Lately, I have gone days without talking to people, unless it called for it.
Some of my nights are fraught with nightmares of failure and poverty. Add a dash of some paranoia of losing my laptop and passport. With a sprinkle of obnoxious roommates that should not stay in hostels. Results: You have a depressed Dutchess.
I have solace in the fact that it will be better soon.
I recently read a book about the life and times of Four Provençal Sisters who became Queen
The Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone.
QUEEN BEATRICE OF SICILY (1234-1267)
QUEEN ELEANOR OF ENGLAND (1223-1291)
QUEEN MARGUERITE OF FRANCE (1221-1295)
QUEEN SANCHIA OF THE ROMANS (1228-1261)
I am not going to review said work, but it was my inspiration for writing about them this week. Though, in short, I found the book to be well-organized, thoughtful, and very captivating. Books of these kind are often hard to write and research, and sometimes require some guesswork of which I think she did a good job and made sure we knew sometimes hypotheses were part of the game. I highly recommend this work.
Can you imagine being a count of Provence and having four daughters having all become queen? Provence at the time was not a kingdom, but a very strategic and wealthy county in the south of France. The count of Provence, Raymond Berenguer IV was a very capable ruler, and his wife, Beatrice of Savoy was a very capable administrator as well. Provence at the time was also a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, and he paid homage to the Holy Roman Emperor.
This made his daughters very sought after in the marriage market. Originally, the only 2 sisters who were ever expected to be queen were Eleanor, who married Henry III of England, and Marguerite, who married Louis IX of France. Sanchia, who married Henry III's brother Richard of Cornwall, was expected to be a second lady of the realm of England. However, her husband was asked to accept the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Beatrice, who married Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France, became queen of Sicily after the pope had granted the kingdom to the new king Charles I of Sicily.
I will only be able to give a brief overview of the sisters, as to do much more would be spoiling the book for you.
Today, I will cover Beatrice of Sicily. Tomorrow will be Eleanor of England.
Queen Beatrice of Sicily (1234-1267)
The youngest sister, and the designated heir of Provence. Much to the chagrin of her sisters, Beatrice was made the heir of Provence after the death of their father. It would be a point of contention between the sisters, but mostly between Beatrice and her oldest sister Marguerite, who thought that Provence rightfully belonged to her.
Beatrice was about 9 years old when her father had died, and her county was then administered by her mother. Due to the location of the county, she was one of the most sought after heiresses and for her safety, Beatrice was placed into a fortress and her mother went to seek protection from the pope. The pope came into an agreement with Louis IX, his formidable mother Blanche of Castile, and Charles of Anjou, that in exchange for military help that Beatrice of Savoy be given to Charles of Anjou. However, Charles would not be given Provence, only their children. Beatrice of Savoy agreed to the terms.
Unfortunately for BP (Beatrice of Provence will be BP as it is tiresome), her husband made a mess of the county and made himself very unpopular with the locals. This lead to BS being essentially forced out of her county (of which her husband had willed that she have use of). BP sided with her husband in all of this.
Her sisters were Queen, and at an event, where all of the sisters and husbands were present, her sister, Marguerite publicly embarrassed her by not allowing her to sit with them. As due to royal protocol, only Queens can sit amongst Queens. This infuriated Beatrice, and did not improve sisterly ties.
While, she never got to sit in her sisters' presence, she did become queen. Her husband was invited by the pope to become King of Sicily, but needed to defeat Manfred of Sicily in the process. With Beatrice's help, Charles raised the money and military needed to defeat Manfred.
She died in 1267 leaving behind 3 daughters and 2 sons.
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