Beatrice
Queen regnant of Portugal and the Algarve (disputed); Queen consort of Castile and León
Reign Consort	October 22, 1383 - April 6, 1385 May 17, 1383 - October 9, 1390
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	John I
Spouse	John I of Castile
Royal house	House of Trastamara House of Burgundy
Father	Ferdinand I
Mother	Leonor Telles de Menezes
Born	December 9, 1372 Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	March 8, 1408 Madrigal, Kingdom of Castile
Burial	Toro, Zamora, Castile and León, Spain

Portuguese Royalty
House of Burgundy

Afonso Henriques (Afonso I)
Children include Infanta Mafalda Infanta Urraca, Queen of Léon Infante Sancho (future Sancho I) Infanta Teresa, Countess of Flanders and Duchess of Burgundy
Sancho I
Children include Infanta Teresa, Queen of Castile Infanta Sancha, Lady of Alenquer Infanta Constança Infante Afonso (future Afonso II) Infante Pedro, Count of Urgell Infante Fernando, Count of Flanders Infanta Branca, Lady of Guadalajara Infanta Berengária, Queen of Denmark Infanta Mafalda, Queen of Castile
Afonso II
Children include Infante Sancho (future Sancho II) Infante Afonso, Count of Boulogne (future Afonso III) Infanta Leonor, Queen of Denmark Infante Fernando, Lord of Serpa
Sancho II
Afonso III
Children include Infanta Branca, Viscountess of Huelgas Infante Dinis (future Denis I) Infante Afonso, Lord of Portalegre Infanta Maria Infanta Sancha
Denis
Children include Infanta Constança, Queen of Castile Infante Afonso (future Afonso IV)
Afonso IV
Children include Infanta Maria, Queen of Castile Infante Pedro (future Peter I) Infanta Leonor, Queen of Aragon
Peter I
Children include Infanta Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa Infante Fernando (future Ferdinand I) Infanta Beatriz, Countess of Alburquerque Infante João, Duke of Valencia de Campos Infante Dinis, Lord of Villar-Dompardo John, Grand Master of the Order of Aviz (future John I) (natural son)
Ferdinand I
Children include Infanta Beatrice, Queen of Castile and Leon (future Beatrice I of Portugal)
Beatrice (disputed queen)
Children include Infante Miguel of Castile and Portugal

Beatrice, in Portuguese Beatriz (pron. IPA: [biɐ'tɾiʃ]), (9 December 1372, Coimbra – 8 March 1408, Madrigal, Castile) was the only daughter of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Telles de Menezes, a Portuguese noble woman. She married King John I of Castile and claimed to be Queen of Portugal in the 1383-1385 Crisis that ended with her uncle John, Ferdinand's illegitimate brother, being acclaimed King of Portugal, the first from the House of Aviz.

At the beginning of 1383, the political situation in Portugal was not peaceful. Beatrice was the King's only child, and heir to the throne, after her younger brothers' deaths in 1380 and 1382. Her marriage was the political issue of the day and inside the palace, factions lobbied constantly. Ferdinand arranged and cancelled his daughter's wedding several times before settling for his wife's first choice, King John I of Castile. John had lost his wife, Infanta Leonor of Aragon the year before, and was happy to wed the Portuguese heiress. The wedding took place on May 17, 1383 in the Portuguese city of Elvas. Beatrice was only eleven years old.

King Ferdinand died shortly thereafter, on October 22, 1383. According to the treaty between Castile and Portugal, the Queen Mother, Leonor Telles de Menezes, became regent in the name of her daughter and son-in-law. But not everybody in Portugal was happy about this state of affairs. The loss of independence was unthinkable for the majority of Portuguese freemen. A rebellion led by the Master of the Order of Aviz, the future John I, began in that year, leading to the 1383-1385 Crisis.

King John of Castile invaded Portugal in 1384 to fight for his newly-born son Miguel's (1384-1385) rights to the crown. That war ended in the next year, with the utter defeat of Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota. In the aftermath of this battle, John of Aviz became the uncontested King of Portugal. Beatrice no longer had a tenable claim to the throne of Portugal; she was merely the Queen Consort of Castile and Leon.

Beatrice died in 1408 in Madrigal, Castile.

There is some dispute among historians about Beatrice. She is rarely referred as Queen of Portugal, but some claim that at least for a short period she was Queen and so must be included the list of the Monarchs of Portugal. Others say that during the 1383-1385 period Portugal had no monarch, so Beatrice should not be counted as a Portuguese queen regnant.

Sources

• Williamson, David (1988). Debrett's Kings and Queens of Europe. Exeter: Webb & Bower. ISBN 0-86350-194-X. 

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 13 December 2008, at 04:19.

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