By Susan Grant-Suttie
Her young servant woman, Bruna, giggled then scratched her hair through her headscarf, most likely it was the persistent head lice that was bothering her. After sucking a piece of meat out from between her teeth Bruna then leaned in for some exaggerated privacy to begin the conversation. She waited a moment before starting her story, wanting her ladyship’s full attention. Douce I de Gévaudan, Comtesse de Provence, a young teenager herself, tolerated the rural odor that wafted around her maid like flatulence. Douce wanted to hear what her servant had to share, but had to endure the rank odor. She made sure not to lean too closely, the young
woman’s breath alone would offend a dog.
Bruna batted her pretty little brown eyes several times in coyness, being allowed to be so close to the Comtesse de Provence and wanting to display some innocence for pressing the social boundaries then carried on with her story not realising how hard it was for the young comtesse to remain so close. Bruna inched her stool closer and closer as the story progressed. The two teenage girls with heads bent towards each other, shared the local gossip like two cats sharing a bowl of cream. Bruna handed her mistress a small bag of mint-like plants for that night’s tea, Bruna’s original chore before being side tracked in conversation. Douce had put the small cloth bag down on the side table, preferring to listen to another story rather than call for a hot pot of tea. It was Bruna’s job to keep the tea supply always topped up. Of course keeping the gossip pot full was a benefit for both as well.
“Isn’t it astounding how men think they control us!” Douce threw in this comment to encourage this young wench to share more titillating tidbits. As expected, the comment took and the story dove deeper.
“The publican wanted his daughter to be married off but the trouble he’s been having was more than he thought he would have. The wench is a plain girl, not one to talk much either, but the poor man has enough children to feed and at sixteen, if he doesn’t marry her off soon, then everyone will think there is something wrong with her, God’s bones, she would be on the shelf forever if she does not marry while the bloom is still on the rose.” Bruna winked then covered her mouth, luckily, when she laughed. “So when he had the chance, he took it with a sailor who had been visiting more often than usual, ‘cause he figured out that the fellow had an interest in his daughter. The sailor man was a little different, he figured out, but still he was good enough to be a husband to his daughter. Then one night his daughter confessed to him that the sailor wanted some time with her and maybe a piece of her too.” Bruna giggled. “The publican was very clever so in order to keep his daughter’s word and to maybe convince the fellow to marry his daughter he made a plan.” At this point Bruna was laughing so hard she was rolling back and forth on her stool gasping for breath as part of her unusual laughter. Then she continued when Douce waved her hand at Bruna to control herself. Bruna waved the air as if to settle the waters of humour around her. “The sailor wanted to know if she would be good enough for him before he would ask for her hand in marriage. So the publican told his daughter how she could oblige the fellow. The publican was sitting on the other side of the wall with his daughter, the wall in the back behind the kitchen. The sailor thought only the young girl was there, but actually she and her father were both on the other side of the wall with the hole in it. That’s what the publican said. There was a hole in the wall, where the knot in the wood was, it was a rather big knot too. That is where the publican’s daughter agreed to meet the fellow. This sailor wanted to marry her so badly, well I am not so sure about marrying, but he might have done that too to get what he wanted, but he asked for the most unusual things.”
“Like what?” ask Douce leaning back as if in surprise but actually to inhale some fresher air and flip her fan around safely.
“He asked if he could touch her breast!” The servant leaned back giggling and almost lost her cap with her own raucous response. The sun was setting behind her head and for a second she was crowned with red clouds through the window giving her the look of a travelling performer with dyed red hair.
“So what did she do with her father there?” Douce was rather curious, being of the same age, they both revelled in the stories of the town. Douce was more careful venturing publically and so Bruna provided many entertaining stories upon her return from her errands.
“That’s the beauty of it, the father wanted his daughter to marry but needed to keep her..umm..reputation, so he did it, he figured out a way to please the sailor instead of it being his daughter. But, his daughter was there talking the whole time, but it was the father that… supplied….” Bruna snorted in laughter again, not able to finish her sentence.
“What?”
“When the sailor asked to touch her breast he pushed his bum cheek against the hole and let the sailor touch his bum!” Bruna laughed again and leaned back to suck more air in her lungs to gasp in her chuckles.
