Margaret of Navarre (Sicily)

Margaret of Navarra (* 1128 , † 1183 ) was the regent of Sicily from 1166 to 1171 instead of her underage son Wilhelm II .

She was the daughter of King García IV of Navarre . Before 1151 she married the future King William I of Sicily, at that time with the title of Prince of Capua . She gave birth to four sons: Roger (1152–1161), Duke of Apulia since 1156, Robert (dates unknown), Wilhelm (1153–1189) and Heinrich (1158–1172), Prince of Capua.

The reign

After the death of Wilhelm I, his underage son Wilhelm became his successor and Margarete took over the regency on his behalf. The Wilhelm I of certain Familiaren Richard Palmer , Elect of Syracuse, and the magister notarius Matheus they began by the Kaid Peter. After his escape, she brought her relative Stephan von Perche to Sicily, appointed him Chancellor and had him elected Electen of Palermo. On the other hand, she did not allow her cousin Gilbert von Gravina and her brother Heinrich von Montescaglioso to join the government .

After Stephen's expulsion and his departure to the Holy Land, a regency council was formed from ten families, including Richard and Matheus, Archbishop Romuald of Salerno , the bishops Gentilis of Agrigento and John of Malta , three representatives of the nobility, among them Henry of Montescaglioso , and the Kaid Richard, representing the Arab officials. The dean Walter of Agrigento, the young king's tutor , was soon able to take the lead in the council. His election and ordination as Archbishop of Palermo tried the Queen by bribing Pope Alexander III. to thwart, but to no avail. The last time she was mentioned in December 1171 in the documents of Wilhelm II as co-regent. The reconciliation with the aristocratic opposition can be seen as the success of their government; those exiled by Wilhelm I were given permission to return to the empire and were usually restituted to their previous possessions.

The last few years

Tomb of Margaret of Navarre in Monreale Cathedral.

From 1171 onwards, she spent the last years of her life in a castle near Bronte and Maniace . In 1174 she founded the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria di Maniace here. In 1177 she supported the Cistercians of S. Maria di Novara like her son . Santo Spirito in Palermo , the Cistercian abbey founded by Archbishop Walter, has also received a donation from her. She was buried in Monreale Cathedral .

literature

• Lexicon of the Middle Ages 6, Col. 238f.
• Annkristin Schlichte: The "good" king: Wilhelm II of Sicily (1166–1189). (Dissertation) Tübingen 2005. ISBN 3-484-82110-8 .