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:
“On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,—
One old jug without a handle,—
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,”
—Edward Lear (1812–1888)
“And the immortal music of Chopin
Which we had been discovering for several months
Since we were fourteen years old. And coffee grounds,
And the wonder of hands, and the wonder of the day
When the child discovers her first dead hand.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)