The comtesse’s eyes popped open in alarm and Bruna knew she had a good story.
“It gets better, the sailor asked her to kiss him but he was told to push his lips into the hole. No one said if the daughter kissed him or not but I wouldn’t put it past the publican to kiss the fellow instead, probably a peck.” The servant girl began to wave her hands around, again, as if she was trying to calm herself down. “Then, the sailor had the audacity to ask to touch her cunt, in fact he said he wanted to pet it!”
“How did the publican handle that?” From a peck on the cheek to the lifting of a skirt seemed pretty forward and Douce’s first thought was that maybe the publican would punch the sailor through the hole, as that was his daughter the sailor was enticing into sinful acts.
“He put his cheek into the hole and let the sailor touch his bearded cheek! The fellow petted it and thought it was real. After hearing this much I thought for sure the sailor was a virgin or at least an idiot, but he asked for another request.”
“By God’s bones, what else could he ask for?” Douce was giggling with her servant and praying that no one would interrupt them, this was too good to be true. “And what about the voice? Did the publican’s daughter do the talking? Surely the publican could not utter a word and the girl was not much for chatter.”
“No, his daughter was there too. Then the sailor asked to touch her buttocks. Here I thought that would not be possible, but the publican being the genius he was, he folded up his large arm, tightly, and he pushed the crack of his arm into the hole. His daughter begged the sailor not to put his finger inside the crack as she was a virgin, and the sailor obliged only lightly touching the skin. Although It was said that the sailor thought it odd that the very sight before him had so much hair, he was very concerned, so I heard. The publican’s daughter, being smarter than the sailor, assured him it was only because of the oncoming of winter, otherwise her bottom was as smooth as a baby’s.” The servant was laughing so hard, she was slapping her knee.
“So did the publican’s daughter and the sailor marry?” Douce made a face of disgust wondering if now Bruna was jesting and was about to tell someone else how gullible she was. Still, the comtesse was intrigued.
“Oh m’lady no, the sailor planned to pull out of town on the next ship where he tried to brag about what he got away with, or so he thought. But, the publican was able to talk to his patrons first and share the events as his daughter went around serving beer and laughing with her father at the expense of the sailor just before his last visit. Oh my lady, I dare say not a single eye was dry in the house. We were all laughing so hard. I was there too! The sailor came into the place ready to brag, but the town folk knew the story before he could wag his chin and boast of his conquest. The fellow walked in and ordered his drink and people started pointing and laughing so hard, the poor fellow couldn’t finish his drink. He never knew what it was, but he knew he was the laughing stock of the town for some reason. The man left puzzled and quickly at that.” Bruna caught her breath and scratched her head again. “So I guess the publican’s daughter is still up for husband, but he must be smarter than her father, to be sure!”
By now the two young women, caught by the contagion of laughter, were wiping tears from their cheeks as they revelled in the images of the publican fooling the dupable sailor, a rare event since sailors were mostly known for their duplicitous actions, not the other way around.
They both heard the downstairs entrance way fill up with guests and Douce shooed away Bruna, but not without the reassurance that she would return again with another story of the publican and his daughter, for he was well known for his antics in the town. This had to be the best story so far thought Douce. Bruna promised another story before she closed her lady’s chamber door behind her. Gathering her composure, Bruna walked past the guests at the front door and slipped past them all with a quick curtsy. Douce bent her head towards the door to listen to see if she could infer who was downstairs before being seen, but she had suspected it would be the doctor and the priest, as requested by her in-laws to review a few marital issues.
True enough, there was a doctor and priest who were summoned at the same time to discuss with Douce the reasons for her childlessness. Douce knew the reason for their visit as soon as she heard the baritone voices bubbling below in low murmurs. It was her husband, Conrad, Duke of Rothenburg, the fifth son of Frederick 1st of Barbarossa and in line of the Germanic throne, who was expected in this marriage to produce children immediately. The two had been married for two years now and not one pregnancy. Both Douce’s parents and his parents were concerned and both houses agreed to send a doctor and a priest to investigate the source of the malady, as neither house wanted to annul the marriage due to the wife being accused of being barren, but the issue had to be addressed. As Douce was feeling as though her ability to carry children was the question, she only agreed to the meeting as long as neither her family nor his were present. She had no fear of her husband being present for he preferred the hunt than the home on any good day. He was also a man who avoided anything related to administrative duties, and interviews were considered administrative in nature, so he took to the hunt. She felt it treacherous that no one planned to examine her husband as to his lack thereof, but only herself. She lifted her chin and waited for the men to be announced before she greeted them.
