Beatrice of Rethel
Beatrice and her daughter Constance next to King Roger on his deathbed. This illustration shows Beatrice holding her infant daughter in her arms; however, Constance was born almost nine months after her father's death.
Queen consort of Sicily
Tenure1151 – 26 February 1154
Born1130/35
Died(1185-03-30)30 March 1185
SpouseRoger II of Sicily
IssueConstance, Queen of Sicily
FatherGuitier, Count of Rethel
MotherBeatrix of Namur

Beatrice of Rethel (1130/35[1] – 30 March 1185) was a French noblewoman and Queen of Sicily as the third wife of Roger II.[2]

Family

Beatrice was born in 1130 or 1135, the eldest daughter and one of the nine children of Guitier of Rethel and Beatrix of Namur.[3] Her father was Count of Rethel from 1158 to 1171.

Marriage, issue and widowhood

In 1151, Beatrice married Roger II of Sicily.[3] She was queen for three years, until Roger's death on 26 February 1154.[4] Beatrice was a little over three weeks pregnant at the time of his death, and their only child, Constance, was born the following November.[3]

Beatrice survived her husband by thirty-one years but there is no record of her having married again. Her daughter Constance was confined to a monastery as a nun since childhood due a prophecy that "her marriage would destroy the kingdom". Beatrice lived long enough to see her betrothed in 1184. Constance became queen of Sicily in 1194.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Stürner 1992, p. i.
  2. ↑ Metcalfe 2009, p. xvi.
  3. 1 2 3 Houben 2002, p. 96.
  4. ↑ Ullmann 2003, p. 122.
  5. ↑ Schipa 1957, p. 131.

Sources

  • Alio, Jacqueline (2018). Queens of Sicily 1061-1266. Trinacria Editions (Sicilian Medieval Studies).
  • Houben, Hubert (2002). Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West. Translated by Loud, G.A.; Loud, Diane. Cambridge University Press.
  • Metcalfe, Alex (2009). Muslims of Medieval Italy. Edinburgh University Press.
  • Schipa, Michaelangelo (1957). "Italy and Sicily under Frederick II". In Tanner, J.R.; Previté-Orton, C. W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.). The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. IV. Cambridge University Press.
  • Stürner, Wolfgang (1992). Friedrich II.: Die Königsherrschaft in Sizilien und Deutschland 1194-1220. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
  • Ullmann, Walter (2003). A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages. Routledge.
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