Beatrice of Rethel

Beatrice of Rethel
Beatrice and her daughter Constance next to King Roger on his deathbed. This illustration shows Beatrice holding her infant daughter in her arms; however, Constance was born almost nine months after her father's death.
Spouse(s)	Roger II of Sicily
Issue Constance, Queen of Sicily
Father	Ithier, Count of Rethel
Mother	Beatrix of Namur
Died	30 March 1185

Beatrice of Rethel (c. 1130/32 – 30 March 1185) was a French noblewoman and the third Queen consort of the King Roger II of Sicily.^[1]

Family

Beatrice was born in 1132, the eldest daughter^[2] and one of the nine children of Ithier, Count of Rethel and Beatrix of Namur. Her father was Count of Rethel from 1158 to 1171.^[3]

Marriage, issue and widowhood

In 1151, Beatrice married Roger II of Sicily^[4] Her tenure as consort lasted only about three years as Roger died on February 26, 1154, in his 59th year, while Beatrice was just 22. Beatrice was a little over three weeks pregnant at the time of his death, and their only daughter Constance of Sicily was born the following November. She married Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, by whom she had one son, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Beatrice survived her husband by thirty-one years but there is no record of her having married again.^[5] Her daughter became Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Sicily on 25 December 1194.

References

1. Alex Metcalfe, The Muslims of Medieval Italy (Edinburgh, 2009)
2. Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Champagne Nobility
3. Marek, Miroslav. "A listing of descendants of Matilda of Rethel". Genealogy.EU.
4. Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
5. Cawley, Charles, Champagne Nobility, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,