Beatrice of Rethel (1130/35 – 30 March 1185) was a French noblewoman and Queen of Sicily as the third wife of

Roger II Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...

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. Her father was

Count of Rethel This is a list of counts and dukes of Rethel. The first counts of Rethel ruled independently, before the county passed first to the Counts of Nevers, then to the Counts of Flanders, and finally to the Dukes of Burgundy. In 1405 the County became pa ...

from 1158 to 1171.

Marriage, issue and widowhood

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

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice of Rethel 1130s births 1185 deaths Year of birth uncertain Royal consorts of Sicily 12th-century French women 12th-century French people 12th-century Italian women 12th-century Italian nobility Hauteville family Roger II of Sicily