Beatrice of Bourbourg (died 1224) was a

châtelaine ''Châtelaine'' is a French-language magazine of women's lifestyles, published in Quebec by St. Joseph Communications. History and profile The magazine was first published in 1960 by Maclean-Hunter Publishing. It covers issues and interests o ...

Bourbourg Bourbourg (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated in the maritime plain of northern France, in the middle of a triangle formed by Dunkirk, Calais, and Saint-Omer. Population In 1945 Bourbourg absorbed the fo ...

and

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Guînes Guînes (; vls, Giezene, lang; pcd, Guinne) is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. Historically it was spelt ''Guisnes''. On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, comple ...

. She founded an abbey at Bonham.

Life

Beatrice of Bourbourg became a

after inheriting the title from her brother Henry II of Bourbourg who died in 1194. She was likely an adolescent at the time of her inheritance. She additionally inherited a claim to the

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...

of Aalst, but the claim was largely unenforceable because her family did not control that territory at the time, and there is no historical evidence that she used the title "lady of Aalst". Beatrice married Arnold II of Guînes, who left his

fiancee An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

to become engaged to her after she inherited the title of châtelaine. He was likely motivated by the fact that Bourbourg and

bordered each other, granting the marriage strategic value in light of the tenuous relationships between both counties and the neighboring Boulogne. Arnold gained the title of châtelain of Bourbourg as a result of the marriage, while Beatrice became

of Guînes. In the weeks before the

Battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...

, Arnold changed allegiances, supporting the French rather than the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

. In 1214, when the Flemish army arrived at Guînes, Robert of Bethune freed Beatrice from the castle after she had been

imprisoned Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

by Arnold. It is likely that Beatrice remained loyal to Flanders when her husband changed sides in the conflict, creating a political disagreement between the two. Beatrice took her children and

servants A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

with her to Flanders, where she remained in exile for four years to avoid being imprisoned again by her husband. However, the pair eventually reconciled. Beatrice and Arnold had nine children, including

Baldwin III of Guînes Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

and a daughter also named Beatrice. Beatrice's husband Arnold died in 1220, and she died in 1224.

Historical significance

Beatrice of Bourbourg was not especially important in her time, and few contemporary sources discussed her. However, both she and her husband were related to many significant figures in the history of the region.

Lambert of Ardres Lambert of Ardres (active 1194–1203) was a chronicler in the twelfth-century Kingdom of France, from on the frontiers of the County of Flanders. Cyriel Moeyaert, "Aarde (Ardres), Lambert van (Lambertus Ardensis)", '' Nationaal Biografisch Woordenb ...

, who officiated Beatrice's

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

in his role as chaplain of

Ardres Ardres (; vls, Aarden, lang; pcd, Arde) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography Ardres is located 10.1 mi by rail (station is at Pont-d'Ardres, a few km from Ardres) S.S.E. of Calais, with which it is a ...

and baptized her children, wrote about her in ''History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres''. In the text, he praised her extensively for her

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

and intellect. He additionally described her as a

virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' ( genitive virāginis) meaning vigorous' from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffix ''-ā ...

, though his use of the term was likely not negative.

William of Andres William (c.1177–1234) was a Benedictine monk, lawyer and historian from the Kingdom of France. He served from 1207 as the prior and then from 1211 as the abbot of Saint-Médard d'Andres, a position he held until his death. Beginning in the 1220s ...

took a more negative view of Beatrice, characterizing her as greedy and stubborn in his writing.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Year of birth unknown 1224 deaths Castellans Countesses People from Nord (French department) {{France-noble-stub