Beatrice of Luxembourg – The short-lived Queen of Hungary




poland
Elizabeth of Poland (public domain)

Beatrice of Luxembourg was born circa 1305 as the youngest child of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Margaret of Brabant. Not much is known of her youth, but she was betrothed several times. The first betrothal was to Charles, Duke of Calabria, who was the son and heir of King Robert of Naples. For unknown reasons this betrothal ended. The second betrothal was to Prince Peter of Sicily, who was the son and heir of King Frederick III of Sicily. This betrothal ended soon after.

Soon the widowed King Charles I of Hungary was looking for a new wife. Beatrice and her sister Marie were recalled to court. Marie was at St. Marienthal Abbey, and Beatrice was still in Italy where she had gone for her first betrothal. They arrived on 20 June 1318 and met with Hungarian envoys at the monastery of Zbraslav, where Beatrice was chosen as their new Queen. A formal betrothal took place not much later and soon Beatrice was on her way to Hungary. She was just 13 years old, while Charles was 30. Beatrice and Charles married between 12 and 17 November, and she was crowned Queen in the same ceremony.

Despite her young age, Beatrice became pregnant in early 1319. On 11 October 1319 Beatrice gave birth to a daughter, also called Beatrice, who only lived for a few hours. Beatrice herself died a month later from complications on 11 November 1319. She was still only 14 years old. She was buried at Varaždin Cathedral.

Her husband remarried quickly to Elisabeth of Poland, and he had five sons with her. No images of Beatrice survive to this day. Her sister Marie became Queen of France as the wife of Charles IV of France.






About Moniek Bloks 2681 Articles
My name is Moniek and I am from the Netherlands. I began this website in 2013 because I wanted to share these women's amazing stories.

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