Beatrice of Rethel

Beatrice of Rethel (1130/35^[1] – 30 March 1185) was a French noblewoman and Queen of Sicily as the third wife of Roger II.^[2]

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.
Queen consort of Sicily
Tenure	1151 – 26 February 1154
Born	1130/35
Died	(1185-03-30)30 March 1185
Spouse	Roger II of Sicily
Issue	Constance I of Sicily
Father	Guitier, Count of Rethel
Mother	Beatrix of Namur

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.^[3] Her father was Count of Rethel from 1158 to 1171.

Marriage, issue and widowhood

In 1151, Beatrice married Roger II of Sicily.^[3] She was queen for three years, until Roger's death on 26 February 1154.^[4] Beatrice was a little over three weeks pregnant at the time of his death, and their only child, Constance, was born the following November.^[3]

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.^[5]