Beatrice de Montfort, Countess of Montfort-l'Amaury
Encyclopedia
Robert IV of Dreux
Robert IV of Dreux , Count of Dreux, Braine and Montfort-l'Amaury, was the son of John I of Dreux and Marie of Bourbon.Robert fought with Philip III of France in 1272 in his expedition to the Languedoc and was present at the capture of Foix....
, Count of Dreux (1241 – 12 November 1282), and the ancestress of the Dukes of Brittany from the House of Montfort-Dreux
Montfort of Brittany
The House of Montfort was a French noble family, who reigned in the Duchy of Brittany from 1365 to 1514. It was a cadet branch of the Breton House of Dreux, itself a branch of the House of Dreux; it was thus ultimately part of the Capetian dynasty...
which derived its name from her title.
Family
Beatrice was born sometime between December 1248 and 1249, the only child of Jean I de MontfortJean I de Montfort
Jean I de Montfort , Comte de Montfort from 1241 to 1249, son of Amaury VI, comte de Montfort, and of Béatrice de Bourgogne.In March 1248 he married Jeanne de Châteaudun, dame de Château-du-Loir, daughter of Geoffroy VI, vicomte de Châteaudun, and of Clémence des Roches...
, Count of Dreux and Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun
Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun
Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun was a French heiress and the wife of two French noblemen Jean I de Montfort, and Jean de Brienne, Grand Butler of France.- Family :...
. Her paternal grandparents were Amaury VI, Count of Montfort and Beatrice of Burgundy, and her maternal grandparents were Geoffrey VI, Viscount de Chateaudun and Clémence des Roches. Her great- grandfather Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...
was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
.
In 1249, Beatrice's father died in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, while participating in the Seventh Crusade
Seventh Crusade
The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
, leaving her mother a widow. In 1251, Jeanne married secondly Jean de Brienne, Grand Butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
of France, by whom she had a daughter Blanche de Brienne, Baroness Tingry (1252–1302) who married William II de Fiennes, Baron of Tingry.
Jeanne died sometime after 1252, leaving her two daughters as her co-heiresses.
Marriage
Beatrice was married to Robert IV of Dreux, Count of Dreux, Braine and Montfort-l'Amaury in 1260, when she was about eleven years old. He was the son of John I of DreuxJohn I of Dreux
John I of Dreux , Count of Dreux and Braine, was the son of Robert III of Dreux and Annora of Saint-Valéry.Knighted by King Louis IX of France, he accompanied the king on several campaigns, firstly in Poitou in 1242, where he fought at the Battle of Taillebourg...
, Count of Dreux and Braine, and Marie de Bourbon. The marriage produced six children. Robert inherited the titles of Dreux and Braine following the death of his father in 1249, and after his marriage succeeded to the title of de Montfort by right of his wife.
Issue
- Marie of Dreux (1261/62–1276), in 1275 married Mathieu de Montmorency.
- Yolande de Dreux (1263–1323), married firstly on 15 October 1285 King Alexander III of ScotlandAlexander III of ScotlandAlexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
, and secondly in 1292 Arthur II, Duke of BrittanyArthur II, Duke of BrittanyArthur II , of the House of Dreux, was Duke of Brittany from 1305 to his death. He was the first son of John II and Beatrice, daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence....
. By her second husband she was the mother of seven children. - John II of DreuxJohn II of DreuxJohn II of Dreux, called John the Good, , Count of Dreux and Braine was the son of Robert IV of Dreux and Beatrice, Countess of Montfort....
(1265–1309), Count of Dreux and Braine. Fought at the Battle of the Golden SpursBattle of the Golden SpursThe Battle of the Golden Spurs, known also as the Battle of Courtrai was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk in Flanders...
. He married firstly Jeanne de Beaujeu, Dame de Montpensier (died 1308), by whom he had four sons and one daughter. In 1308, he married secondly Perrenelle de Sully, by whom he had a daughter Jeanne II, Countess of Dreux (1309–c. 1355). - Jeanne of Dreux, Countess of Braine, married firstly Jean IV de Roucy, and secondly John of Bar.
- Beatrice of Dreux, Abbess of Pont-Royal (1270–1328)
- Robert of Dreux, seigneur of Chateau-du-Loire.
Death
Beatrice died on 9 March 1312 at the age of sixty-three. She was buried in the Abbaye de Haute- Bruyère. Duke John V of Brittany and French Queen consort Anne of BrittanyAnne of Brittany
Anne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...
were included amongst her notable descendants.