Beatrice of Naples (16 November 1457 – 23 September 1508) was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Taranto. She was queen consort to both Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary so she was Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.^[1]

Biography

Beatrice received a good education at her father's court in Naples. Beatrice was engaged in 1474 and married Matthias in Hungary 22 December 1476: she was crowned Queen of Hungary ten days later.

The marriage secured an alliance between Hungary and Naples: In 1480, when an Ottoman fleet seized Otranto in the Kingdom of Naples, at the earnest solicitation of the pope he sent the Hungarian general, Balázs Magyar, to recover the fortress, which surrendered to him on 10 May 1481. Again in 1488, Matthias took Ancona under his protection for a while, occupying it with a Hungarian garrison. Beatrice exerted some influence in the policy of Hungary. She also had a cultural importance by introducing the Italian renaissance in to the court of Hungary, an interest she shared with Matthew: she encouraged his work with the Bibliotheca Corviniana, build the palace Visegrad as a residence for the court, and create an Academy. She wished to participate in policy: in 1477, she accompanied Matthew during the invasion of Austria, and in 1479, she was present during the peace treaty between Matthew and Vladislav II. In 1479, their relationship became tense when Matthew awarded his illegitimate son John Corvinus with a fief and invited John's mother to court: he wished to have John acknowledged as heir, wished caused an conflict with Beatrice which was ongoing until 1490.

Matthias died without surviving issue from Beatrice being his third spouse. Matthias had a son named Janos Corvinus. Whose mother is questionable. Some claim that Beatrice had been with Matthias prior to their marriage and Janos had been born prior to their marriage. Others claim him as the child from a mistress Matthias had Burgess Barbara Edelpock but it seems highly unlikely that Matthias would have had this mistress when he was engaged and courting Beatrice of Naples. Upon his death in 1490, Beatrice managed to keep a power position by the support of the Hungarian nobility and continue as queen of Hungary by marriage to the next monarch. She presided as a royal representative at the parliament were the next king was elected, with the Hungarian crown placed at her side. It is believed she could not control Janos and was claimed illegitimate by her second husband but these claims all cannot be verfied nor can the be completely ignored.

Beatrice married her second husband, Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary in 1491. Beatrice had great support by the Hungarian nobility, and the nobility had demanded of Vladislav that he marry her. This marriage was yet again childless, and Beatrice was not expected to be fertile because of her age. Formally, the marriage was questioned, as her spouse was not granted as divorce from his frist wife by the pope. Her husband claimed, that he did not regard the marriage as legal, and that he had been forced to marry her against his will, and in 1493, a commission was issued to investigate. In 1500, the pope declared the marriage to be illegal, and Beatrice was forced to pay the costs of the trial. Beatrice returned to Naples, were she arived in 1501, and in 1502, Vladislaus could marry Anne de Foix. Beatrice died in Naples.

Ancestors

Sources

References

• J. Macek, Tři ženy krále Vladislava, Mladá fronta, Praha, 1991
• kol. autorov, Encyklopédia Slovenska, Veda, Bratislava, 1977