The manor’s man servant skipped up the stairs, knocked on Douce’s door and whispered as to their presence downstairs. Douce wriggled her cap into place and descended the stairs with some grace and made sure they could see her hold her chin quite high, to give the air of confidence and compliance as she emerged into their company below. She stopped at the last step, standing a full six inches taller than the men at the bottom of the stairs, and nodded at them gracefully. They knew nothing, she thought, but she’d have to play the game. She wished she had the publican as her advisor at this point, he could have thought of a way for her to get out of this sticky mess.
“My lady, it is delightful to see you, and we plan to make this as short and pleasant as possible.” The doctor was at least compassionate enough to touch the issue at hand whereas the elderly priest kept looking at the floor and mumbling what sounded like latin, but one could not be sure with his age – even his eyes were weighed over by pockets of wrinkles. Such dotards tended to hide in thoughts of religious mists to camouflage their ineptness. The doctor was at least young enough to counterbalance the awkwardness of the situation, bold though he was, he was also one who appeared to want to press through the matter. She watched him wave his one hand to his companion as if to motion, ‘let’s get on with this.’
“Your husband is a knight.” The priest made statements that sounded almost like a question before anyone sat down. He began the interview in the middle of the hall.
“Gentlemen, may we sit and have a warm beer and some bread as we discuss the situation.” Douce waved her hand and the humped over manservant reappeared with a tray of simple refreshments walking towards the large table in the middle of the room with facing chairs. The men sat down after Douce sat in hers. Douce, noticing the urgent attitude of the doctor, decided to skip a few questions ahead hoping the visit would be shortened.
“We were betrothed in the city of Carrion, two years ago.” At that point she was wondering how she could do as the publican did, to place someone else in the situation which required poking and prodding and yet leave her voice in the room. But the questions and the examination had to be undertaken and no one was with her, no mother, no father, no maidservant and definitely not Bruna and her wagging lips, that servant she wanted on the other side of the country while this interrogation was happening.
“You realise how important this meeting is?” Again the priest spoke with his question statements as if it were all just a rehearsal for something larger yet to be discovered.
“Yes, and I would prefer to get to the point. For as disagreeable as I am about the unfortunate situation I am in, I will prove that it is not of my doing.” She sat with a straight back as if someone poked her.
“Madam, are you aware of your duty as a wife? Of your duty to present yourself to your husband? Of your duty to go forth and be fruitful as the bible states?” At least this time the statements sounded more like questions. Still the older man kept his watery eyes down and his hands shook as his thin white beard bobbed up and down like a puppet’s face when he spoke.
“If you are asking me if I make myself available to my husband when we are alone at night, I can say that I have.” Douce had no fear looking into the face of the old religious priest. It was he who would not lift his gaze, she felt quite in control.
The doctor adjusted his seat and spoke a little more forthcoming, “Can I ask if you are wearing clothing to bed that would cover below your…” He faltered, waving his hand around his waist.
“Do you mean do I wear something that would restrict entrance from my husband into myself? No. I wear a simple shift to bed, no undergarments beyond that. “ Douce felt bold and now wanted the men to be embarrassed, not herself. She felt herself to be of a higher status than the men before her. She meant to impress upon them this fact, they would not embarrass her.
The old man coughed before he spoke. “As it states in First Corinthians, The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Do not deprive one another.” The old clergyman rushed out his words without a question or a statement but now a quote.
The doctor looked at the priest with raised eyebrows and waited as a short silence rested between all three.
