Childhood
Beatrice was born in Bordeaux, France, the second eldest daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. Beatrice's childhood was plagued by tragedy, and the stresses of her father's reign coupled with her mother's unpopularity with the English people.
Her oldest brother Edward became dangerously ill when she was very young. Though he recovered, Beatrice's younger siblings Richard, Henry, William, Katharine, and John died at very young ages, leaving Beatrice's parents grief-stricken. Eleanor was especially upset about the death of her youngest daughter Katharine, who possibly had a degenerative disease that had caused her to become deaf and eventually die at the age of three.
The English were unhappy with King Henry III owing to the influence that Eleanor and her Savoyard kinsmen exercised on the monarchy, and the Barons demanded more power. In 1263, Eleanor was sailing on a barge that was attacked by London citizens. This harsh, bitter dislike created several problems for Henry III and his family. On the other hand, Eleanor and Henry enjoyed a happy marriage, and Beatrice grew up in a loving environment, close to her siblings.
Read more about this topic: Beatrice Of England
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“When we raise our children, we relive our childhood. Forgotten memories, painful and pleasurable, rise to the surface.... So each of us thinks, almost daily, of how our own childhood compares with our children’s, and of what our children’s future will hold.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
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Twisting inside me, made me break the line?
What was the rock my gliding childhood struck,
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