Berengaria of Castile

Berengaria of Castile

Berengaria (Castilian: Berenguela), nicknamed the Great (Castilian: la Grande) (1179 or 1180 – 8 November 1246), was Queen of Castile for a brief time in 1217, and Queen of León from 1197 to 1204 as the second wife of King Alfonso IX. As the eldest child and heir presumptive of Alfonso VIII of Castile, she was a sought after bride, and was engaged to Conrad, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. After Conrad's death, she married her cousin Alfonso IX of León to secure the peace between him and her father. She had five children with him before their marriage was voided by Pope Innocent III. When her father died, Berengaria served as regent for her younger brother Henry I in Castile until she succeeded him on his untimely death. Within months, she turned Castile over to her son Ferdinand III, concerned that as a woman she would not be able to lead Castile's forces. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Berengaria of Castile has received more than 286,634 page views. Her biography is available in 30 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 28 in 2019). Berengaria of Castile is the 3,372nd most popular politician (down from 3,312th in 2019), the 287th most popular biography from Spain (down from 285th in 2019) and the 102nd most popular Spanish Politician.

Berengaria of Castile is most famous for being the wife of Richard the Lionheart. She was also the daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England.