Blessed Beatrice d'Este ( or ) (1192 – 10 May 1226) was the daughter of Azzo VI of the Este family by his second wife, Sophia Eleanor, daughter of Humbert III,

Count of Savoy The titles of the count of Savoy, and then duke of Savoy, are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the House of Savoy held the county. Several of these rulers ruled as kings at ...

. She was the aunt of Saint

Beatrice d'Este Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 3 January 1497) a noblewoman from Duchy of Ferrara, Ferrara, duchess of Bari and Milan by her marriage to Ludovico Sforza (known as "Ludovico il Moro"). She was known as a woman of culture, an important patron ...

.Thurston, Herbert. "Beatrix." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 3 Aug. 2014
/ref>

Life

An account of her life was written, in both

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

and the Italian vernacular, by a Brother Alberto of the church of the Holy Spirit (S. Spirito). This text was unknown for centuries, until it was rediscovered by the historian Giovanni Brunacci in the eighteenth century in an “old Ferrarese codex." Beatrice was born at the

Castello Estense The ' ('House of Este, Este castle') or ' ('St. Michael's castle') is a moated medieval castle in the center of Ferrara, northern Italy. It consists of a large block with four corner towers. History On 3 May 1385, the Ferrarese people, driven ...

, the seat of her family's power. About her youth Alberto wrote: She became the object of the

courtly love Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies b ...

of Rambertino Buvalelli, a Bolognese

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

who traveled widely in northern Italy. In nine of his '' cansos'' Rambertino celebrates the beauty and character of Beatrice, whom he frequently calls by the '' senhal'' (a "sign", as in a nickname) ''Mon Restaur'' ("My Refreshment" in Occitan). The relationship between Rambertino and the young Beatrice was purely poetic, lyric, and musical. Beatrice became a Benedictine nun at Solarola near

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

at the age of fourteen, and in 1221 founded a religious house at the site of an abandoned monastery in Gemmola, formerly inhabited by hermits. In the 17th century it was turned into villa by a Venetian merchant. Today the Villa Beatrice d'Este houses a nature museum.Villa Beatrice d'Este
/ref>

Sant'Antonio in Polesine

The name "in Polesine" does not refer to the area of

Polesine Polesine (; ; ) is a geographic and historic area in the north-east of Italy whose limits varied through centuries; it had also been known as Polesine of Rovigo for some time. Nowadays it corresponds with the province of Rovigo in the viewpoint ...

, but to its original situation, high ground surrounded by water. The original monastery, founded in the early Middle Ages by

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

hermits, stood on an island in the middle of the Po River."Monastery of Sant'antonio in Polesine", Emilia Romagna Turismo
/ref> Beatrice received the monastery from her father as a gift for her community. She moved into the convent, where she died in 1226. Her body was removed to Padua for burial in Santa Sofia. Subsequently, her remains were returned to the cloister chapel of the Monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine which she founded. Her '' cultus'' was approved for

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

on 19 November 1763 by

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

and her

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

is May 10.

Notes

Sources

*Bertoni, Giulio. ''I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note''. Rome: Società Multigrafica Editrice Somu, 1967

915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays siege to Garigliano (a fortified Ar ...

*Field, W. H. W
Review
of ''Le poesie'' by Rambertino Buvalelli, ed. Elio Melli. In '' Speculum'', 56:2 (Apr., 1981), pp. 362–366.

External links

Villa Beatrice d'Este Monte GemolaVilla Beatrice d'Este sul Monte Gemola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deste, Blessed Beatrice 1192 births 1226 deaths Blessed Beatrice 13th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Italian beatified people