Beatrice of Bar

Beatrice of Bar (also ''Beatrix''; c. 1020 – 18 April 1076) was the marchioness of Tuscany by marriage to Boniface III of Tuscany, and Regent of Tuscany from 1052 until her death, during the minority of and in co-regency with, her daughter Matilda. She was the daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine, count of Bar, and Matilda of Swabia. She was married first to Boniface III of Tuscany and later to Godfrey of Lotharingia.

Life

Beatrice was born in what is now northeastern France around 1020. She was also known as Beatrice of Tuscany or Beatrice of Canossa.

After her father Duke Frederick II of Upper Lorraine died in 1026, she and her sister Sophie went to live with their mother's sister, Empress Gisela at the imperial court.

c.1037/8, she became the second wife of Boniface III of Tuscany in a splendid ceremony. She had the following children:
*Beatrice (died 17 December 1053)
*Frederick (died July 1055), briefly successor before imprisonment
* Matilda (1046 – 24 July 1115),''The Reform of the Church'', J.P. Whitney, ''The Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V'', ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previte-Orton, Z.N. Brooke, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 31. successor as marchioness of Tuscany

Regency

With Boniface's death on 6 May 1052, Beatrice assumed the regency for her son Frederick. Little is else is known about her life before the murder of her husband In 1054, to give her son the protection she could not militarily provide, she married her cousin, Godfrey, former duke of Lower Lorraine. However, in 1055, the Emperor Henry III arrested Beatrice for marrying a traitor. She was brought to Germany a prisoner while Frederick was summoned to Henry's court at Florence. He refused to go and died before any action was taken against him. The heir of Boniface was now his youngest daughter Matilda, who was imprisoned with her mother.

On the death of Henry, Godfrey was reconciled with his heir, Henry IV, and exiled to Italy with his wife and stepdaughter. In January 1058, as a partisan of the newly elected Pope Nicholas II, Leo de Benedicto had the gates of the Leonine City thrown open for Godfrey and Beatrice. Godfrey immediately possessed the Tiber Island and attacked the Lateran, forcing Benedict X to flee on January 24. Beatrice and Godfrey were allied with the reformers, including Hildebrand and Pope Alexander II, against the emperor. In 1062, Beatrice tried to stop the Antipope Honorius II from reaching Rome.

In 1069, Godfrey died. Matilda was of age, yet Beatrice continued to exercise government in her name until the day she died.

On 29 August 1071, Beatrice founded the monastery Frassinoro at the Apennine pass of Foce della Radici. In 1074-1076, Beatrice was a key negotiator in the dispute between Pope Gregory VII and her kinsman, King Henry IV of Germany over certain rights in episcopal appointments.

Death

Beatrice died at Pisa on 18 April 1076. She was buried in the Cathedral of Pisa, in a Late Roman sarcophagus, bearing reliefs illustrating the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra. (Nicola Pisano adapted nude figures for his pulpit in the cathedral from the sarcophagus; they can still be seen in the cathedral.) Beatrice's sarcophagus is now located in the Campo Santo in the cathedral square. The inscription around the sarcophagus, which was added in the eleventh century for Beatrice, reads:

:''Quamvis peccatrix sum domna vocata Beatrix''
:''In tumulo missa iaceo quæ comitissa''
:''Quilibet ergo pater noster, det pro mea anima ter.''Bertolini
'Beatrice di Lorena'
/ref>
(“Although a sinner, I was called Lady Beatrice. I, who was a countess, lie in this grave . Whoever wishes may say three Our Fathers for my soul.”)

Notes

Sources

''Lexikon des Mittelalters'': Beatrix von Ober-Lothringen, Markgräfin von Tuszien.
(in German)
*M.G. Bertolini
''Beatrice di Lorena, marchesa e duchessa di Toscana''
in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' 7 (1970).
*A. Creber
‘‘Women at Canossa. The Role of Royal and Aristocratic Women in the Reconciliation between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV of Germany,’’
in V. Eads and T. Lazzari, eds., ''Matilda 900: Remembering Matilda of Canossa Wide World'', a special edition of ''Storicamente'' 13 (2017), article no. 13, pp. 1–44 (Open Access).
*E. Goez, ''Beatrix von Canossa und Tuszien. Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte des 11. Jahrhunderts'' (Sigmaringen, 1995).
* Gregorovius, Ferdinand. ''Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV Part 1''. 1905.
*
*T. Lazzari
‘Matilda of Tuscany: New Perspectives about Her Family Ties,’
in V. Eads and T. Lazzari, eds., ''Matilda 900: Remembering Matilda of Canossa Wide World'', a special edition of ''Storicamente'' 13 (2017), article no. 28, pp. 1–26 (Open Access).

External links

contains several letters sent and received by Beatrice.

(in German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice of Lorraine
House of Bar
Duchesses of Lorraine
1020s births
Year of birth uncertain
1076 deaths
11th-century Italian nobility
11th-century Italian women
Regents of Tuscany
11th-century women rulers
Women in war in Italy
Women in 11th-century warfare
Matilda of Tuscany