Book Launch Guest Post by Dr Gabrielle Storey, Author of Berengaria of Navarre: Queen of England, Lord of Le Mans (Lives of Royal Women)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

and worldwide from Routledge 

(launch discount code EFLY01)

Berengaria of Navarre is one of England’s most forgotten queens. Wife of Richard the Lionheart, queen of England, daughter-in-law to Eleanor of Aquitaine, her story has been neglected over the centuries. She travelled across medieval Europe, was present in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, and ruled in her own right as Lord of Le Mans in the thirteenth century. But who was she? And how did she go from forgotten queen of England to a local heroine in Le Mans?

 
This biography puts Berengaria at the centre. Grounded in academic research, this book explores the life of Berengaria,  her relationships and networks to uncover her story and present a new perspective on the life of the Lionheart’s queen.

This biography puts Berengaria at the centre. Grounded in academic research, this book tells the life of Berengaria from her own perspective, exploring her relationships and networks to uncover her story to present a new perspective on the life of the Lionheart’s queen..

 
The inspiration for this research came from my doctoral work, a comparative study of royal women in England and France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, from the Empress Matilda through to Isabella of Angoulême. Approaching Berengaria as both a royal and noble woman, and looking at her through the lenses of gender, sexuality, and rulership has allowed greater insight into how Berengaria navigated the political intrigues of England and France during the Middle Ages.

 
Based on archival research from England, France, and Spain, as well as using the chronicles written during and after Berengaria’s life, I have pieced together a new history of Berengaria, considering her familial and political networks in more depth as well as her position as a local ruler in Le Mans. 

Her immediate family members, her husband Richard I and mother-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine, are well known, and worked together effectively to rule across the domains of the king of England in the British Isles and France. Yet their partnership did much to lessen the visibility of Berengaria both in the eyes of her subjects and in the historical record.

 
At the centre of English, French, and Navarrese politics, Berengaria’s life has left little evidence for previous historians to reconstruct. But she was a woman of determination and stubbornness, enduring the disinterest of her family and king, to carve her own path to power in her widowhood. 

Dr Gabrielle Storey

 

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About the Author

Dr Gabrielle Storey completed her PhD in medieval history at the University of Winchester, and is a historian of monarchy, gender, and sexuality. She is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests are royal and noble studies, and she works on Anglo-French relations and representations of monarchy, primarily in the medieval world. Gabrielle is also interested in public engagement and has participated in the Channel 4 series The Queens Who Changed The World, on BBC podcasts and contributed to several historical magazines. Find out more at her website https://gabriellestorey.com and find her on X @GabbyStorey.