Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 04.djvu/330

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Berengaria
326
Berenger

Isaac's daughter to the queen's care, that she might bring her up. On 1 June Berengaria, Joanna, and their suite sailed from Cyprus for Acre, and the king, who set out a few days later, joined them there on 8 June, When the city surrendered, it was parted between Richard and Philip, and as the palace happened to be in the share that fell to Richard, he lodged his queen, his sister, and Isaac's daughter there. When on 21 Aug. Richard marched southwards, Berengaria was left at Acre under the care of Stephen of Longchamp and Bertram of Verdun. She and the other ladies remained in Palestine until the return of Richard to Acre in September 1192. They then embarked on Michaelmas day, and, more fortunate than the king, arrived safely at Sicily (Diceto, 668; Will. Newb. c. 31). Thence they went to Rome, where they were honourably received by Celestine III. At Rome they stayed for six months, for they were glad of the pope's protection against the emperor. When they left, Celestine gave them in charge to a cardinal, who conducted them by Pisa and Genoa to Marseilles There they were met by Alfonso II of Aragon, who took them as far as the borders of his kingdom, Raymond of St. Gilles, count of Toulouse, next took charge of them, and conducted them to Poitou (Hoveden, iii. 228). Richard did not join his wife for some time after his release. He seems to have fallen into an uncleanly life, for in 1195 he was sharply reproved by a hermit, who warned him 'Esto memor subversionis Sodomæ, &c.' (Hoveden, iii. 288). After a severe illness he declared that he would take Berengaria back to him again, for he had not lived with her for some years, not probably since they parted at Acre. They doubtless met at Poitiers at Christmas 1195. It is possible that she may have been with the king when he received his death-wound (Hemingburgh, i. 228, implies that this was so, but his account of Richard's death is late and inaccurate). After Richard's death she lived much at Le Mans, for she had received that city and the county of Bigorre as her dower. John cheated her of her jointure. In 1201 she went to Chinon to meet him, and he there promised her Bayeux,two castles in Anjou, and 1,000 marks a year (Hoveden, iv. 173; Rymer, i. 40). He did not keep his word, and in January 1204 Innocent III wrote to him saying that her poverty forced her to live like a beggar with her sister Blanche, countess of Champagne (Recueil, xix. 447). Another urgent letter was written by the pope on the same subject in 1207 (Rymer, i. 143); and another demand was made in 1213 (Ann. Wav. 278), when John made his submission. Finally in 1215 a composition was made of which the pope approved {Recueil xix. 607). The king's death prevented the payment of the arrears. Early in the reign of Henry III she claimed 4,040l. The Templars became her agents, and secured her from further loss. She lived at Le Mans as countess, for on 23 Aug. 1216 she presided over a trial by combat (L'Art de Vérifier, xiii. 102). In 1226 she inherited a share in the estate of her distant kinsman William, bishop of Chalons (Alberic Trium Fontium, Recueil, xviii. 796). She founded the Cistercian monastery called 'Pietas Dei' at Espan in Maine in 1230. She died soon after, and was buried in the church she had built.

[Itinerarium Regis Ricaidi, Memorials of Richard I, vol. i. (Rolls Ser.); Roger of Hoveden, iii. (Rolls Ser.); Walter of Coventry (Rolls Ser.); William of Newburgh (Eng. Hist Soc.); Hemingburgh (Eng. Hist. Soc.); R. Diceto (Twysden); Annales de Waverleia in Ann. Monast. ii. (Rolls Ser.); Rigord, de Gestis Philippi Augusti, Guillelmi Britonis-Armorici Philippidos, both in Recueil des Historiens, xvii.; Rymer's Fœdera, ed. 1704; Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England, vol. i. where an account is given of Berengaria's tomb at Espan.]

W. H.


BERENGER, RICHARD (d. 1782), a man famous in his day for his charm in social life, held for many years the position of gentleman of the horse to George III. His father was Moses Berenger, a rich London merchant; his mother was Penelope, the fourth and youngest sister of Sir Richard Temple, first Lord Cobham. Both of his works in literature dealt with the horse and its rider. The first, entitled 'A new System of Horsemanship,' appeared in 1754, and was a translation from the French of Monsieur Bourgelat. The second, 'The History and Art of Horsemanship,' was published in 1771 in two volumes, and contained considerable historical information still not without interest to the student. Several minor poems by Berenger are in Dodsley's collection (vi. 271–6); and three essays, with a small poem on the 'Birthday of Shakespeare,' were contributed by him to the periodical called the 'World,' which has been included in many editions of the 'British Essayists.' Dr. Johnson once styled him the 'standard of true elegance;' but the assertion was met with the remark that Berenger resembled too closely the gentleman of Congreve's comedies. Hannah More styled him 'everybody's favourite,' and summed up his character as 'all chivalry, and blank verse, and anecdote.' Distinction in society has its pains as well as its pleasures. Berenger outlived his means, and was obliged for some years to confine