She was brought up in the castle of the Infante João. In 1447 she was a lady in waiting to the Princess Isabel and went with her to Castile. Isabel was to be married to King João 2nd. Although Isabel and Beatrice were friends Isabel became jealous of her beauty and had her locked up. When Beatrice was imprisoned she had a vision telling her she should found a new order dedicated to the Mother of God.


Beatrice managed to escape her cell and spent the next 37 years living in the Dominican monastery in Toledo although she never became a member of the order.

In 1484 Queen Isabel gave Beatrice and her companions a Palace in Toledo. This new monastery of Toledo was to be dedicated to honouring the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Beatrice devised a religious habit of white with a blue mantel.

Beatrice died in the monastery she founded in August 1492. Her feast day is 17th August and she is the Patron Saint of Prisoners.