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6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Usufructuary?,
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This review is from: Berengaria: In Search of Richard the Lionheart's Queen (Hardcover)
What literate person who's grown up in a WASP culture hasn't heard of and admired the legendary King Richard the Lionheart? Perhaps the admiration even survived the portrayal of the sexually and emotionally tormented Prince Richard of The Lion in Winter. But, it was only as I escaped adolescence and took a deeper interest in English history that I eventually learned that Richard, as King, married a woman named Berengaria. All I ever knew, however, was that the lady was a royal princess of the Spanish kingdom of Navarre, that she was delivered to Richard in Sicily by his parent, Queen Mother Eleanor, that she travelled with her husband to the Holy Land on the Third Crusade, and that Richard died in 1199 without Berengaria giving birth to an heir. Not much, that. Thus, my interest was captured by the subtitle of BERENGARIA: IN SEARCH OF RICHARD THE LIONHEART'S QUEEN.
Unfortunately, author Ann Trindade can shed little light on her subject. The 198-page volume is sprinkled with too many admissions as to the paucity of relevant historical source material, even though the Bibliography runs to twelve pages in small type: "Her date of birth is not known..." Page 20 "Berengaria ... is described as 'enigmatic' because so little detailed information of any kind has survived." Page 56 About the royal wedding, "No one mentioned what the bride was wearing." Page 87 Of Berengaria's sojourn in the Holy Land, "One inference which can be drawn from the silence of the chroniclers concerning Berengaria ... is that (she) behaved with impeccable propriety." Page 94 "Berengaria's absence from the principal accounts of the third crusade is frustrating and discouraging ..." Page 105 "The years between 1192, the departure from the Holy Land, and 1199, the year of Richard's death, remain the most obscure and ill-documented period of Berengaria's life." Page 107 "Almost nothing is known of her private life during (the) long years of widowhood." Page 177 Perhaps the most informative snippet is Trindade's description of Berengaria's tomb effigy at the abbey of Notre Dame de la Piete Dieu de l'Epau, which she founded, on the outskirts of Le Mans. Sadly, the author doesn't even include a full-length picture of the carved stone. I finished the book knowing that Berengaria was a royal princess of the Spanish kingdom of Navarre, that she was delivered to Richard in Sicily by his parent, Queen Mother Eleanor, that she travelled with her husband to the Holy Land on the Third Crusade, that Richard died in 1199 without Berengaria giving birth to an heir, AND additionally, that she apparently stood like a lioness to maintain her dignity and marriage dowry against those who would cheat her of either after Richard's death, including kings John and Henry III of England and King Philip of France. Not much added value there. It's a wonder the author expended the effort on so much research when it must've become apparent at some point that it would yield so little. It's as if, after striving strenuously to accumulate a pile of notes, Trindade thought, "Well, it's not the book I wanted to write, but I promised the publisher something to get into print, so ..." As a cursory narrative of the times, contemporary attitudes towards women, and certain historical personages (other than Berengaria herself), the book might rate 4 stars. Indeed, Trindade's observations about the controversy surrounding Richard's alleged homosexuality are insightful and informative. But, as an exercise "in search of Richard the Lionheart's queen", BERENGARIA is essentially unrewarding and pointless. I did, however, run across a word that I've never seen used before - "usufructuary". At least I now know what it means and can toss it out at the next gathering around the office water cooler.
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