Beatrice of Savoy (1198 - 1267, whose tomb is shown here) was considered not only (according to Matthew Paris) extremely beautiful (like her daughter) but also very smart and politically shrewd. A couple years before the marriage of her daughter and Charles, for instance, she had convinced King Henry III of England to lend 4000 marks to her husband.
She was also involved in the negotiations regarding her daughter's marriage, and now may be a good time to explain what I teased in yesterday's post about tat matter.
Because Ramon Berenguer V managed to get his three eldest daughters marriages that led to them being queens, he left the counties of Provence and Forcalquier to his youngest, Beatrice of Provence. When this became known, many powerful men in Europe angled for her hand in marriage.
James I of Aragon was already married to Violant of Hungary, but that was after he annulled a marriage to Eleanor of Castile after eight years (!) and a son. He invaded Provence, because he had designs on Provence from long ago, and actually surrounded her castle.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II sent his navy to Provence to gain leverage so that he could get Beatrice married to one of his sons. Count Raymond VII of Toulouse (divorced twice already) appealed to Blanche of Castile, mother of King Louis IX of France, for her support to marry young Beatrice. (Raymond's mother and Blanche's mother were sisters, both daughters of King Henry II.)
Blanche, however, was in favor of a different approach. Her youngest son was destined for an ecclesiastical life, but this was an opportunity to give him something more prestigious and tie Provence more closely to France. Blanche, Louis IX, Pope Innocent IV, and the young Charles of Anjou met in 1245 in Cluny. Innocent had many issues with Frederick, and did not want to see Frederick gain any more territory. Innocent was happy to endorse marriage between young Beatrice and Charles in exchange for Louis giving Innocent military support against Frederick.
Mother and daughter were satisfied with the terms, but not everyone was. King Henry III of England had an issue with them, and there was the problem of James I of Aragon, who was parked outside Beatrice's residence and would need to be dealt with. How that went will be a subject for tomorrow.
