Berenguela of Barcelona

Berenguela (or Berengaria ; * 1108 in Barcelona , † February 1149 in Palencia ) was the wife of Alfonso VII from 1128 to 1149 Queen of Castile and León .

Life

Berenguela was the daughter of Count Raimund Berengar III. of Barcelona and his third wife Douce of Provence (also called Dulcia). She is described in the sources as beautiful, clever and brave. In 1128 she celebrated her splendid wedding to King Alfonso VII of Castile-León at Saldaña . There were reservations about this marriage, however, as Berenguela and her husband were too closely related. The couple had the following children:

• Sancho III. (* 1134; † 1158), King of Castile
• Ramon (* around 1136), died in childhood
• Ferdinand II (* 1137; † 1188), King of León
• Constanze (* around 1138; † 1160), wife of King Louis VII of France
• Sancha (* around 1139; † 1179), wife of King Sanchos VI. of Navarre
• Garcia (* 1142; † 1146)
• Alfons (* around 1144/46; † before 1149)

Berenguela exerted great influence on her husband and also interfered in political affairs. After Count Gonzalo Peláez had revolted against Alfonso VII, Berenguela helped with an understanding between her husband and the rebellious count. According to the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris , she defended Toledo against an army of the Almoravids in 1139 . According to this report, she sent word to the besiegers that if they fought against a woman, they would gain no fame; instead, they should compete with their husband's troops. When the attackers, who professed their Islamic faith, saw the queen sitting on a throne at the top of a tower of the Alcázar , they kneeled down and then withdrew in chivalrous fashion. After the Castilians erected the heads of two decapitated Saracen leaders on the top of the royal palace of Toledo in 1143, Berenguela ordered the removal of this macabre trophy and sent the heads embalmed to the widows of those killed. King García Ramírez of Navarre took Urraca, the daughter of Alfonso VII from his mistress Guntroda Pérez , to be his wife in 1144 ; and Berenguela also participated in this marriage.

Berenguela died in Palencia in February 1149 and was buried in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela .

literature

• Berengaria of Provence . In: Anne Commire (Ed.): Women in World History . Vol. 2 (1999), p. 444.
• Ludwig Vones : Berenguela, Queen of Castile-Léon . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 1941.

Remarks

1. ↑ L. Vones, LMA, Vol. 1, Col. 1941.