Douce took up the path of logic and answered the unsaid question within one silent beat. “Do I deny my husband? No. Does he deny me?” She paused looking upward to the left. “Then again, he does not frequent my bed. So if there is a question as to conjugal rights, I neither ask nor receive from a man who is barely at home. I make myself ready, but I demand not as I was raised to believe that a woman who asks is a woman who is wanton.” Beginning to feel a little belligerent, Douce threw in a twist to the plot. “We have no sex on Sundays, because that is the Lord’s Day, and also on Thursdays and Fridays, which are supposed to be days preparing for Communion. As well, we have three lengthy periods of abstinence – during Lent, which lasts sometimes up to two months; then before Christmas, which if I remember was at least 35 days; and around the Feast of Pentecost we made sure not to engage with each other. But, I cannot recall how many days exactly but somewhere between 40 to 60 days we did not share a bed. Also, for every feast day for our holy Saints would be considered abstinence days as well. And of course never when I am on my courses. So, between the days the church allows a married couple to share a bed and my husband’s love of sport, I can say that I have been available and yet there have been outside constraints which have hindered any pregnancy. I would highly recommend that this information be sent back to both my parents and his.”
The old priest nodded his head and appeared to be quite appeased by the adherence of the holy days and more relieved that his duty appeared to be completed. On the other hand, it appeared the church and its strict adherence was to blame for the lack of progeny.
Douce had knocked down that skittle pin and now was focusing upon the doctor. She still wondered if she had to submit herself to any examination but that still was yet to be determined.
The doctor coughed and paused with his hand to his mouth for a moment longer than necessary. “When you do, come together, can you assure me that he does ride you and does leave his seed?”
Douce turned her head and wanted to push back this doctor as she did the priest before he had a chance to embarrass her. She took a deep breath and plunged into the delicate nature of positions which she knew he really wanted to ask. “Does my husband mount me from behind like a horse, no. Does he seek me sideways, no. And in all cases neither do I. Do I or my husband request or without thinking, stand when having sex? No. We understand well the instruction from the church that all sex is to be done lying down facing each other. We understand that sex is a duty and not to be enjoyed.”
“So you have had sex, you have not become pregnant then.” The doctor, his young eyes staring into hers, had now asked a question she could not get around.
“Sir, no I have not experienced any conjugal rights as of yet or should I say none that I would recognize as conjugal.” She sat holding her breath wondering what would happen next.
“Well, then maybe we should have brought a lawyer with us,” replied the doctor. No one laughed and the quip fell into silence. Better than to blame the church for their strict rules, it appeared.
“I presume you may bring that news with you as well for I have been available when the church states it is right to be so.” Now she did not know where to go from here. Douce may have just painted herself into a corner.
The old priest leaned over and grabbed a mug of water and this time he did look her in the eyes. She could see the pink skin around his yellow eyeballs. This time his eyes slitted as if he found the weak link in her argument. “Tell me, have either of you committed adultery?”
Again Douce felt reprieved. She could honestly answer for herself. “I can rest my hand on the bible and swear that never in my marriage have I ever entertained even the thought of another man in my bed. I remain chaste and forever loyal to my husband. So as you can see, I am loyal to both the church and my lord. I am not at fault.”
The priest pulled at his beard. “Have you committed any sin so that the Lord Almighty may have reason to smite you?” His voice rose sharply as if he thought he had finally found the reason this couple had no children. His wagging bony finger pointed at her but not in beat with his words, then rested on his lap.
“Father, I have followed the church rules, I have led a humble and pious life as is expected. The worst I can be blamed for is being too honest, but I cannot see how that would be a sin. The Lord has no reason to smite me. Those sort of questions should be put towards my husband. I presume you plan to have a meeting with him, or shall I venture he is blanketed with immunity.” Douce knew that oftentimes women were blamed for their barren womb when the men could not lift a thread with their cocks. She also had to consider how pressing the situation was if she were to pass the test of fertility and adherence to all the marriage laws. How far would they explore the situation with Conrad?
Neither the priest nor the doctor would press further, they both rested back in their chairs pondering their next step with such a forthright young woman who was contrary in her attitude. Eventually, they both said they were satisfied with their discoveries and they would bring the news to both their parents who were both interested for more than familial reasons as to why this couple did not have any children. If the truth be plucked from her story alone it would appear that neither time nor opportunity was on the young couple’s side. Both parties were innocent of any wrongdoing. It was only the doctor that harboured deep suspicions but due to the position of both families, he knew better than to explore the reasons that this young husband who was married to a beautiful young bride would not take her, and often at that. His suspicions lay within the facts of Conrad spending so much time hunting with his male friends, being either his preference for men or the illusion of hunting when actually he was meeting with another woman. Then again, maybe the young man did not know how to handle the invitation. No matter either of those choices, the reasons were not wise to chase. Even the doctor calculated that time and opportunity was the best answer for all involved.
