Berengaria of León (1204 – 12 April 1237) was the third wife but only empress consort of John of Brienne, Latin Emperor of Constantinople. She was a daughter of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. She was a younger sister of Ferdinand III of Castile and Alfonso of Molina.
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Marriage
In 1217, Berengaria's brother Ferdinand III had inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Castile through abdication of their mother.
In 1223, John of Brienne, aged 53, visited Santiago de Compostela, as a supposed pilgrim. He was by then twice a widower. As a consequence of his visit to Santiago de Compostela, Alfonso IX invited him to marry his daughter Sancha and, presumably, through her inherit the Leonese throne. However Berengaria of Castile, a long time divorced and an inheritor in her own right of the Castilian throne, main advisor of her son Ferdinand III, offered one of her own daughters to John instead.
Aging John chose Berengaria of León, from Alfonso's second marriage. The marriage took place at Toledo in 1224.
Empress
In 1229, the throne of the Latin Empire had been inherited by Baldwin II of Constantinople, a twelve-year-old boy. The barons of the Empire decided to secure the safety of the Empire by appointing an Emperor-regent for Baldwin. They chose John who accepted the assignment as a sort of Senior Tutor. In April 1229, John was elected emperor at Perugia. They did not arrive at Constantinople until 1231, when John was officially crowned in his new city.