. She is usually accompanied by Richard's sister Queen Joan who her husband had rescued on his way to the Crusades and who accompanied and befriended Berengaria in real life during this period.

In at least one unconventional adaptation she takes the alias Marian and becomes Robin's lover when her husband realizes he is flamboyantly gay and cannot be with a woman despite the fact that there was no such concept in at the time, and the fact that he is known to have fathered at least one son in an extramarital affair. The societal idea of sexual orientation is relatively modern and the sin of sodomy was a catch-all term for sexual acts that were proscribed by the Church not a condemnation of gays in particular. It has been argued that contemporary accounts of Richard give a little evidence of what would today be described as bisexuality but such conclusions rely on a very modern interpretation of words which would have been understood much differently at the time and which first drew such connotations as late as 1948 when the first suggestion of Richard's homosexuality arose.

## Later Life

While there is some evidence that after Richard and Berengaria were reunited following his capture and ransom that he considered repudiating her due to her inability to have a child their marriage remained intact. Her brother King Sancho VII of Navarre was an important ally Richard could not have afforded to alienate in his ongoing conflict with King Philip II of France.

When Richard lay dying of an infection from an arrow wound received during the siege of Chalus-Chabrol he sent for his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine instead of his wife. His funeral was not delayed to wait for Berengaria's arrival and she missed it, arriving only days after his funeral to pay her respects and talk to her mother in law.

As Queen Dowager Beregaria had trouble getting her pension she was owed by King John after her husband's death and sent envoys to England on many occasions to ask after it, the Pope also condemned John's failure to pay her but by his death John still owed her more than £4000. His son Henry III of England eventually started to make the payments to her as he was meant to after succeeding his father to the throne. Despite this financial hardship she dedicated her life to helping the poor and made large donations to the church, founding the Abby Nôtre Dame de la Pieté at Epau, in which she would be buried, and entered the convent life. While there is scant information about this part of her life she remained involved in politics on a much smaller scale long after he husband's death such as the feud between the cathedral of St. Pierre and the rival cathedral chapter of St. Julien in which she backed St. Pierre.

## Appearances in Media

#### **Literature:**

* 1825 *The Talisman* (Tales of the Crusaders #2) by Sir Walter Scott
* 1882 *Winning His Spurs* by G. A. Henty
* 1891 *Winning His Spurs: A Tale of the Crusades* by G.A. Henty
* 1951 *The Lute Player* by Norah Lofts
* 1968 *My Lord Brother the Lionheart* by Molly Costain Haycraft
* 1974 *Willow Maid* by Maureen Peters
* 1978 *Valentina* by Fern Michaels
* 1983 *Shield of Three Lions* by Pamela Kaufman
* 1986 *Propinquity* by John Macgregor
* 1986 *Banners of Gold* by Pamela Kaufman
* 1997 *The Heart Of The Lion* by Jean Plaidy
* 2000 *Queen Without a Country* by Rachel Bard
* 2007 *Standard of Honor* by Jack Whyte
* 2011 *Lionheart* by Sharon Kay Penman
* 2011 *The Queen's Witch* by Cecelia Holland
* 2014 *Men of the Cross* (Battle Scars #1) by Charlene Newcomb

##### **Film:**

* 1923 *Richard the Lion-Hearted* played by Kathleen Clifford
* 1935 *The Crusades* played by Loretta Young
* 1954 *King Richard and the Crusaders* played by Paula Raymond

##### **Television:**

* 1961-1965 *Richard the Lionheart* played by Sheila Whittingham
* 1978-1978 *The Devil's Crown* (TV mini-series) played by Zoë Wanamaker

## Gallery

Berengaria of Navarre, portrait using effigy for refrenceBerengaria's tomb and effigy in the Abbey of L'ÉpauBerengaria and Richard on their way to the crusades shortly after their marriagePortrait made centuries after her death.
## External links

* Wikipedia
* Richard I and Berengria of Navarre by John Gillingham (pdf)
* The Crusader's Bride: The Life of Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England
* Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England by Susan Abernethy

1. ↑ Richard I and Berengaria of Navarre by John Gillingham
2. ↑ Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England by Susan Abernethy