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Beatrix de Vesci of Alnwick Castle, was an eleventh-century medieval noble lady of house de Vesci.

Life

Daughter and sole heir of Ivo de Vesci, Builder and first Baron and his wife, Alda, Beatrix de Vesci was one of the richest heiresses of her time. She was the first wife of Eustace Fitz John, also known as Eustacius fitz John de Burgo, Constable of Chestershire and Knaresborough.

According to Dugdale, Beatrix had two sons, William and Geoffrey. However, it is most often said that she died during childbirth of her first and only son, William de Vesci. William de Vesci took his mother’s surname and would become the ancestor of the de Vesci baronial house. William served as Sheriff of Northumberland from 1157 to 1170, and Sheriff of Lancashire from 1166 to 1170.

Upon the death of Eustace Fitz John, his lands passed to his son William by consent of King Henry II.

Beatrix de Vesci's grandson, Eustace de Vesci, was one of the Surety Barons of Magna Carta.

References

1. Geldard, Ed (2009). Northumberland strongholds. London: Frances Lincoln. p. 49. ISBN 9780711229853.
2. Wurts, John (1945). Magna Carta. Philadelphia: Brookfield Publishing Company. pp. 72, 135.
3. Hull, Lisa (2008). Understanding the Castle Ruins of England and Wales: How to Interpret the History and Meaning of Masonry and Earthworks. McFarland & Co. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7864-3457-2.
4. Burke, John (1837). A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British empire. London: Henry Colburn. p. 352.
5. Grainge, William (1871). The history and topography of Harrogate, and the forest of Knaresborough. London: J.R. Smith. p. 51.
6. Browning, Charles Henry (1969). Magna charta barons and their descendants; with the story of the great charter of King John. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 129.
7. Cokayne, George Edward (1959). G.H. White; R.S. Lea (eds.). The Complete Peerage Vol. XII/2 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd. p. 276.
8. Tate, George. 1866. The history of the Borough, Castle, and Barony of Alnwick. Alnwick: H.H. Blair. 56.
9. Burke, John Bernard (1883). Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. p. 555.
10. Tout, T. F.; Dalton, Paul (2004). Eustace Fitz John: Justice and Baron. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
11. Chalmers, George (1807). Caledonia: Or, an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain; From the Most Ancient to the Present Times. Vol. I. London: T. Cadell, and W. Davies, Strand; and A. Constable Co., at Edinburgh. p. 532.
12. "High Sheriff of Lancashire". Geni.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
13. Dalton, Paul (1996). "Eustace Fitz John and the Politics of Anglo-Norman England: The Rise and Survival of a Twelfth-Century Royal Servant". Speculum. 71 (2). Speculum (Medieval Academy of America): 380. doi:10.2307/2865417. JSTOR 2865417. S2CID 155189020.
14. "Magna Carta Surety Barons". The Magna Carta. Runnymede Borough Council. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Vescy, William de". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

• 11th-century English nobility
• De Vesci family
• 11th-century English women
• Deaths in childbirth