Beatrice of Bourbon (1320 – 23 December 1383) was a French noblewoman. A member of the
House of Bourbon, she was by marriage
Queen of Bohemia
This is a list of the royal consorts of the rulers of Bohemia.
The first Duchess of Bohemia (''česká kněžna'') was St. Ludmila, while the first Queen of Bohemia (''česká královna'') was Świętosława of Poland. Some of them were (like ...
and
Countess of Luxembourg.
She was the youngest daughter of
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon
Louis I, called the Lame (1279 – 22 January 1341) was a French '' prince du sang'', Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche and the first Duke of Bourbon, as well as briefly the titular King of Thessalonica from 1320 to 1321.
Life
L ...
, and
Mary of Avesnes
Marie of Hainaut (1280 – 1354) was the daughter of John II, Count of Holland and Philippa of Luxembourg, and her brother was William I, Count of Hainaut.
Family
Her nieces by her brother William were Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut who marrie ...
.
Life
Marriage
On 28 September 1330, Queen
Elisabeth of Bohemia, wife of King
John of Bohemia, died:
::"''The news was that the King, distraught for the loss of his wife manifested his feelings using mourning clothes, after all, they were married for twenty years, and yet remained completely himself with a brief time, this was in Bohemia, the other side used to be mostly in their county or elsewhere, where he discussed the matter.''"
Despite the fact that John and Elisabeth became estranged during the last years of their marriage, the king remained a widower for the next four years. The French King
Philip VI wanted to tie John more closely with France, and he suggested to the Bohemian king a second marriage. The proposed bride was Beatrice, youngest daughter of the Duke of Bourbon and member of a cadet branch of the
House of Capet
The House of Capet (french: Maison capétienne) or the Direct Capetians (''Capétiens directs''), also called the House of France (''la maison de France''), or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most ...
. Beatrice was already betrothed, however, to Philip, the second son of
Philip I, Prince of Taranto
Philip I of Taranto (10 November 1278 – 26 December 1331), of the Angevin house, was titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip II) by right of his wife Catherine of Valois–Courtenay, Despot of Romania, King of Albania, Prince of A ...
, as of 29 May 1321. The engagement was broken soon after the marriage negotiations with Bohemia started.
The marriage of King John of Bohemia and Beatrice of Bourbon was solemnized in the
Château de Vincennes in December 1334, at which time she was fourteen years old. But because the two were related in a prohibited degree (they were second cousins through their common descent from
Henry V, Count of Luxembourg, and his wife
Margaret of Bar
Margaret of Bar (1220–1275) was a daughter of Henry II of Bar and his wife Philippa of Dreux. She was Countess of Luxembourg by her marriage to Henry V of Luxembourg. She is also known as ''Marguerite of Bar''.
Family
Margaret's maternal gr ...
),
Pope Benedict XII had to give dispensation for the marriage, which was granted in
Avignon on 9 January 1335 at the request of Philip VI.
The marriage contract stipulated that if a son was born from the marriage, the
County of Luxembourg
The County of Luxemburg (french: Luxembourg; lb, Lëtzebuerg) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It arose from medieval '' Lucilinburhuc'' ("Little Fortress") Castle in the present-day City of Luxembourg, purchased by Siegfried, Count of ...
(King John's paternal heritage), as well as lands belonging to it, would go to him.
[''Luxemburg in the Middle Ages'', Brill Archive] King John's sons from his first marriage,
Charles and
John Henry, were not informed of the contents of the marriage contract, but both princes were compelled to accept it along with the knights and citizens of Luxembourg in August 1335.
Life in Bohemia
Beatrice arrived in Bohemia on 2 January 1336:
::"''...our father came to Bohemia and brought him a wife, named Beatrix, daughter of the Duke of Bourbon and relative of the King of the Frenchs...''"
In the Bohemian court, Beatrice took care of the wife of her oldest stepson Charles,
Blanche of Valois. Both women could easily communicate in French. The Queen soon felt ill-at-ease in Prague, where she was always compared unfavorably with the Margravine of Moravia (Blanche's title as wife of the Bohemian heir). Also, the Czech people were offended by her coldness, insolence and aversion to learning their language.
The new Queen of Bohemia and Countess of Luxembourg brought with her an annual income of 4,000 livres extracted from her father's County of Clermont. On 25 February 1337, Beatrice gave birth in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
to her only child, a son named
Wenceslaus
Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian ...
after the holy patron of the
Přemyslid dynasty
The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
; probably calling her son with this name either the queen or her husband tried to gain the favor of the Bohemians. There is some indirect evidence that this was the first
caesarean section that was survived by both the mother and child.
However, the relationship between Beatrice and her new subjects remained estranged: her coronation as Queen of Bohemia in
St. Vitus Cathedral
, native_name_lang = Czech
, image = St Vitus Prague September 2016-21.jpg
, imagesize = 300px
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, landscape =
, caption ...
three months later, on 18 May,
[Josef Cibulka, ''The Crown Jewels of the Bohemian Kingdom'', Odeon, t. PG1, 1969] was an event of spectacular indifference from the citizens of Prague.
Shortly after her coronation, in June 1337, Beatrice left Bohemia leaving her son behind, and went to live in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. After this, she rarely visited the Bohemian Kingdom.
Later Years
On 26 August 1346 King John was killed in the
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...
and Beatrice ceased to be queen consort. Her stepson, now King Charles of Bohemia, confirmed the provisions of her marriage contract. Beatrice, now Dowager Queen of Bohemia, received in perpetuity lands in the
County of Hainaut, the rent of 4,000 livres and the towns of
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...
,
Marville and
Damvillers
Damvillers is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Meuse department
The following is a list of the 499 communes of the Meuse department of France.
The communes cooperate in the f ...
(where she settled her residence) as her widow's estate. These revenues were used not only for their own needs, but also for the education of her son. King Charles also left her all the movable property and income from the mines in
Kutná Hora. In addition, when her father Duke Louis I of Bourbon died in 1342, she received the sum of 1,000 livres, which was secured from the town of
Creil
Creil is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction.
History
Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging ...
.
Around 1347, Beatrice married for a second time to Eudes II, Lord of Grancey, (then a widower) at her state of Damvillers. Despite her new marriage, she retained the title of Queen of Bohemia. The couple had no children. Soon after her second marriage, she arranged the betrothal of her son Wenceslaus with the widowed
Joanna, Duchess of Brabant, daughter and heiress of
John III, Duke of Brabant, who was fifteen years older than he was. The marriage took place in Damvillers four years later, on 17 May 1351.
Despite all the grants of land and money given to Beatrice, the Bohemian king delayed the investiture of his young half-brother Wenceslaus as Count of Luxembourg. In fact, he held on to the title until 1353, when Wenceslaus finally obtained sovereignty over the County. One year later (13 March 1354) the County was elevated to the rank of a Duchy.
Beatrice died on 27 December 1383, having outlived her son (for only sixteen days) and all her stepchildren. She was buried in the now-demolished church of the
Couvent des Jacobins in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
- her effigy is now in the
Basilica of St Denis. Her second husband survived her by six years.
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice Of Bourbon
1320 births
1383 deaths
House of Bourbon (France)
Bohemian queens consort
Remarried royal consorts
Countesses of Luxembourg
14th-century French people
14th-century French women
Royal reburials