Berenguela (Berengaria) of Barcelona, Queen of Castille, León and Galicia

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Barcelona

Berenguela or Berengaria of Barcelona was Queen consort of Castile, León and Galicia. She was the daughter of Raimon III of Barcelona and Dulce Aldonza Milhaud. Berenguela was the sister of Ramon Berenguer IV who was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aragon.

In November 1128, she married Alfonso VII. Their children were:

1. Sancho III of Castile (1134-1158)

2. Ramon, living 1136, died in infancy

3. Ferdinand II of León (1137-1188)

4. Constance (c.1138-1160), married Louis VII of France

5. Sancha (c.1139-1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre

6. García (c.1142-1145/6)

7. Alfonso (c.1144-by 1149)

In her lifetime a new political entity was formed in the northeast Iberian Peninsula: Portugal seceded from León in the west, giving more balance to the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula. Her brother Ramon Berenguer successfully pulled Aragon out of its pledged submission to Castile, aided no doubt by the beauty and charm of his sister Berengaria, for which she was well known in her time.

Her niece Dulce of Aragon married Sancho I of Portugal, while her famous granddaughter was Queen Berengaria of England.

She died in Palencia, and was buried at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.


Buried:
Grave location, biography, photos of effigy and cathedral:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90699229

Berenguela married Alfonso VII Raimúndez of León, King of Galicia, King of León and Castille. Alfonso (son of Raymond of Burgundy and Urraca of León, Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia) was born 01 Mar 1105, Caldas de Reis, Galicia, Spain; died 21 Aug 1157, Muradel Pass, Sierra Morena mountains, Spain ; was buried , Cathedral of Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. [Group Sheet]

1. Ferdinand II of León was born ca 1137, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; died 22 Jan 1188, Benavente, Zamora, Spain; was buried , Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela Provincia da La Coruña Galicia, Spain.
2. Constance of Castile was born 1140, Spain; died 04 Oct 1160, Paris, France; was buried , Saint Denis Basilique, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France.

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_III,_Count_of_Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona, Besalú, Cerdanya, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire until his death in Barcelona in 1131. As Ramon Berenguer I, he was Count of Provence from 1112 in right of his wife.

Born on 11 November 1082 in Rodez, Viscounty of Rodez, County of Toulouse, Francia, he was the son of Ramon Berenguer II.

During his rule Catalan interests were extended on both sides of the Pyrenees. By marriage or vassalage he incorporated into his realm almost all of the Catalan counties (except Urgell and Peralada). He inherited the counties of Besalú and Cerdanya and in between married Douce, heiress of Provence. His dominions then stretched as far east as Nice.

He also established relations with the Italian maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa, and in 1114 and 1115 attacked with Pisa the then-Muslim islands of Majorca and Ibiza.[1] They became his tributaries and many Christian slaves there were recovered and set free. Ramon Berenguer also raided mainland Muslim dependencies with Pisa's help, such as Valencia, Lleida and Tortosa. By 1118 he had captured and rebuilt Tarragona, which became the metropolitan seat of the church in Catalonia.

Toward the end of his life he became a Templar. He gave his five Catalonian counties to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer IV and Provence to the younger son Berenguer Ramon.

He died on 23 January/19 July 1131 and was buried in the Santa Maria de Ripoll monastery.

Ramon's first wife was María Rodríguez de Vivar, second daughter of El Cid (died ca. 1105). They had one child, María, who married Bernat III, Count of Besalú. His second wife Almonds produced no children.

His third wife was Douce, heiress of Provence (died ca. 1127) had at least six children who lived to adulthood:

1. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (1113/1114-1162) married Petronilla of Aragon, daughter of Ramiro II, King of Aragon.

2. Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Provence (ca. 1115?1144)

3. Berenguela or Berengaria (1116-1149), married Alfonso VII of Castile

4. Jimena (1117-1136), also known as Eixemena, married Roger III, Count of Foix

5. Estefania (b. 1118), married Centule II, Count of Bigorre

6. Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera

Ramon married Douce I of Provence, Countess of Provence. Douce was born ca 1090, Provence, France; died 1127. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douce_I,_Countess_of_Provence

She 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. It was the beginning of a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the Pyrenees.

In reality the marriage gave the House of Barcelona extensive interests in southern France 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 branch of the House of Barcelona was set up to rule, but a disputed succession opened up wars between 1144 through 1162, which terminated in Provençal victory.

Her children with Ramon Berenguer were:

1. Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera

2. Berenguela (1116-1149), married Alfonso VII of Castile

3. Ramon Berenguer (1113-1162), Count of Barcelona

4. Berenguer Ramon (c. 1115-1144), Count of Provence