MARIA BEATRICE d'Este, queen of ENGLAND. - B. in 1658, d. at St-Germain-en-Laye in 1718. Daughter of Alfonso IV, duke of Modena, she married in 1673 Giacomo di York, who later became Giacomo II. Strictly educated in the Catholic faith, upon her arrival in England she had to resign herself to practising her religion privately, because in that very year the Protestants had im-
posed upon Carlo II the promulgation of the Test act, which excluded Catholics from all state offices.
After Giacomo’s accession to the throne, the Catholic policy of the sovereigns at first aroused no violent reactions, because the Protestants were counting on the not distant succession to the throne of the princess Maria, married to Guglielmo d'Orange; but when, on 10 June 1688, M. B. bore a son, Giacomo, the Protestants brought about the intervention of the Orange. M. B. fled with the prince of Wales to France, and this had fatal consequences for the King, who, instead of opposing the invader with arms, followed his wife and, by deserting, afforded the Orange an easy triumph.