Margaret of Navarre
Margaret of Navarre (French: Marguerite, Spanish: Margarita, Italian: Margherita) (c. 1135 – 12 August 1183) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of William I (1154–1166) and the regent during the minority of her son, William II.
Queen consort
Margaret was the daughter of King
During the reign of her husband, Margaret was largely ignored by William who spent much of his time away from court - often frequenting his many personal harems.
Regent
It was William's will that his eldest son succeed him and his second son receive the
The queen mother was distrustful of the native-born aristocracy and wrote a letter to her cousin,
It was in this breakdown of relations between court and nobility that Peter defected to
After the departure of Gilbert to Apulia, Margaret's brother
In 1167, Margaret did her best to send aid (in the form of money) to the besieged
In 1168, events concerning the rebellious vassals who opposed the Navarrese and French courtiers came to a head. It was also rumored that William was murdered and Stephen du Perche planned to have his brother to marry Princess Constance aunt of William who was confined to Santissimo Salvatore, Palermo as a nun from childhood due to a prediction that "her marriage would destroy Sicily" to claim the throne, despite the existence of Henry brother of William. Stephen was forced to go. Then Gilbert of Gravina was banished as well. In 1169, Peter of Blois also left.
Margaret was now left without any familial relations to save her son and ward in Sicily: the government had been torn from her hands. She protested her cousin's deposition from the archdiocese and sent letters to the pope and to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, to beg their assistance in reinstating her favourite, but she received none from Alexander and little of actual value from Thomas. Her de facto regency ends here, though she was regent de jure until her son's coming of age in 1171.
Legacy
Margaret lived until 1183, endowing as her legacy a
Interesting is her correspondence with Thomas Becket. Thomas wrote to her "we owe you a debt of gratitude" for her support of him against King
In a perception based on earlier historiography, John Julius Norwich spoke of her "total unfitness to govern," but the success of Stephen during his short tenure is undeniable and she is primarily blamed for her refusal to see the disaffection her relatives caused the local nobility. Jacqueline Alio, her biographer, gives Margaret credit for competent rule in trying circumstances, identifying her as the greatest Sicilian queen of the Norman-Swabian era.[5] In the first biography of this queen, Alio describes her as "the most powerful woman in Europe for five eventful years" and "the most important woman of medieval Sicily".[6] Alio also infers that Margaret and Constance, who would also become the queen regent, as sisters-in-law, knew each other, and young Constance had imitated the style of leadership of Margaret, so there might be a sisterhood between them if tenuous. (However, after the death of Henry the youngest son of Margaret in 1172, as the sole heir to William from then on, Constance remained confined to her monastery for the remainder of the lifetime of Margaret, whether out of the will of the latter or not.)
Family
Margaret and William had:
- Roger IV, Duke of Apulia, predeceased his father[7]
- Robert, Prince of Capua, predeceased his father[7]
- William II of Sicily, the successor[8]
- Henry, Prince of Capua[7]
References
- ^ Mallette 2005, p. 94.
- ^ Huston, Emmaleigh (2021). "Power Through Patronage: Examining Margaret of Navarre's Political Influence Through Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale". p. 9. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
William I was a relatively absent monarch, spending more time in Palermo's harems than in political contexts
- ^ Huston, Emmaleigh (2021). "Power Through Patronage: Examining Margaret of Navarre's Political Influence Through Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale". p. 9. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Kleinhenz 2004, p. 320.
- ^ Alio 2018, p. x, 164.
- ^ Alio 2016, p. xi.
- ^ a b c Loud & Metcalfe 2002, p. xxi.
- ^ Luscombe & Riley-Smith 2004, p. 760.
Sources
- Alio, Jacqueline (2016). Margaret, Queen of Sicily. Trinacria, New York.
- Alio, Jacqueline (2018). Queens of Sicily 1061–1266. Trinacria, New York.
- Huston, Emmaleigh. (2021). Power Through Patronage: Examining Margaret of Navarre's Political Influence Through Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale. (Publication No. 2679) [MA Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
- Kleinhenz, Christopher, ed. (2004). "Etna". Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. Vol. I:A-K. Taylor & Francis.
- Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. (2004). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, C. 1024–c. 1198, Part II. Cambridge University Press.
- Loud, Graham A.; Metcalfe, Alex, eds. (2002). The Society of Norman Italy. Brill.
- Mallette, Karla (2005). The Kingdom of Sicily, 1100–1250: A Literary History. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130–1194. Longman: London, 1970.