Beatrice of Rethel

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]

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

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. 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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