The two interviewing men stood up and the sound of chairs scraped across the floor. The door to the room opened and the stooped man servant stood there ready to take instructions with the nod of his head.
“What am I to secure for the reasons you have determined as to my lack of childbearing? What reasons will you give my parents and his?” She knew at this point to soften the approach. The whole argument could go sideways with one of these men pointing the finger at her.
“It is simple my dear,” said the priest. “You have had no opportunity if you are so observant with church rules.”
“And neither have you had time when your husband is doing his duty outside with his people,” continued the doctor. “We will discuss this further with his family to see if your husband was instructed in his duty.”
The catapult of blame passed right by her, thankfully. Douce smiled and asked the man servant to see both to their carriage and to make sure they were well comforted before they left. The result was much better than she expected. It appeared her forthright manner was the best way to meander down this difficult topic. The man servant, having heard the conclusion, gave a half smile to his lady and waved his hand towards the door to indicate to the visitors that the time was now to leave.
Douce heard the men’s carriage wheels turn on the path before the manor and the sound of the horse’s plodding hooves slowly faded away. She picked up a small thread and needle that was tucked into a patch of cloth by the fireplace and aimed to place it back in her room. The stooped over man servant walked in, but since his bow to his lord and lady was in permanent half bend, he stood there making a small cough to remind Douce that he was still within ear shot.
“I wish to have a hot cup of pennyroyal tea in my room.” Bruna had left her a small bag full of the minty flavoured infusion upstairs. Although pungent in odour, Douce had come to appreciate the sharpness of the flavour when mixed with a bit of honey. She never allowed her supply to go empty. Then she paused for a second thinking of how valuable she was between her knees and her neck…..her knees and her neck.
The man servant left shaking his head as he headed towards the kitchen. He said nothing, as no one asked him. But when the time was right, he would switch the pennyroyal with their own garden mint, when the time was right, and when she requested.
__________________________
Douce I de Gévaudan, comtesse de Provence born 1101
Author’s notes to understand Douce.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Barcelona
First child 1116. Berenguela de Barcelona, reina consorte de León y Castilla
| Empress of All SpainQueen of León, Castile and Galicia |
Daughter of Douce born 1116.
Berenguela I of Castile, La Grande
 |
| Berenguela I in a window of the Alcázar of Segovia |
She was the first of the sons of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonor Plantagenet, being granddaughter, therefore, Leonor of Aquitaine. The Infanta was born in Segovia on June 1, 1180. Queen of Castile in 1217 and Queen Consort of Leon between 1197 and 1204.
Since the infants born afterwards did not survive, Berenguela was the nominal heir to the Castilian throne for a long time; This turned it into a much coveted party across Europe.
In 1187 he asked for his hand Conrad, Duke of Rothemburg, the fifth son of Frederick I Barbarossa, Germanic Emperor. The following year the marriage contract was signed in Seeligenstadt, after which Conrad embarked on a trip to Castile, the betrothal being celebrated in the city of Carrión where the nobleman was armed knight. The marriage was not consummated, at first by the age of Berenguela and later because the kings had in 1189 a son, Fernando, who happened to be the heir. The emperor Federico seeing frustrated his aspirations in Castile, undoes the commitment, in spite of the abundant dowry of the infanta Berenguela. The duke and she would never see each other again.
The infanta asked the pope to cancel the compromise seems to be influenced by her grandmother Leonor of Aquitaine who did not wish to have a Hohenstaufen neighbor of their French fiefs. These fears disappear completely when the duke died in 1196.
A year later Berenguela married Valladolid with the king of León Alfonso IX, his second uncle. From this marriage are born five children:
• Leonor (1198-1202).
• Constanza (1200-1242), nun in the monastery of the Huelgas.
• Fernando (1201-1252), future king of Castile and Leon with the name of Fernando III.
