Beatrice of Sicily (1326–1365)

Beatrice of Sicily (5 September 1326 – 12 October 1365) was a daughter of Peter II of Sicily and his wife Elisabeth of Carinthia. She was born into the House of Aragon.

Family

Beatrice was the third of eight children, all of them living to adulthood apart from one sister, Violente. Beatrice's siblings included: Frederick III the Simple, Euphemia, Constance (both regents of Sicily), Eleanor, wife of Peter II of Aragon, Louis of Sicily, and Blanche, Countess of Ampurias.

Beatrice's paternal grandparents were Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou, daughter of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary; maternal grandparents were Otto III of Carinthia and his wife Euphemia of Legnica, daughter of Henry V, Duke of Legnica and Elisabeth of Kalisz.

Life

Beatrice's parents resided in Palermo, where Beatrice was likely born.

In 1345, Beatrice married Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine^[1] from the House of Wittelsbach. They needed a papal dispensation in order to marry. Rupert supported his uncle Prince Elector Rupert I actively with the Government of the Palatinate and was constantly on the move. Beatrice's mother-in-law Irmengard of Oettingen lived as a nun in the convent at Worms. Beatrice spent a lot of time here whilst her husband was away.

Beatrice and Rupert had the following children:

1. Anna (1346 – 30 November 1415), married in 1363 to Duke Wilhelm VII of Jülich and Berg
2. Friedrich (1347 – ca. 1395)
3. Johann (1349 – ca. 1395)
4. Mechthild (b. 1350), married to Landgrave Sigost of Leuchtenberg
5. Elisabeth (ca. 1351 – 1360)
6. King Rupert of Germany (1352–1410)
7. Adolf (1355 – 1 May 1358)

Beatrice died in 1365, even before the death of her husband's uncle Rupert I. Indeed, when Rupert succeeded as Elector at the death of his uncle in 1390, Beatrice had been dead for twenty-five years by then. She was buried in the Cistercian monastery of Schönau near Heidelberg. The House of Wittelsbach founded the Collegiate Church in memory for Beatrice.

References