Women in the Medieval Court by Rebecca Holdorph;

Author:Rebecca Holdorph; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History / Europe / Medieval
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2022-04-29T21:00:00+00:00

Section Three

Reigning Queens

Cast of characters:

Urraca of Castile and León (1079–1126)

Urraca was the daughter of Alfonso VI of León and Constance of Burgundy. At the age of 8, she married Raymond of Burgundy, and they had two children, Sancha and Alfonso. Raymond died in 1107. Urraca’s half-brother Sancho died in 1108, leaving Urraca the presumptive heir to her father Alfonso. She became queen of Castile and León in 1109. She married Alfonso I of Aragon later that year, but the couple separated by 1110. Urraca spent much of her reign maintaining the integrity of her kingdom against threats from both her ex-husband Alfonso and her half-sister Teresa. When she died in 1126, she passed an intact kingdom to her son Alfonso. She was the great-grandmother of Berenguela of Castile as well as a contemporary of Matilda of Tuscany and Anna Komnene (see section one), and of Evpraksia of Kiev (see section two).

Berenguela of Castile (1179/80–1246)

As the eldest daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonor of England, Berengaria started life as her father’s heir. She was replaced by a younger brother, Enrique, and ruled Castile as Enrique’s regent when he inherited the throne. After Enrique’s death, Berengaria inherited the throne of Castile in her own right. She was married first to Conrad of Swabia, then to Alfonso IX of León, with whom she had five children. Berenguela’s marriage to Alfonso was annulled before she became queen of Castile. Months after inheriting the throne, Berenguela had her son Fernando crowned king, but she continued to exercise royal authority until her death in 1246. She was the grandmother of Eleanor of Castile (see section two).

Giovanna I of Naples (1326–1382)

Giovanna was the eldest surviving daughter of Charles of Naples and his wife Marie of Valois. When her father predeceased her grandfather King Robert of Naples, Giovanna became his heir. She succeeded from Robert after he died when she was about 17. She married four times: to Andrew of Hungary, Louis of Taranto, King James IV of Majorca, and finally to Otto of Brunswick. None of her children survived to inherit her throne, and when she was deposed, and presumably murdered, in 1382, her cousin Louis of Durazzo succeeded her. She was a contemporary of Alice de Lacy (see section one), and of Inês de Castro, Katherine Swynford and Alice Perrers (see section four).

Margrete I of Denmark (1353–1412)

The youngest daughter of Valdemar IV of Denmark and Helvig of Schleswig, Margrete married King Haakon VI of Norway. She and Haakon had a son, Olaf, who succeeded his father to become king of Norway, and his grandfather to become king of Denmark. After Olaf’s early death, Margrete became the ruler of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, though the specific titles that she used to claim each area were ambiguous. She proclaimed her sister Ingeborg’s grandson Eric of Pomerania her heir in each kingdom, but continued to rule until her death in 1412. She was a contemporary of Maria de Luna and Isabeau of Bavaria (see section two), as well as of Alice Perrers and Katherine Swynford (see section four).

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