• Alfonso (1202-1272), Señor de Molina and Mesa for his first marriage to Mafalda González de Lara. Later contracted nuptials with Teresa Núñez and with Mayor Téllez de Meneses, Mrs. of Montealegre and Tiedra. From this marriage would be born the famous Maria de Molina, wife of Sancho IV de León and Castile.
• Berenguela (1204-1235), married to Juan de Brienne, king-regent of Jerusalem.
However, in 1204 Pope Innocent III annulled his marriage to the King Leones claiming the kinship of the spouses, in spite of having allowed Celestino III in his time. It was the second annulment for both Berenguela and Alfonso. They both fervently asked for a dispensation to allow them to remain together. The Pope, inflexible, denied it, however, consenting that his children were considered legitimate.
Dissolved their marriage Berenguela returns to Castile next to its parents where it dedicates itself to the education of its children.
When Alfonso VIII died in 1214, the prince Enrique heir of the throne is still a minor, reason why a period of regency opens under the mother of the king that lasted exactly 24 days until its death and after this, under that of its sister Berenguela. The Lara forces the regent to surrender the regency to Count Alvaro Nunez de Lara in order to avoid a civil conflict in the kingdom.
In February 1216 an extraordinary curia is celebrated in Valladolid in which the Castilian magnates agree, with the support of Berenguela, to make a common front against Don Álvaro de Lara. In May of that same year the situation becomes dangerous in Castile to Berenguela, for that reason it decides to take refuge in the castle of Autillo (Palencia) whose lieutenant is the noble Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, one of its faithful, at the same time that sends to its son Fernando to Leon with his father Alfonso IX.
Circumstances change when Henry suddenly dies as a result of a chance injury to the head. His guardian tried to conceal the facts, taking the corpse to Tariego, but he could not prevent the event from reaching the ears of Berenguela.
The premature death of his brother prompted the kingdom to pass to Berenguela, who in the act of proclamation, relinquished the throne in favor of his son Fernando, to whose side he always remained a counselor.
For this reason he arranged his marriage with Beatriz de Swabia, granddaughter of the emperors Federico I Barbarroja and Isaac II Angelo.This marriage raised the ranks of the kings of Castile and opened the gates of Europe to Fernando III.
A difficult occasion in which the mediation of Berenguela stood out, came when Fernando’s father, King Alfonso IX of Leon, instigated by Álvaro de Lara entered Castile with an army in order to seize the throne of his son. The intervention of Berenguela and the death of the Count of Lara propitiated the signing of the Pact of Toro, through which father and son put an end to the Castilian-Leonese confrontation.
In 1222 the Lara again faced the king, but Berenguela’s mediation put an end to the dispute when the wedding of Mafalda de Molina was arranged with Alfonso, brother of King Ferdinand.
In 1224 he married his daughter Berenguela with Juan de Brienne in a maneuver that brought Fernando to the throne of Leon, since Juan de Brienne was the candidate of Alfonso IX for one of the daughters of his first marriage. When Berenguela got ahead, he prevented the king’s daughters from having a husband who could reclaim the throne of Leon.
But his most decisive intervention in favor of his son takes place on the death of Alfonso IX who appoints his two daughters, Dulce and Sancha, had with Teresa of Portugal as heirs to the throne. Berenguela meets in Benavente with the mother of the infants getting the signature of the Treaty of Third Parties, by which the infants give up the throne in favor of their brother in exchange for money and other advantages. Thus Leon and Castile were already united forever.
After the death of Beatrice of Suabia, she chose for the second wife of the king a French noblewoman Juana de Danmartin, candidate chosen by the sister of Berenguela, White of Castile, queen of France by its marriage with Louis VIII.
Queen Berenguela exercised as such while Ferdinand pursued the Reconquest by southern lands, ruling the kingdom with the skill that always characterized it. He is interviewed for the last time with his son in Pozuelo (Ciudad Real) in 1245, passing away the following year.
