Queen: Berengaria of Navarre

She gained fame as the one Queen of England who never set foot in her adopted country, though in reality she may have come to England briefly after her husband's death. 

Berengaria (c 1165-1230) was the daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre and his wife Sancha of Castile.  Navarre is a small historic region in the Pyrenees mountains, now split between France and Spain but once an independent country.  Little is known of Berengaria's life except that she was convent-schooled, as were many noble and royal girls of the time.  Navarre had adopted the troubadour culture of Aquitaine, a border neighbor to the north, and Berengaria may even have met her future husband, Richard, years prior to their marriage.  His mother Eleanor approved of this match, believing an alliance with Navarre was more advantageous to Aquitaine than another liaison with France.  Richard was betrothed to Alys of France, but the Capets and Plantagenets were already connected through one marriage, Marguerite and Henry, Jr.  Besides, Richard was in no hurry to marry Alys, who may or may not have been his father's mistress by this time.

The death of Henry II in 1189 left Richard more concerned about consolidating his hold on England, Normandy and Aquitaine and not at all worried about Alys or the offense it would cause her brother Phillip II Augustus, if he didn't follow through with the marriage.  By this time, Richard was inclined to seek elsewhere for a marriage and left his mother to arrange matters with Sancho for his daughter's hand.  Then, Eleanor and Berengaria had to hurry to catch up with Richard, which they finally did in Sicily, where Richard detoured to resolve his widowed sister Joanna's dowry dispute with the new ruler, Tancred of Sicily.  This trail of enemies would catch up to Richard in due time, but he was eager to push on to the Holy Land.  Eleanor left Berengaria in Joanna's care and returned to England.  Joanna and Berengaria left for Acre by one ship and Richard by another.  Richard learned en route that their ship had been wrecked in a storm off Cyprus, where the local Byzantine ruler, Isaac Comnenus, was holding both Richard's war chest and the two women hostage.

Richard arrived, laid siege to the Cypriot capitol of Limassol and liberated both his treasure and the two women, banishing Isaac to a dungeon in silver chains.  There, on May 12, 1191, in the chapel of St. George at Limassol, Richard married Berengaria and she was crowned Queen of England.  And, speculation has never stopped from that day onward about whether it was a love match or a marriage of convenience, and what if anything Richard's sexuality played in the fact that the two never spent more than a few weeks in each other's company at any given time and never produced an heir.  Berengaria accompanied her husband for the first part of the Crusade before returning to Europe, where she was active in raising money for Richard's ransom once the Crusade was over and he'd been captured by Leopold of Austria.  Upon his release, he headed straight for England, which he was in danger of loosing to his brother John, and did not bid his queen to join him.  Eventually, Pope Celestine had to order Richard to reunite with his wife.  While he was in France, he would take her to church and appear in public with her, but no heir ever appeared.

Richard died in 1199 and Berengaria remained in Europe.  She never married.  Through her family and her marriage settlement, she was in possession of extensive lands, which she seemed content to rule on her own without a man's help or say-so.  She was in constant dispute with John over her pension money, which he found excuses not to pay until threatened by Pope Innocent III with an interdict.  It may have been in this context in which Berengaria finally visited England.  When John died in 1216, he was still several thousand pounds in arrearage to her on her pension.  His son, Henry III, finally paid up and kept the money coming on time.  Berengaria settled in Le Mans, becoming a benefactor of L'Epau Abbey.  Although she never took vows, she entered the conventual life in her later years, a common practice for highborn widows.  She was known as a benefactor of different religious institutions throughout her life.  She was buried at L'Epau, where a skeleton unearthed in 1960 was believed to be hers and reinterred under her effigy. 

Berengaria has figured in several novels and movies, most with little or no bearing on the actual truth of her life.