by Mayv 'SpearBourne' Amaia

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2012

Berengaria of Navarre, traditionally described as "the only English queen never to set foot in England," was the wife of Richard I the Lionheart, King of the English. Like many of England's queens-consort of the Middle Ages, many details of her life, particularly her childhood, are not known.

She was born between 1165 and 1170, the eldest daughter of Sancho VI Garces, called el Sabia (the Wise), and Sancha of Castile, the king and queen of Navarre.

Berenguela (her Spanish name) and Richard likely met once, years prior to their marriage, and writers of the day romantically claimed there was an attraction between the two.

Richard's father, King Henry II, had arranged for him to marry Princess Alys, daughter of Louis VII, king of France. Louis VII, incidentally, was the ex-husband of Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

It was widely rumoured that Alys was Henry II's mistress, and Richard terminated their betrothal in 1190, claiming that she had borne his father's child.

Richard had his mother bring Berengaria to him; however, he had already set off on the Third Crusade, meaning the women had a lengthy journey ahead of them to catch up with him. They arrived in Sicily during Lent 1191 and were joined by Richard's sister Joan, the widowed queen of Sicily.

Together, they continued on to the Holy Land, but were shipwrecked on Cyprus. Richard came to their rescue and captured the city of Limassol (Lemesos), overthrowing the despot Isaac Comnenus. Isaac's young daughter was kept in the household of Berengaria and Joan, while Richard looted the island and held back the Cypriot resistance.

Richard and Berengaria were married on 12 May 1191 at the Chapel of St. George in Limassol. They left Cyprus in June, Berengaria accompanying her husband briefly at this point of the Crusade.

She left for England before Richard, but did not arrive. Richard himself was captured en route near Vienna, in December 1192, by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, on suspicion of being involved in the murder of his cousin, Conrad of Montferrat.

As the detention of a crusader was contrary to public law, Pope Celestine III excommunicated Leopold. Richard was then handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who was also excommunicated for wrongfully imprisoning a crusader.

Despite this, Henry needed the ransom so he could raise an army and assert his rights over southern Italy. Both Eleanor and Berengaria worked to raise the asked 150000 marks, more than double the English Crown's annual income at the time,

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