Beatrice of England, Countess of Richmond

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Beatrice of England, Countess of Richmond; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 25, 1242, in Bordeaux, Duchy of Aquitaine, now in France, Beatrice of England was the third of the five children and the second of the three daughters of Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. At the time of Beatrice’s birth, the Duke of Aquitaine was one of the titles and the Duchy of Aquitaine was one of the possessions of the King of England. Beatrice’s paternal grandparents were King John of England and his second wife Isabella, Countess of Angoulême in her own right. Her maternal grandparents were Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and her namesake Beatrice of Savoy.

King Henry III (on top) with his five children; Credit – Wikipedia

Beatrice had four siblings:

King Henry III and Queen Eleanor had a happy marriage, and Beatrice grew up in a loving family and was close to her siblings. There were concerns about the health of Beatrice’s elder brother and heir to the throne the future King Edward I.  As a child, Edward was very seriously ill in 1246, 1247, and 1251 but recovered. The death of Beatrice’s youngest sibling Katherine caused her parents overwhelming grief. Many of Queen Eleanor’s maternal Savoy relatives had come to the English court causing the English to be unhappy with King Henry III due to the influence that Eleanor and her Savoy relatives exercised on the monarchy, and the barons demanded more power. This situation created many problems for Henry III and his family.

Seal of John II, Duke of Brittany, Beatrice’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 22, 1260, at the Basilica of Saint Denis in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Kingdom of France, Beatrice married John of Dreux. John was the eldest son of John I, Duke of Brittany and Infanta Blanche of Navarre, daughter of King Theobald I of Navarre. The marriage helped to forge an alliance with France. In 1268, King Henry III granted the title Earl of Richmond to John I, Duke of Brittany as an enticement when tensions rose with France. However, John I soon transferred the title of Earl of Richmond to his son and heir John of Dreux, who also became John II, Duke of Brittany upon his father’s death in 1286. John of Dreux became Duke of Brittany after the death of Beatrice so she never became the Duchess of Brittany.

Beatrice and John had six children:

Beatrice died on March 24, 1275, aged 32, in London, England while visiting her brother King Edward I of England. Possibly she died due to childbirth complications as her youngest child Eleanor was born in London in 1275. Beatrice was buried at Grey Friars Church in Greenwich, London which was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Her heart was interred at Fontevrault Abbey near Chinon, in the Duchy of Anjou, now in France.

Beatrice’s husband John II, Duke of Brittany never remarried. He survived Beatrice by thirty years. In November 1305, John traveled to Lyon, now in France, then under the rule of the Archbishop of Lyon, to attend the coronation of Pope Clement V, a native of the Duchy of Aquitaine. During Pope Clement V’s coronation celebrations, John II, Duke of Brittany was leading the Pope’s horse through the crowd. So many spectators had piled on top of the city walls that one of the walls crumbled and collapsed on top of John. He died four days later, on November 18, 1305, aged 66. John II, Duke of Brittany was buried in the Carmelite convent he had founded in Ploërmel, Duchy of Brittany, now in France. After the convent was destroyed during the French Wars of Religion (1562 – 1598), the tomb of John II, Duke of Brittany was moved in 1591 to the Priory of Saint-Nicolas, the new convent of the Carmelites. During the French Revolution (1789 – 1799), the tomb was destroyed and the recumbent effigy was removed. The effigy was later found and in 1820, the recumbent effigy of John III, Duke of Brittany was placed in the Church of Saint-Armel (link in French) in Ploërmel, France.

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Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Beatrice of England – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_of_England> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. John II, Duke of Brittany – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II,_Duke_of_Brittany> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Isabella of Angoulême, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/isabella-of-angouleme-queen-of-england/> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2015. King Henry III of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henry-iii-of-england/> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Béatrice d’Angleterre — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9atrice_d%27Angleterre> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jean II de Bretagne — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_II_de_Bretagne> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.