Early Years
In 1185 Berengaria was given the fief of Monreal by her father. Eleanor of Aquitaine promoted the engagement of Berengaria to her son King Richard. An alliance with Navarre meant protection for the southern borders of Aquitaine. Also, Navarre had assimilated the troubadour culture of Aquitaine and Berengaria's reputation was unbesmirched. It seems that Berengaria and Richard did in fact meet once, years before their marriage, and writers have claimed that there was an attraction between them at that time.
In 1190, Eleanor met Sancho in Pamplona and he hosted a banquet in the Palacio Real de Olite in her honour. The betrothal could not be celebrated openly, for Richard had been betrothed for many years to Princess Alys, sister of King Philip II of France. Richard terminated his betrothal to Alys in 1190 while at Messina. It has been suggested that Alys had become the mistress of Richard's own father, King Henry II, and possibly the mother of an illegitimate child; a marriage between Richard and Alys would therefore be technically impossible for religious reasons of affinity.
Read more about this topic: Berengaria Of Navarre
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“In early days, I tried not to give librarians any trouble, which was where I made my primary mistake. Librarians like to be given trouble; they exist for it, they are geared to it. For the location of a mislaid volume, an uncatalogued item, your good librarian has a ferret’s nose. Give her a scent and she jumps the leash, her eye bright with battle.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)
“The most important emotional accomplishment of the toddler years is reconciling the urge to become competent and self-reliant with the longing for parental love and protection.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)