“Third Crusade” 820th Anniversary Series: Richard the Lionheart Marries Princess Berengeria

(This post is the 22nd of what will be approximately 70 posts following 820th anniversary highlights of what history now calls the “Third Crusade.” My novel, The Swords of Faith, tells the story of this legendary clash between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.) 

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Today is Richard the Lionheart’s 820th wedding anniversary. As long as he was on the island of Cyprus with captured booty fit for a king’s wedding (see previous posts April 22nd – Richard the Lionheart Lands at Rhodes After His Fleet Scatters, May 1st – Richard the Lionheart Leaves Rhodes to Rescue His Sister and Fiancée, May 8th – Richard the Lionheart and His Troops Storm Limassol , May 11th – Crusaders Opposed to Conrad Visit Richard the Lionheart on Cyprus ), Richard decided he might as well get married. Initially, the idea had been a wedding in a newly-captured Jerusalem. But after nearly losing his future wife the Princess Berengeria of Navarre on the way across the Mediterranean Sea, he decided they had waited long enough. It was time to start producing an heir.

Berengeria was a Princess from Navarre, a small Basque kingdom at the southwestern edge of Richard’s territories in France. The marriage would create an alliance intended to firm up Richard’s control over this often troublesome area. Richard loved pomp and ceremony. The wedding was a lavish, flashy affair, followed by Berengeria’s coronation as Queen of England. Richard took two or three days for the wedding feasting and honeymoon celebration. Then, before leaving Cyprus for Acre, he would complete the conquest of the island, a conquest not initially sought, but a conquest that would prove to be one of his most important and long-lasting achievements of the “Third Crusade.”

Previous 820th Anniversary Posts:

July 4th – The 820th Anniversary of the Launch of the “Third Crusade”

October 4th – Richard the Lionheart Sacks Messina

November 3rd – Queen Sibylla Dies

November 11th – Richard the Lionheart Signs a Treaty with King Tancred of Sicily

November 15th – Queen Isabella’s Marriage to Humphrey of Toron is Annulled

November 19th – Archbishop of Canterbury Dies

November 24th – Conrad of Montferrat Marries Queen Isabella

December 25th – Richard the Lionheart Feasts at Christmas

December 31st – Shipwreck at Acre; Muslim Defenders Lose Resupply

January 5th – A Wall Comes Down, Presenting an Opportunity

January 20th – Frederick of Swabia Dies; Leopold of Austria Becomes Top-Ranked German Royalty at Acre

February 2nd – A Playful “Joust” Gets Out of Hand in Sicily

February 13th – Saladin’s Forces Relieve the Garrison at Acre

March 3rd – Richard the Lionheart Settles the Alice Marriage Controversy—Sort Of

March 30th – Philip II Leaves Sicily; Berengeria Arrives

April 10th – Richard the Lionheart Leaves Sicily for “Outremer”

April 20th – Philip II of France Lands at Acre

April 22nd – Richard the Lionheart Lands at Rhodes After His Fleet Scatters

May 1st – Richard the Lionheart Leaves Rhodes to Rescue His Sister and Fiancée

May 8th – Richard the Lionheart and His Troops Storm Limassol

May 11th – Crusaders Opposed to Conrad Visit Richard the Lionheart on Cyprus

To review a comprehensive catalog of historical fiction set during the medieval time period, go to http://www.medieval-novels.com:80/.