Beatrice Brisebarre () was the

lady of Transjordan The Lordship of Transjordan () was one of the principal lordships of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It encompassed an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan River, and was centered on the castles of Montreal and Kerak. Geo ...

in the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

in the 1160s. She was the only child of Walter III Brisebarre and

Helena of Milly Helena of Milly was a Frankish noblewoman who was the lady of Transjordan in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1166 to her death around 1167. Helena was the elder daughter of the lord of Nablus, Philip of Milly, and his wife Isabella (Elizabeth). Hele ...

. Her parents inherited the lordship of Transjordan in 1166 from her maternal grandfather,

Philip of Milly Philip of Milly, also known as Philip of Nablus (; c. 1120 – April 3, 1171), was a baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar. He briefly employed the troubadour Peire Bremon lo Tort in the Holy Land. ...

, after her father renounced his

lordship of Beirut The Lordship of Beirut was a feudal seigneury in the Kingdom of Jerusalem centered on the city of Beirut (in modern-day Lebanon). The lord of Beirut was one of the most powerful vassals of the king of Jerusalem. In the 12th century the lordship was ...

. Beatrice's mother had died by 18 November 1167, when Walter issued a grant to the

Order of Saint Lazarus The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order founded by Crusaders during the 1130s at a leper hospital in Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose car ...

for the repose of her soul. This grant, which mentions Beatrice's consent, is the only appearance of Beatrice in historical record. Transjordan passed to Beatrice upon Helena's death. Walter continued to rule the lordship but only as ''

bailli A bailiff (, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in his bailiwick ...

'' in Beatrice's name. The historian Bernard Hamilton presumes that such an arrangement would have lasted until Beatrice married. Transjordan was invaded three times in the early 1170s. The Damascene ruler

Nur ad-Din Nur al-Din () is a male Arabic given name, translating to "light of Faith", ''nūr'' meaning "light" and ''dīn'' meaning "religion". More recently, the name has also been used as a surname. There are many Romanized spelling variants of the name. T ...

laid a siege to

Kerak Castle Kerak Castle () is a large medieval castle located in al-Karak, Jordan. It is one of the largest castles in the Levant. Construction began in the 1140s, under Pagan the Butler, Pagan and Fulk, King of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it ''Crac de ...

in early 1170, which was relieved by Beatrice's maternal grandfather, Philip, and uncle

Humphrey III of Toron Humphrey III of Toron () was a Frankish nobleman in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Biography Humphrey III was the son of the constable of Jerusalem and lord of Toron, Humphrey II. Humphrey III's mother was the daughter and heir of the lord of Banias ...

. The Egyptian ruler

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

unsuccessfully besieged

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1171 and possibly Kerak in 1173. It is not known who ruled the lordship of Transjordan at the time of these attacks. Because she is not mentioned in sources after 1167, Hamilton says that "it must be assumed" that Beatrice died in childhood. The date of her death is not recorded: it was between 18 November 1167 and 24 February 1174, when her father appears in a charter without the title of lord of Transjordan. The fief passed from Beatrice to her maternal aunt, Stephanie of Milly.

References

Bibliography

* * {{s-end Lords of Oultrejordain 12th-century women rulers