Blanche of France, Infanta of Castile

Blanche of France (French: Blanche de France) (1253–1323) was a daughter of King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.[1]

Blanche of France
Infanta of Castile
Born1253
Jaffa, County of Jaffa and Ascalon
Died1323 (aged 69–70)
Paris, Kingdom of France
Burial
SpouseFerdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile
IssueAlfonso de la Cerda of Castile
Ferdinand de la Cerda of Castile
HouseCapet
FatherLouis IX of France
MotherMargaret of Provence
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Biography

Blanche was born in 1253 in Jaffa, County of Jaffa and Ascalon during the Seventh Crusade led by her father, Louis IX of France.[2]

In November 1269,[3] she married Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile, eldest son of Alfonso X of Castile and Violant of Aragon.[4] They had:

Ferdinand predeceased his father in 1275 at Ciudad Real. Blanche and Ferdinand's sons did not inherit the throne of their grandfather, since their uncle, the second son, Sancho, enforced his claim, even by rebelling. Blanche's brother Philip warned Sancho that he would invade Castile on behalf of his two nephews.

Blanche left Castile never to return. Her sons were sent to live with their grandmother Violant of Aragon who had them sent to the fortress of Xàtiva so they would be safe from Sancho.

Blanche died at the Monastère des Clarisses de l’Ave Maria, in Paris, in 1323.

An illuminated manuscript

Ancestry

References

  1. Doubleday 2015, p. xix.
  2. Doubleday 2015, p. 123.
  3. Linehan 2008, p. 160.
  4. Linehan 2008, p. xvii.

Sources

  • Doubleday, Simon R. (2015). The Wise King: A Christian Prince, Muslim Spain, and the Birth of the Renaissance. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465066995.
  • Linehan, Peter (2008). Spain, 1157-1300: A Partible Inheritance. Wiley.
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