She was a woman interested in culture and protector of the monasteries. He supervised personally the construction of the cathedrals of Burgos and Toledo and ordered the chronicler Lucas de Tuy a chronicle on the kings of Castile and Leon. He died on November 8, 1246. She is buried in the Monastery of Las Huelgas in Burgos.
 |
| Burgos cathedral |
Exprimehistorias in Biography , Castilla La Mancha , History , Women in history March 5, 2016 538 Words
A queen with character
The fame he had achieved by his beauty and intelligence attracted many suitors.He chose King Alfonso VII of Castile and Leon .
She was Queen consort of León by his marriage with Alfonso VII and empress of Spain, was daughter of Ramon Berenguer III , count of Barcelona, and of Dulce de Provenza , sister of Ramón Berenguer IV , count of Barcelona. She was mother of the kings Ferdinand II of Leon and Sancho III of Castile , king of Castile.
The queen participated actively in the politics of kingdom and the merit was of her to have smothered the rebellion of the prince of Asturias. She used to accompany her husband to war. He was a patron of the arts and influenced the poetry of Provençal troubadours to reach Castile.
Legend has it that in the year 1139 King Alfonso VII the Emperor assembled an army in Toledo to attack the fortress of Oreja or Aurelia near Aranjuez, the last stronghold of the Moslems, a very strategic one that resisted on the border of the Tagus.
When the Almoravids of Cordoba, Seville, and Valencia discovered that the city of Toledo was unprotected, they sent a large army to aid the fortress of the ear and surrounded the city of Toledo.
The Sovereign who was then 23 years old came to look at what is now called the Queen’s Tower to reproach Muslims for attacking a city defended by women.
Another version says that it sent a messenger to the enemy camp with a message where these words are gathered in the chronicle of Alfonso VII:
“Do you not know that it is a decline of gentlemen and captains who are struggling to attack a defenseless woman when the Emperor is so close to you? If you want to fight, go to Aurelia and there you can prove that you are brave, as here you will prove that you are men of honor if you retire “
Be that as it may, they agreed, and they recognized that Berenguela was right and they retired. After 6 months of siege, the fortress of ear surrendered and took prisoners to the emirs of Cordova and Seville and they beheaded them.
The lieutenant mayor of Toledo Nuno Alfonso , whom many compared to the Cid, (by the way, was ancestor of Miguel de Cervantes ) ordered to display the heads, in the wall, but the queen made them remove immediately. He embalmed the heads and put them in gold coffers and carried them in a chariot to his widows.
Berenguela died at age 33 and is buried in the Royal Pantheon of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela . It was a queen with much character, that participated actively in the politics of the kingdom.
If you liked my article and want to receive all the new content you can subscribe to my blog https://exprimehistorias.wordpress.com/
And if you want to hear and see the story subscribe to my YouTube channel https://goo.gl/5mMkyM
________
Doña Berenguela la Grande, the most ephemeral (short lived) queen of Castile
 |
| Doña Berenguela la Grande (Wikimedia Commons) |
Doña Berenguela de Castilla is a very particular story. Daughter, granddaughter, mother, grandmother, wife of great kings, queen consort of Leon, but only reigns of Castile herself for a few moments . And yet always involved in the rule of the kingdom and creator of the definitive union of the kingdoms of Leon and Castile under the Crown of Castile in the person of his son, Fernando III the Saint.
Dona Berenguela was born in 1180, the first-born of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonor de Plantagenet , heir to the throne of Castile (until the birth of her younger brother Enrique I). His name, of Catalan origin, came from his great-grandmother Berengaria, wife of Alfonso VII and sister of Ramon Berenguer IV , count of Barcelona.
She was educated in the cultured and refined atmosphere that no doubt her mother Leonor de Plantagenet had lived next to his, Eleanor of Aquitaine , and became a coveted party for the European royalty.
After a frustrated attempt of marriage with the son of the emperor Federico I Staufen, Barbarroja , in 1197, contracted marriage with Alfonso IX of Leon . This union would last until 1204 when Pope Innocent III declared his nullity since Alfonso IX was cousin of the father of Berenguela. Fortunately, negotiations with the pontiff prevented excommunication and the five children of the marriage were declared illegitimate.
 |
| Coronation of Berenguela and Fernando III in 1217. Commemorative plaque in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid |
With the breakup of the marriage Berenguela returned to Castile, and his son Fernando, the eldest son, stayed with his father, the king of León.
