A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Berengaria
BERENGARIA,
Of Navarre, was daughter of Sancho the Wise, King of Naples, and married Richard Cœur de Lion, soon after he ascended the throne of England. Richard had been betrothed when only seven years of age, to Alice, daughter of Louis the Seventh, who was three years old. Alice was sent to the English court, when a girl of thirteen, for her education. The father of Cœur de Lion, Henry the Second, fell in love with this betrothed of his son; and had prevented the marriage from being solemnized. But Richard, after he ascended the throne, was still trammelled by this engagement to Alice, while he was deeply in love with Berengaria. At length these obstacles were overcome. "It was the joyous month of May, 1191," to quote an old writer, "in the flourishing and spacious isle of Cyprus, celebrated as the very abode of the goddess of love, did king Richard solemnly take to wife his beloved lady Berengaria."
This fair queen accompanied her husband on his warlike expedition to the Holy Land. In the autumn of the same year Richard concluded his peace with Saladin, and set out on his return to England. But he sent Berengaria by sea, while he, disguised as a Templar, intended to go by land. He was taken prisoner, and kept in durance, by Leopold of Austria, nearly five years. Richard's profligate companions seem to have estranged his thoughts from his gentle, loving wife, and for nearly two years after his return from captivity, he gave himself up to the indulgence of his baser passions; but finally his conscience was awakened, he sought his ever-faithful wife, and she, woman-like, forgave him. From that time they were never parted, till his death, which occurred in 1199. She survived him many years, founded an abbey at Espan, and devoted herself to works of piety and mercy. "From her early youth to her grave, Berengaria manifested devoted love to Richard: uncomplaining when deserted by him, forgiving when he returned, and faithful to his memory unto death," says her accomplished biographer, Miss Strickland.