Maria of Navarre (french: Marie d'Évreux; 1329 – 29 April 1347) was

Queen of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

from 1338 until her death as the first of four wives of

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV, ; an, Pero, ; es, Pedro, . In Catalan, he may also be nicknamed ''el del punyalet'': "he of the little dagger". (Catalan: ''Pere IV''; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''el Cerimoniós''), w ...

Childhood

Maria was the second child of

Joan II of Navarre Joan II (french: Jeanne; 28 January 1312 – 6 October 1349) was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death. She was the only surviving child of Louis X of France, King of France and Navarre, and Margaret of Burgundy. Joan's paternity was dubiou ...

and

Philip III of Navarre Philip III ( eu, Filipe, es, Felipe, french: Philippe; 27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble or the Wise, was King of Navarre from 1328 until his death. He was born a minor member of the French royal family but gained prominenc ...

, born a year after their accession. Her parents, having established the

House of Évreux The House of Évreux was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal house of France, which flourished from the beginning of the 14th century to the mid 15th century. It became the royal house of the Kingdom of Navarre. The House was founded ...

as the new ruling dynasty in the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

, wanted to improve relations with their Iberian neighbours. In 1333 they negotiated a betrothal between Maria's elder sister,

Joan Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

, and Peter, then

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the throne of Aragon. Peter, who ascended the throne in January 1336, expressed a preference for the second daughter, however, which forced Joan to renounce her succession rights in favour of Maria.

Queenship

The marriage contract was signed in her father's castle on

Anet Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km no ...

on 6 January 1336. It stipulated that, if her mother died leaving no sons, Maria or her children would inherit the crown of Navarre. The wedding ceremony took place near

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

on 25 July 1337. Despite difficulties over the payment of her

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

, the relations of Maria's husband with her parents were excellent. As

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...

Maria received from Peter the towns of

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

and

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with a ...

. In 1338 the new queen made her

joyous entry A Joyous Entry ( nl, Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or ; ) is the official name used for the ceremonial royal entry, the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city, mainly in the Duchy of Braban ...

into

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, capital of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

. Queen Maria was pious and a docile wife, probably having little in common with her husband. Their first child,

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

, was born in 1343, followed by

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan (given name), Joan, Joann, Joanne (given name), Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in ...

in 1344 and Maria in 1345/6. The lack of a male heir for nine years of the marriage presented a problem. In 1347 Peter attempted to secure the succession for their eldest daughter, but was opposed by his brother

James I, Count of Urgell James I (1321 – 15 November 1347), the eighteenth Count of Urgell, was the fourth son of Alfonso IV King of Aragon and Teresa d'Entença & Cabrera, 17th Countess of Urgell. Biography James was born in Zaragoza in 1321. His older brother, P ...

, and the

Aragonese Corts The Cortes of Aragon ( es, Cortes de Aragón, an, Cortz d'Aragón, ca, Corts d'Aragó) is the regional parliament for the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon. The Cortes traces its history back to meetings summoned by the Kings of Aragon wh ...

. On 23 April in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Queen Maria gave birth to a son, christened Peter, but the infant died the next day. Maria died of childbirth complications on 29 April. In her will she left her rights to Navarre to her son and then to her daughters, and expressed a wish to be buried in

Poblet Monastery Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet ( ca, Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet), is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Ca ...

. She was interred instead in the Monastery of Saint Vincent in Valencia. Her widower remarried within a few months to Eleanor of Aragon.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Of Navarre 1329 births 1347 deaths Navarrese infantas House of Évreux Aragonese queen consorts Countesses of Barcelona Majorcan queens consort 14th-century Spanish women 14th-century nobility from the Kingdom of Navarre Burials at the Poblet Monastery 14th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon Deaths in childbirth Daughters of kings