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 or Roger the Great (, , Greek: Ρογέριος; 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 ...
.
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
The first rulers of Rethel might have governed under the Abbey of Saint-Remi and later 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 coun ...
from 1158 to 1171.
Marriage, issue and widowhood
In 1151, Beatrice married
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek language, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily and Kingdom of Africa, Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon, C ...
. 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.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice of Rethel
1130s births
1185 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Royal consorts of Sicily
12th-century French women
12th-century French nobility
12th-century Italian women
12th-century Italian nobility
Hauteville family
Roger II of Sicily
Mothers of Sicilian monarchs