Margaret of Navarre (Sicilian queen)
Encyclopedia
Margaret of Navarre (c. 1128 – 12 August 1183) was the queen consort
of the Kingdom of Sicily
during the reign of William I
(1154–1166) and the regent
during the minority of her son, William II
.
She was a daughter of King García Ramírez of Navarre and Marguerite de l'Aigle
. She was married at a young age to William, while he was still a prince, the fourth son of Roger II of Sicily
. According to the Italian historian La Lumia, she was, at old age, bella ancora, superba, leggiera ("still beautiful, proud, light").
, the king's ammiratus ammiratorum, and they were often allied in trying to subvert the opponents of the king, though she was once detained with two of her sons by Matthew Bonnellus
during a revolt.
To William she gave a total of four sons: the eldest Roger, Duke of Apulia
, predeceased his father; Robert, also predeceased his father; William, the successor; and Henry, Prince of Capua.
. This was done and, on the day of William II's coronation, Margaret declared a general amnesty throughout the realm. The new regent also revoked her late husband's least popular act: the imposition of redemption money on rebellious cities. Margaret's first order of business was to appoint a strong hand to the vacant position of admiral (Maio having died). She promoted the caïd Peter, a Moslem convert and a eunuch, much to the annoyance of many a highborn nobleman or palace intimate.
The queen was distrustful of the native-born aristocracy and wrote a letter to her cousin, Rothrud, Archbishop of Rouen, asking him to send one of her French relatives, on her mother's side, to help her govern. Her cousin Gilbert, Count of Gravina
, already present in the south, was an enemy of Peter's and, according to Hugo Falcandus
, strongly opposed to his cousin's government.
It was in this breakdown of relations between court and nobility that Peter defected to Tunisia
and reconverted to Islam
. With this, Margaret was forced to declare her traitorous cousin Gilbert catapan of Apulia and Campania
and send him to the peninsula to prepare for the coming invasion of Frederick Barbarossa. At this juncture, the queen mother's popularity, secured by such populist early acts as mentioned above, had abated considerably and she was known in the street as "the Spanish woman."
After the departure of Gilbert to Apulia, Margaret's brother Rodrigo
arrived in Palermo
. Rodrigo, whom bade change his name to Henry, was commonly thought to be a bastard son of Margaret de l'Aigle and King García never recognised him. He was destined to be a divisive and dangerous figure in the future of his nephew's reign. For now, however, Margaret moved him off to Apulia with the title of Count of Montescaglioso
. Happily for her, a more favourable familial arrival occurred nearly simultaneously. Rothrude of Rouen had sent word of her plea to Stephen du Perche
, another cousin. Stephen was then setting off on Crusade with a retinue of thirty seven knights. He decided to stop off in Palermo first. There he was persuaded to remain and was appointed chancellor in November 1166.
In 1167, Margaret did her best to send aid (in the form of money) to the besieged Pope Alexander III
in Rome
, then opposing their common enemy, the Emperor Barbarossa. In Autumn of that year, however, she made a horrible blunder. She appointed Stephen to the vacant archbishopric of Palermo. With that, not only the nobility, but also the clergy, now despised the queen regent, beloved nevertheless of the populace. Her brother Henry arrived in Sicily at the same time and bred new trouble by accusing the queen of being under the spell of her lover Richard, Count of Molise
. The allegations, concocted by his friends, were, unsurprisingly, completely false. His friends soon convinced him to point the finger at the incestuous Stephen du Perche, equally innocent as Richard of Molise. Around Henry arose a great conspiracy, but Stephen was too quick and the danger was diffused and Margaret eventually convinced (i.e. bribed) Henry to leave Sicily for Spain.
In 1168, events concerning the rebellious vassals who opposed the Navarrese and French courtiers came to a head. Stephen du Perche was forced to go. Then Gilbert of Gravina was banished as well. Margaret was now left without any familial relations 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 he son's coming of age in 1171.
abbey at the site of Santa Maria di Maniaca, constructed by Giorgio Maniace over a century prior, and a church at San Marco d'Alunzio
, Robert Guiscard
's first castle in Sicily. She is buried in Monreale Cathedral in Palermo.
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 Henry II of England
. Thomas also wrote to Richard Palmer
, bishop of Syracuse
, petitioning him, an opponent of any other candidate for the Palermitan see besides himself, to work for the cause of the queen and Stephen. More interesting than either of these interchanges, however, is the golden pendant of Thomas now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, New York. It bears the inscription ISTUD REGINE MARGARETE SICULORUM TRANSMITTIT PRESUL RAINAUDUS BATONIORUS and an effigy of her highness and a prelate (either Thomas or Rainaud).
