Beatrice of Rethel

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.

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]

• Alio, Jacqueline (2018). Queens of Sicily 1061-1266. Trinacria Editions (Sicilian Medieval Studies).
• Houben, Hubert (2002). Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West. Translated by Loud, G.A.; Loud, Diane. Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Metcalfe, Alex (2009). Muslims of Medieval Italy. Edinburgh University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Schipa, Michaelangelo (1957). "Italy and Sicily under Frederick II". In Tanner, J.R.; Previté-Orton, C. W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.). The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. IV. Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Stürner, Wolfgang (1992). Friedrich II.: Die Königsherrschaft in Sizilien und Deutschland 1194-1220. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ullmann, Walter (2003). A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages. Routledge.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)