Beatrice d'Este

     Beatrice d'Este was educated in 1215 by her uncle, Marquis Azzo VII of Este, since her father died in the year of her birth.¹ She was born in 1215.¹ She was the daughter of Margrave Albodrandino I.^1,2

Beatrice d'Este married Andrew II , King of Hungary, son of Béla III , King of Hungary and Agnes de Châtillon-sur-Loing, on 14 May 1234 at Székesfehérvár, Hungary. In the beginning of 1234, the elderly King Andrew II of Hungary, who had been widowed for the second time in 1233, visited the court of the Este family and fell in love with the young Beatrice. Her uncle gave his consent to the marriage only on the condition that both King Andrew and Beatrice renounced the dowry and any claim of her father's inheritance. King Andrew promised in their conjugal contract that he would grant 5,000 pounds as marriage portion to Beatrice and Beatrice would also receive 1,000 pounds as her annual revenue. However, the relationship between Beatrice and her husband's sons became tense soon.^2,1 Following her husband's death on 21 September 1235, her stepson, King Béla IV of Hungary ascended the throne and he wanted to banish Beatrice from Hungary. Moreover, when the widowed Beatrice announced that she had been pregnant, her stepson accused her of adultery and ordered her arrest. Beatrice could escape from Hungary only with the assistance of the ambassadors of Frederick II, Holy Roman Empire who had arrived to the deceased king's funeral. She went to the Holy Roman Empire, where she bore her husband's posthumous son, Stephen whose legitimacy, however, was never confirmed by his brothers. Following the birth of her child, Beatrice was planning to live in the court of his uncle, but Marquis Azzo VII denied her request. She spent the following years wandering in Italy, and she never gave up her son's claims to receive ducal revenues from Hungary. She tried to persuade the Republic of Venice to support her son during the war with Hungary, but the Serenissima promised King Béla IV that it would not support Beatrice and her son in the peace of 30 June 1244. Pope Innocent IV granted her revenues of 35 monasteries in Italy.¹ Beatrice d'Este died before 8 May 1245.¹