Finally, her abilities as regent are debatable. John Julius Norwich
speaks 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.
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
during the reign of William I
William I of Sicily
William I , called the Bad or the Wicked, was the second king of Sicily, ruling from his father's death in 1154 to his own...
(1154–1166) and the regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
during the minority of her son, William II
William II of Sicily
William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
.
She was a daughter of King García Ramírez of Navarre and Marguerite de l'Aigle
Marguerite de l'Aigle
Marguerite de l'Aigle was a daughter of Gilbert de l'Aigle, Seigneur de l'Aigle and his wife Juliana du Perche. She was Queen consort of Navarre, by her marriage to García Ramírez of Navarre.- Family :...
. She was married at a young age to William, while he was still a prince, the fourth son of Roger II of Sicily
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...
. According to the Italian historian La Lumia, she was, at old age, bella ancora, superba, leggiera ("still beautiful, proud, light").
Queen consort
During the reign of her husband, Margaret was often ignored by the king, who did not particularly like her and certainly did not love her. However, she was a stronger person than he and several times convinced him to act where he was wont to be passive. She had an infatuation, perhaps mutual, with Maio of BariMaio of Bari
Maio of Bari , a Lombard merchant's son from Bari, was the third of the great admirals of Sicily. An ammiratus ammiratorum, or "Emir of Emirs," he was the most important man in the kingdom save the king himself. After the deposition and execution of Philip of Mahdia , the admiralcy was vacant for...
, the king's ammiratus ammiratorum, and they were often allied in trying to subvert the opponents of the king, though she was once detained with two of her sons by Matthew Bonnellus
Matthew Bonnellus
Matthew Bonnellus was a rich knight of an ancient and influential Norman family who became the lord of Caccamo in Sicily. He is most famous as the leader of three consecutive revolts against the ammiratus ammiratorum Maio of Bari and King William I of Sicily.When young he was attached to Maio, who...
during a revolt.
To William she gave a total of four sons: the eldest Roger, Duke of Apulia
Roger IV, Duke of Apulia
Roger IV was the eldest son of William I of Sicily and Margaret of Navarre. Twice in his short life he was the object of the barons' intent to replace his father as king...
, predeceased his father; Robert, also predeceased his father; William, the successor; and Henry, Prince of Capua.
Regent
It was William's will that his eldest son succeed him and his second son receive the principality of CapuaPrincipality of Capua
The Principality of Capua was a Lombard state in Southern Italy, usually de facto independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Western and Eastern Roman Empires. It was originally a gastaldate, then a county, within the principality of Salerno....
. This was done and, on the day of William II's coronation, Margaret declared a general amnesty throughout the realm. The new regent also revoked her late husband's least popular act: the imposition of redemption money on rebellious cities. Margaret's first order of business was to appoint a strong hand to the vacant position of admiral (Maio having died). She promoted the caïd Peter, a Moslem convert and a eunuch, much to the annoyance of many a highborn nobleman or palace intimate.
The queen was distrustful of the native-born aristocracy and wrote a letter to her cousin, Rothrud, Archbishop of Rouen, asking him to send one of her French relatives, on her mother's side, to help her govern. Her cousin Gilbert, Count of Gravina
Gilbert, Count of Gravina
Gilbert was a Norman Count of Gravina from 1159.He was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily sometime around 1159 and, through Margaret's influence, was created Count of Gravina in Apulia immediately....
, already present in the south, was an enemy of Peter's and, according to Hugo Falcandus
Hugo Falcandus
Hugo Falcandus was an Italian historian who chronicled the reign of William I of Sicily and the minority of his son William II in a highly critical work entitled The History of the Tyrants of Sicily . There is some doubt as to whether "Hugo Falcandus" is a real name or a pseudonym. Evelyn Jamison...
, strongly opposed to his cousin's government.
It was in this breakdown of relations between court and nobility that Peter defected to Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and reconverted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. With this, Margaret was forced to declare her traitorous cousin Gilbert catapan of Apulia and Campania
Catapanate of Italy
The Catepanate of Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. Amalfi and Naples, although north of that line, maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan...
and send him to the peninsula to prepare for the coming invasion of Frederick Barbarossa. At this juncture, the queen mother's popularity, secured by such populist early acts as mentioned above, had abated considerably and she was known in the street as "the Spanish woman."
