Margaret of L'Aigle
| Margaret of L'Aigle | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Navarre | |
| Tenure | 1134–1141 |
| Died | 25 May 1141 |
| Spouse | García Ramírez of Navarre |
| Issue |
Sancho VI of Navarre Blanche of Navarre, Queen of Castile Margaret of Navarre Henry, Count of Montescaglioso |
| House | L'Aigle |
| Father | Gilbert of L'Aigle |
| Mother | Juliana du Perche |
Margaret of L’Aigle (French: Marguerite de L’Aigle, Spanish: Margarita de L’Aigle) (died 1141) was a Queen consort of Navarre, the first wife to García Ramírez of Navarre.[1] She was the daughter of Gilbert of L’Aigle and Juliana du Perche.
Margaret’s paternal grandparents were Richer of L’Aigle and Judith d’Avranches, whilst Margaret’s maternal grandparents were Geoffrey II de Perche, Count of Perche and Mortagne, and his wife, Beatrice of Montdidier.[2] Margaret’s siblings included Richer of L’Aigle, successor to her father as Baron of L'Aigle. Margaret was a distant cousin of Queen Felicia of Roucy.
Queen of Navarre
Margaret was married in 1130 to García Ramírez of Navarre, shortly before his accession to the throne of Navarre. He confirmed the rights and privileges of the church of Pamplona on the advice of "uxoris mee Margarite regina" by charter dated 1135.[3]
Margaret was to bear García a son and heir, Sancho VI, as well as two daughters who each married kings: the elder, Blanca, born after 1133, married Sancho III of Castile, while the younger, Margaret, named after her mother, married William I of Sicily.
Garcia’s relationship with Margaret was, however, unstable. She supposedly took many lovers and showed favouritism to her French relatives.[4] She bore a second son named Rodrigo, whom her husband refused to recognise as his own.[5] He was never acknowledged as a son by the Navarrese king, even after Margarets death, and he was widely considered a bastard, though his sister Margaret did not treat him as such. He certainly never behaved as anything other than the son of a king.[6]
Margaret died disgraced on 25 May 1141. Her husband later remarried.
References
- ↑ Gaztambide, J. G. (ed.), (1997), Colección diplomatica de la catedral de Pamplona
- ↑ Jan B Young. Our Ancestry - Volume 1. Page 105.
- ↑ Cawley, Charles, Norman nobility: MARGUERITE de Laigle, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012
- ↑ Hans Houben, "Enrico di Navarra", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
- ↑ Chronicle of Hugo Falcandus, History of the Tyrants of Sicily, is available in its original Latin at The Latin Library. Henry is also mentioned in the chronicle of Romuald Guarna. Both historians are contemporaries.
- ↑ John Julius Norwich, 258.
| Preceded by Urraca of León and Castile |
Queen consort of Navarre 1134–1141 |
Succeeded by Urraca of Castile, Queen of Navarre |