In 1214 died Alfonso VIII and from that moment Berenguela became the regent who, with the support of bishops and nobles, had the power in the kingdom of Castile. First as tutor of her younger brother , Enrique I , who was 10 years old and who would die only three years later by the fall of a tile in the palace of the bishop of Palencia. Then, resigning the throne in favor of his son , Fernando III of Castile, in a ceremony that was celebrated in the market place of Valladolid, 1 of July of 1217.
Alfonso IX, wanted to prevent his kingdom from falling into the hands of Ferdinand, preferring to be for some of his daughters, the fruit of his previous marriage with his cousin, Teresa of Portugal , Sancha and Dulce, for which he felt special weakness. For this he planned his wedding with the knight crossed Jean de Brienne , lord of Acre and king of Jerusalem, but Dona Berenguela disrupted and got him to marry his daughter, also named Berenguela, in 1230. To avoid future maneuvers in the Same line, Berenguela agreed with the daughters of his ex- husband an agreement in which they resigned their rights testamentary on the crown of Leon in exchange of generous compensations lifelong.
 |
| Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos. (Wikimedia Commons) |
In that same year 1230 Alfonso IX passes away, and the kingdoms of Leon and Castile are united under the scepter of Fernando III the Holy one , that governs always supported and advised by his mother Berenguela.
Doña Berenguela died on November 8, 1246 and according to her testament was buried in the Monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas in Burgos, in “flat and humble burial.”
To Doña Berenguela, this great personage of the History, intelligent, sensible, with sense of State, proprietress of the Castle of Curiel, we wanted to dedicate the room number 5 of the hotel to him.
 |
| The room of Doña Berenguela la Grande |
Douce I (also Dulcia or Dolça, called “of Rouergue” or “of Gévaudan”) (c. 1090 – 1127) was the daughter of Gilbert I of Gévaudan and Gerberga of Provence and wife of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona. In 1112, she inherited the county of Provence through her mother. She married Ramon Berenguer at Arles on 3 February that year.
In 1113, Douce ceded her rights in Provence, Gévaudan, and the viscounty of Millau to her husband. According to a once prevailing opinion, “Provençal troubadours … entered Catalonia at the time” and even the Catalan language was imported from Provence.[1] According to nationalist historians it was the beginning of l’engrandiment occitànic (the Occitan aggrandisement): a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the Pyrenees.[2]
In reality the marriage gave the House of Barcelona extensive interests in Occitania and put it in conflict with the Counts of Toulouse, with whom a partition of Provence was signed in 1125, shortly before Douce’s death. Her death inaugurated a period of instability in Provence. A cadet branch of the House of Barcelona was set up to rule, but a disputed succession opened up the Baussenque Wars (1144–1162), which terminated in Provençal victory.
Her children with Ramon Berenguer were:
- Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera
- Berenguela (1116–1149), married Alfonso VII of Castile
- Ramon Berenguer (1113–1162), Count of Barcelona
- Berenguer Ramon (c. 1115–1144), Count of Provence
- Bernard, died young
http://blog.castillodecuriel.com/2015/03/dona-berenguela-la-grande.html
https://www.geni.com/discussions/131480 – Raymond – maybe put forward to next chapter.
Gerberga then took control of the government, and is said to have ruled wisely.[5] In 1112, her eldest daughter Douce was married to Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona at which point Provence was ceded to him.[2] Her second daughter, Stephanie, would lay claim to the county and thus precipitate the Baussenque Wars in 1144.
https://historytheinterestingbits.com/2017/01/15/the-unfortunate-wives-of-philip-ii-of-france/ – 1180 – tranfer to next section.
https://familytrees.genopro.com/Azrael/Skaggs/DEPROVENCE-GerbergeComtesse-I78972.htm – faimly tree laid out.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/07/euwf.html – timeline of France area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgRgdKyd8Vg – movie of time period – Raymond went on crusdae, first of many to take arms urged by Pope Urban.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYQibkkOH6s – step by step video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HProiNnmGwI – crusade – Islam view.
1113 Aug 24, Geoffrey Plantagenet, conquered Normandy, was born in France.
(MC, 8/24/02). ,………………husband at distance tells her where he is going adding sign language. She mimics him sarcastically.
