Beatrice of Sicily (c. 1252 – 17 November/12 December 1275) was titular

Latin Empress The following is a list of the Latin empresses consort of Constantinople. Yolanda of Flanders and Marie of Brienne were not only empresses consort but also empress regent, empresses regent. Catherine I, Latin Empress, Catherine I and Catherine II, ...

as the wife of Philip of Courtenay. Her parents were

Charles I of Sicily Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 and ...

and Beatrice of Provence. Under the Treaty of Viterbo (27 May 1267), Baldwin II of Courtenay transferred much of the rights to the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

to Charles I. John V. A. Fine, Jr., ''The Late Medieval Balkans'' (1987), p. 170 Charles was to be confirmed in possession of

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

and some cities in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. He was also given

suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

over the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thes ...

and

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

of the Aegean Islands, excepting those held by

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

, and

Amorgos Amorgos (, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighbouring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Nikouria Island, it compr ...

. The same treaty arranged the marriage of Philip of Courtenay,

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the Latin Empire, and Beatrice, second daughter of Charles. If the marriage was childless, Philip's rights would be inherited by Charles I. Beatrice was approximately fifteen years old at the time of her betrothal. On 15 October 1273, Beatrice and Philip were married in

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

. The bride was twenty-one years old and the groom thirty. Her father-in-law died days later. Philip was proclaimed emperor with Beatrice as empress. The marriage was harmonious and produced a daughter, Catherine I of Courtenay, born on 25 November 1274. Beatrice died in late 1275 after a short illness.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice Of Sicily 1250s births 1275 deaths Capetian House of Anjou Capetian House of Courtenay Latin Empresses of Constantinople 13th-century Italian women Charles I of Anjou Daughters of kings Mothers of monarchs Daughters of counts Daughters of countesses regnant