After the departure of Gilbert to Apulia, Margaret's brother Rodrigo
Henry, Count of Montescaglioso
Henry or Enrico di Navarra , born Rodrigo, was a son of García Ramírez of Navarre and Marguerite de l'Aigle, and brother of Queen Margaret of Sicily, who made him Count of Montescaglioso and then Count of the Principate .-Arrival in Sicily :The chief primary source for Henry's life is the Sicilian...
arrived in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. Rodrigo, whom bade change his name to Henry, was commonly thought to be a bastard son of Margaret de l'Aigle and King García never recognised him. He was destined to be a divisive and dangerous figure in the future of his nephew's reign. For now, however, Margaret moved him off to Apulia with the title of Count of Montescaglioso
Montescaglioso
Montescaglioso is a town and comune in the Province of Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy.The economy is mostly based on agriculture, including production of renowned oil and wine, as well as traditional food....
. Happily for her, a more favourable familial arrival occurred nearly simultaneously. Rothrude of Rouen had sent word of her plea to Stephen du Perche
Stephen du Perche
Stephen du Perche was the chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily and Archbishop of Palermo during the early regency of his cousin, Queen Margaret of Navarre ....
, another cousin. Stephen was then setting off on Crusade with a retinue of thirty seven knights. He decided to stop off in Palermo first. There he was persuaded to remain and was appointed chancellor in November 1166.
In 1167, Margaret did her best to send aid (in the form of money) to the besieged Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, then opposing their common enemy, the Emperor Barbarossa. In Autumn of that year, however, she made a horrible blunder. She appointed Stephen to the vacant archbishopric of Palermo. With that, not only the nobility, but also the clergy, now despised the queen regent, beloved nevertheless of the populace. Her brother Henry arrived in Sicily at the same time and bred new trouble by accusing the queen of being under the spell of her lover Richard, Count of Molise
Richard, Count of Molise
Richard of Mandra was a Norman nobleman in the Kingdom of Sicily appointed count of Molise and chancellor by the queen regent Margaret of Navarre.In 1157, as the constable of Robert II of Bassunvilla, he was captured by King William I...
. The allegations, concocted by his friends, were, unsurprisingly, completely false. His friends soon convinced him to point the finger at the incestuous Stephen du Perche, equally innocent as Richard of Molise. Around Henry arose a great conspiracy, but Stephen was too quick and the danger was diffused and Margaret eventually convinced (i.e. bribed) Henry to leave Sicily for Spain.
In 1168, events concerning the rebellious vassals who opposed the Navarrese and French courtiers came to a head. Stephen du Perche was forced to go. Then Gilbert of Gravina was banished as well. Margaret was now left without any familial relations 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
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, to beg their assistance in reinstating her favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
, but she received none from Alexander and little of actual value from Thomas. Her de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
regency ends here, though she was regent de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
until he son's coming of age in 1171.
Legacy
She lived on until 1183, endowing as her legacy a BenedictineBenedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey at the site of Santa Maria di Maniaca, constructed by Giorgio Maniace over a century prior, and a church at San Marco d'Alunzio
San Marco d'Alunzio
San Marco d'Alunzio is a city and comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, near the north coast of the island, located about 120 km east of Palermo and about 80 km west of Messina...
, Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
's first castle in Sicily. She is buried in Monreale Cathedral in Palermo.
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 Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. Thomas also wrote to Richard Palmer
Richard Palmer, Archbishop of Messina
Richard Palmer, an Englishman, was the bishop of Syracuse from 1169 and archbishop of Messina from 1182. Palmer first rose to prominence in 1160 as one of the triumvirate of grandees who replaced the assassinated Emir Maio of Bari...
, bishop of Syracuse
Syracuse, Italy
Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in...
, petitioning him, an opponent of any other candidate for the Palermitan see besides himself, to work for the cause of the queen and Stephen. More interesting than either of these interchanges, however, is the golden pendant of Thomas now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York, New York. It bears the inscription ISTUD REGINE MARGARETE SICULORUM TRANSMITTIT PRESUL RAINAUDUS BATONIORUS and an effigy of her highness and a prelate (either Thomas or Rainaud).
Finally, her abilities as regent are debatable. John Julius Norwich
John Julius Norwich
John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
speaks 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.
Sources
- Norwich, John JuliusJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1970.