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Beatrice of England

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Not to be confused with Beatrice of York or Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom

Beatrice of England
Duchess consort of Brittany and Burgundy
Tenure 1260–1275
Spouse John II, Duke of Brittany
Issue
Arthur II, Duke of Brittany
John, 1st Earl of Richmond
Marie, Countess of Saint Pol
Blanche, Countess of Artois
House House of Plantagenet (by birth)
House of Dreux (by marriage)
Father Henry III of Winchester, King of England
Mother Eleanor of Provence
Born 24 June 1242
Bordeaux, France
Died 24 March 1275 (aged 32)
London, England
Burial Grey Friars Church, London

"Beatrice of England", also known as "Beatrice de Dreux" (born 25 June 1242-1275) Born in Bordeaux, France. She was the second daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, and sister of Edward I of England, Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Richard of England, John of England, Katherine of England, William of England, and Henry of England. She and her family were members of the Royal house of Plantagenet, which first ruled in the 12th century and was founded by Henry II of England.

Tragedy plagued Beatrice’s childhood. Her oldest brother Edward became deathly ill when she was very young. Though he recovered, Beatrice’s younger siblings Richard, Henry, William, Katharine, and John died at very young ages, leaving Beatrice’s parents grief-stricken. Eleanor was especially upset about the death of her youngest daughter Katharine, who was said to have had a degenerative disease that had caused her to become deaf and who died at age three.

Beatrice’s childhood also involved the stresses of her father's reign. The English were unhappy with King Henry III owing to the influence that Eleanor and her Savoyard kinsmen exercised on the monarchy, and the Barons demanded more power. In 1263, Eleanor was sailing on a barge that was attacked by London citizens. This harsh, bitter, dislike created several problems for Henry III and his family. On the other hand, Eleanor and Henry enjoyed a happy marriage, and Beatrice grew up in a loving environment, close to her siblings.

Contents

[edit] Adult Life

At one point, Henry conducted negotiations for Beatrice to marry the king of France and also rejected a proposal that she should wed the son of the King of Norway. When she was eighteen she married John II, Duke of Brittany. Beatrice later changed her name to Beatrice de Dreux, and she and John II had seven children:

  1. Arthur II, Duke of Brittany
  2. John de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond
  3. Marie de Dreux, wife of Guy III of Châtillon (1268-1339)
  4. Pierre, Viscount de Leon (1269-1312)
  5. Blanche de Dreux, wife of Philip of Artois (1271-1327)
  6. Eleonore, Abbess of Fontevrault (1274-1329)

[edit] Death

Beatrice died on March 24, 1275 in London, England. Her death was once said to have occurred in childbirth, but the dates do not bear out this theory, which has been disproved in several articles. John II honored his wife with a chantry, an institutional chapel on private land or within a greater church, which was to be finished when he died, so that he and Beatrice would be together again. Beatrice was buried at Grey Friars Church in Greenwich, London.


[edit] Analysis of Contributions

Though little information is available concerning Beatrice's activities, she was an important part of English history. Her marriage to John II helped forge an alliance with France, thus placing the Earldom of Richmond under the so-called shield of England.

During Henry’s reign, there was much opposition to him in England. At a time when Simon de Montfort wanted to strip the king of some of his power to give more say to the barons, it was necessary for Henry to strengthen his rule via family marriages to useful people. His first daughter had married the King of Scotland, and Beatrice's marriage to John II, who controlled the Earldom of Richmond, gave Henry an additional source of power. Moreover, a substantial number of French nobles came to England and could be appointed to political positions.

When Henry was crowned the Angevin empire (comprising Gascony, Bearn, Angouleme, Saintonge and Agenais), very few areas were still following Henry. Only a small area remained loyal to his rule.

The Marriage of Beatrice and John II would prove to be useful for Henry III, if only to help Henry recover Poitou. Now Henry had English security and influence on the northern border, and the instance on English overlordship. Though Henry was planning on gaining Poitou, many Barons were upset with the wrongs of Louise, Henry’s brother, therefore a rebellion came shortly. Henry III was defeated after his campaign. Because he could not regain Poitou, his reign stayed small compared to the Angevin empire. With his various strategies, Henry III reigned over England for 56 years until is death in 1272.

[edit] Bibliography

Boutell, Charles. The Handbook to English Heraldry. University of Michigan, MI: Reeves and Turner, 1914. 138.

Cannon, John, and Ralph Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1988. 147. Crawford, Anne. Letters of Medieval Women. Grand Rapids: Sutton, Limited, 2002. 35.

French, George R. Shakespeareana Genealogica. Boston, MA: Macmillian, 1869. 5-30.

Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry : A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Boston: Genealogical Company, Incorporated, 2004. 13-18.

The Yorkshire Archaeological Society. The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. Yorkshire: Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1905. 163.

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