Beatrice I (1143 – 15 November 1184) was countess of Burgundy from 1148 until her death, and was also Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Frederick Barbarossa. She was crowned empress by Antipope Paschal III in Rome on 1 August 1167, and as Queen of Burgundy at Vienne in August 1178.
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Life
Beatrice was the only surviving child of Reginald III, Count of Burgundy and Agatha of Lorraine. She was named after her grandmother. As the only child of her father, she was the heiress of the County of Burgundy, and at the death of her father in 1148 she inherited the vast County of Burgundy and became countess palatine. As such, she was one of the most desired brides in the Empire. Her uncle, William III of Mâcon, who acted as her regent, attempted to deprive her of her rights, and had her imprisoned. A marriage was suggested to Emperor Frederick I, who stopped William.
Wedding
Frederick I likely suggested the marriage because the County of Burgundy would give him an alternative to the Brenner Pass and a strategically valuable position against Milan, and because of the additional troops of Burgundian knights available for his war.
The wedding between Beatrice and Frederick took on 9 June 1156 at Würzburg. After the wedding, the Bishop of Trier anointed Beatrice queen.
The poem Carmen de gestis Frederici I imperatoris in Lombardia, written about 1162, describes Beatrice upon her wedding day:
"Venus did not have this virgin's beauty,
Minerva did not have her brilliant mind
And Juno did not have her wealth.
There never was another except God's mother Mary
And Beatrice is so happy she excels her."
After the death of William III, Frederick created titles as compensations for his sons Stephen and Girard, and Stephen attended the wedding of Beatrice.
Empress
After their marriage, Frederick took control of the County of Burgundy by the right of his wife and became her co-ruler. Although formally co-rulers, Beatrice's name was seldom included in the charters managing the affairs of Burgundy before the year of 1166, after which more charters were issued in the name of both Beatrice and Frederick as joint rulers of Burgundy. Her actual involvement in the rule of Burgundy is unknown. Her younger son Otto was named the heir to Burgundy, rather than her elder son.
Beatrice accompanied Frederick on his travels and campaigns across his empire. A legend states that in 1158 Beatrice visited Milan where was just conquered by Frederick, but was taken captive in a sally by the enraged Milanese and forced to ride backwards through the city on a donkey in a humiliating manner until getting out. Some sources of this legend indicate that Barbarossa implemented his revenge for this insult by forcing the magistrates of the city to remove a fig from the anus of a donkey using only their teeth. Another source states that Barbarossa took his wrath upon every able-bodied man in the city, and that it was not a fig they were forced to hold in their mouth, but excrement from the donkey. To add to this debasement, they were made to announce, "Ecco la fica" (meaning "behold the fig"), with the faeces still in their mouths. It used to be said that the insulting gesture (called fico), of holding one's fist with the thumb in between the middle and forefinger came by its origin from this event.
Beatrice at least once played a role in warfare: during the Siege of Crema in July 1159, she was able to provide the emperor with badly needed reinforcements from her own county of Burgundy, and arrived to Crema on 20 July of that year in the company of Henry the Lion, archbishop Conrad of Augsburg and 1,200 knights, providing him with the reinforcements he needed.
After Frederick conquered Milan in 1162, the Milanese begged him for mercy, but in vain, so they turned to Beatrice. While Beatrice did not see them, they dropped a cross at her window. According to the Annals of Genoa, while the city of Milan had been destroyed, at the suggestion of Beatrice the lives and properties of the Milanese were saved.
In 1162, Italian chronicler Acerbo Morena, having seen Beatrice at her hometown Lodi, said of Beatrice that she was:
Patron of arts
Beatrice was known as a cultivated princess in her lifetime.
Acerbo Morena wrote a praiseful description of Beatrice in 1163, which praised her as a litterata (a woman learned in Latin). According to a sixteenth century account, the author of the Latin epitaph, composed of eight verses, on her tombstone was herself. She was a bibliophile, as shown by the rich psalter she gave Dauphiness Clemence-Margaret.
The early development of the German tradition of minnesang is associated with Beatrice and the French troubadours she brought to Barbarossa's court, especially Guyot de Provins. Gautier d'Arras dedicated the long version of his Ille et Galeron to her.
Death
In 1184, Beatrice fell ill with an unknown illness at Jouhe and quickly died, aged about 40. She was buried in Speyer Cathedral, but her heart was buried in Jouhe's old Benedictine abbey. Frederick grieved for her early death, and in April 1189, a month before joining the Crusade, he donated to the Church of St. Etienne in Besançon.
Issue
Beatrice and Frederick had the following children:
Beatrice (end 1162/early 1163 – at least early 1174/1179). King William II of Sicily first asked for her hand but the marriage negotiations never came through.
Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (Pavia, 16 July 1164 – 28 November 1170).
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (Nijmegen, November 1165 – Messina, 28 September 1197).
Conrad (Modigliana, February 1167 – Acre, 20 January 1191), later renamed Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia after the death of his older brother.
?Judith (October/November 1168 – end 1184). She was betrothed to Richard, Count of Poitou (later King of England) but died before they could be married.
Otto I, Count of Burgundy (June/July 1170 – killed, Besançon, 13 January 1200).
Conrad II, Duke of Swabia and Rothenburg (February/March 1172 – killed, Durlach, 15 August 1196).
Renaud (October/November 1173 – before April 1174/soon after October 1178).
William (June/July 1175 – soon after October 1178).
Philip (February/March 1177 – killed, Bamberg, 21 June 1208) King of Germany in 1198.
Agnes (early 1179 – 8 October 1184). She was betrothed to King Emeric of Hungary but died before they could be married.
Reception
Materials recording Beatrice's political activities are relatively scarce, especially in comparison with those of the Ottonian and Salian empresses and queens. Nevertheless, recent research shows that the empress's role in the contemporary political life was much more important than previously estimated. This is partly demonstrated through the efforts of contemporaries to influence the emperor's decisions through the empress. For example, when Barbarossa refused to listen to Milan's appeal for mercy in 1162, the city turned to Beatrice. She tended to intervene on behalf of people personally connected to her, as well as churches, monasteries, hospitals. Her status as Barbarossa's trusted political partner was also shown in various contemporary representations, including on coins.
In popular culture
Beatrice is a character in Umberto Eco's novel Baudolino, whose (fictional) protagonist is deeply in love with her - a love never consummated except for a single kiss.
In the 2009 movie Barbarossa (also titled Sword of War and Barbarossa: Siege Lord), Beatrice is one of the main characters, played by Cécile Cassel.
