Berenguela of León
Encyclopedia
Berengaria of León was the third wife but only empress consort of John of Brienne
John of Brienne
John of Brienne was a French nobleman who became King of Jerusalem by marriage, and ruled the Latin Empire of Constantinople as regent.-Life:...

, Latin Emperor
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...

 of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

.

Family

According to the chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines
Alberic of Trois-Fontaines
Alberic of Trois-Fontaines was a medieval Cistercian chronicler who wrote in Latin. He was a monk of Trois-Fontaines Abbey . In 1232 he began his Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium, which describes world events from the Creation to the year 1241...

, Berengaria was a daughter of King Alfonso IX of León
Alfonso IX of Leon
Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death...

 and Queen Berengaria I of Castile. She was a younger sister of Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

 and Alfonso of Molina
Alfonso of Molina
Alfonso of León, Lord of Molina was a Prince of León and Castile, the son of King Alfonso IX of León and his second wife Queen Berengaria of Castile. He was the brother of King Ferdinand III of Castile and León, and father of Queen Maria of Molina, wife of King Sancho IV...

.

Marriage

In 1217, Berengaria's brother Ferdinand III had inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

 through abdication of their mother.

In 1223, John of Brienne
John of Brienne
John of Brienne was a French nobleman who became King of Jerusalem by marriage, and ruled the Latin Empire of Constantinople as regent.-Life:...

, aged 53, visited Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

, as a supposed pilgrim. He was by then twice a widower: first, in 1213 of Queen Maria of Jerusalem and then of Stephanie, daughter of Leo II of Armenia
Leo II of Armenia
Leo II , also Leon II, Levon II or Lewon II was the tenth lord of Armenian Cilicia or “Lord of the Mountains” , and the first king of Armenian Cilicia .During his reign, Leo succeeded in establishing Cilician Armenia as a powerful and a unified Christian...

, (1150 – king of Cilicia in Armenia 1199–1219).

As a consequence of his visit to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

, Alfonso IX invited him to marry Sancha and, presumably, through her inherit the Leonese throne.

However Berengaria of Castile, a long time divorced and an inheritor in her own right of the Castilian throne, main advisor of her son Ferdinand III, offered one of her own daughters to John instead.

Aging John chose Berengaria of León, from Alfonso IX's second doomed marriage, who was a decade younger than her half-sister Sancha, from Alfonso IX's first doomed marriage.

The marriage took place at Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

 in 1224.

Empress

In 1229, the throne of the Latin Empire had been inherited by Baldwin II of Courtenay, a twelve-year-old boy. The barons of the Empire decided to secure the safety of the Empire by appointing a regent-Emperor for Baldwin. They chose John who accepted the assignment as a sort of Senior Tutor. In April 1229, John was proclaimed regent at Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

. They did not arrive at Constantinople until 1231, when John was officially crowned in his new city.

Baldwin II remained the junior co-emperor and only heir to the throne. By agreement, 12-year-old Baldwin had been betrothed to around 4- or 5-years-old Marie of Brienne
Marie of Brienne
Marie of Brienne was the Empress consort of Baldwin II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.-Family:She was a daughter of John of Brienne and his third wife Berenguela of Leon. Marie was a younger, paternal half-sister of Yolande of Jerusalem...

, a daughter of John and Berengaria, since 19 April 1229 to firmly establish the dynastic alliance of the two co-emperors and the western land for Crusades also, Spain.

The marriage did not take place until 1234, when Marie was about nine years old and Baldwin about 16.

Alberic of Trois-Fontaines
Alberic of Trois-Fontaines
Alberic of Trois-Fontaines was a medieval Cistercian chronicler who wrote in Latin. He was a monk of Trois-Fontaines Abbey . In 1232 he began his Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium, which describes world events from the Creation to the year 1241...

 records that John died on 27 March 1237, aged around 61. The "Obituaires de Sens Tome" of the Abbey of Maubuisson record that Berenguela died on 12 April 1237, aged around 33, surviving her husband by only sixteen days.

She is buried in a beautiful marble coffin in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral of the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The cathedral is the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Greater, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. It is the destination of the Way of St...

, Spain, but many books and tourist leaflets mention her as if she was Queen Berenguela of Castile, her mother.

Other books however, mention this coffin as being that of another Berengaria (1228–1288) and/or other dates, her niece, daughter of her uncle the King Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

, sister of King Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...

. But this niece, Infanta Berengaria was a nun at the Monastery of las Huelgas, Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...

, of Royal patronage, where Berengaria of León's mother, Queen Berenguela of Castile, retired as a former monarch.

Further, Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, grandparents of Berengaria of León are buried there. Much later, Ferdinand III's and Alfonso X's bodies at Las Huelgas Monastery, near Burgos, would be moved to conquered Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

's new cathedral, where they are today.

Children

Berengaria and John of Brienne had four known children, known to have been residents in Spain with his cousin, King Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...

, signing widely in many documents for many years with other high nobility witnesses, Bishops and Archbishops, Royal legitimate and illegitimate offspring and so on :
  1. Marie of Brienne
    Marie of Brienne
    Marie of Brienne was the Empress consort of Baldwin II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.-Family:She was a daughter of John of Brienne and his third wife Berenguela of Leon. Marie was a younger, paternal half-sister of Yolande of Jerusalem...

     (1225–1275), who married Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople
    Baldwin II of Constantinople
    Baldwin II of Courtenay was the last emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.He was a younger son of Yolanda of Flanders, sister of the first two emperors, Baldwin I and Henry of Flanders...

    .
  2. Alphonso of Brienne
    Alphonso of Brienne
    Alphonso of Brienne or Alphonse I de Brienne, called Alphonse d'Acre was the son of John of Brienne and Berengaria of Leon, born in Acre. He was the Grand Butler of France in 1258....

     (c. 1228–1270), who married Marie d'Issoudon, countess of Eu, and became count of Eu in right of his wife, and was also Great Chamberlain of France. Died of a plague while involved in the Eighth Crusade
    Eighth Crusade
    The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX, King of France, in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II are counted as a single crusade...

    .
  3. John of Brienne (c. 1230–1296), who in 1258 became Grand Butler of France. Married Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun
    Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun
    Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun was a French heiress and the wife of two French noblemen Jean I de Montfort, and Jean de Brienne, Grand Butler of France.- Family :...

    , daughter of Geoffrey VI, Viscount de Chateaudun, as his first wife. His second wife was Marie de Coucy
    Marie de Coucy
    Marie de Coucy was the daughter of Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy and his third wife Marie de Montmirel . She was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Scotland.- Biography :...

    , widow of King Alexander II of Scotland
    Alexander II of Scotland
    Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...

    .
  4. Louis of Acre (c. 1235–1263), who married Agnes of Beaumont and became Viscount of Beaumont in her right.

Ancestry



External links

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