Blanche of France, Infanta of Castile

Blanche of France
Infanta of Castile
Born	1253 Jaffa, County of Jaffa and Ascalon
Died	1323 (aged 69–70) Paris, Kingdom of France
Burial	Cordeliers Convent, Paris
Spouse	Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile
Issue	Alfonso de la Cerda of Castile Ferdinand de la Cerda of Castile
House	Capet
Father	Louis IX of France
Mother	Margaret of Provence
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Blanche of France (French: Blanche de France) (1253–1323) was a daughter of King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, and sister of King Philip III of France and Queen Isabella of Navarre.

Biography

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

In November 1268, she married Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile, eldest son of Alfonso X of Castile and Violant of Aragon; they had two sons:

• Alfonso (1270–1324), who married Mahaut, daughter of John I of Brienne, Count of Eu. They had four sons and three daughters.
• Ferdinand (1275–1322), who married Juana Núñez de Lara, called "la Palomilla", Lady of Lara and Herrera, daughter of Juan Núñez I de Lara and Teresa Álvarez de Azagra. They had one son and three daughters. One daughter, Blanca de La Cerda y Lara, was the mother-in-law of King Henry II of Castile.

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 Játiva so they would be safe from Sancho.

Blanche died at the Monastère des Clarisses de l’Ave Maria,^[1] in Paris, in 1323.^[2]

Ancestry

16. Louis VII of France

8. Philip II of France

17. Adèle of Champagne

4. Louis VIII of France

18. Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut

9. Isabelle of Hainaut

19. Margaret I, Countess of Flanders

2. Louis IX of France

20. Sancho III of Castile

10. Alfonso VIII of Castile

21. Blanche of Navarre

5. Blanche of Castile

22. Henry II of England

11. Eleanor of England

23. Eleanor of Aquitaine

1. Blanche of France

24. Alfonso II of Aragon

12. Alfonso II, Count of Provence

25. Sancha of Castile

6. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence

26. Renier de Sabran

13. Garsenda, Countess of Forcalquier

27. Garsenda of Forcalquier

3. Margaret of Provence

28. Humbert III, Count of Savoy

14. Thomas I, Count of Savoy

29. Beatrice of Viennois

7. Beatrice of Savoy

30. William I of Geneva

15. Margaret of Geneva

31. Beatrix of Faucigny

Notes

1. Within the same compound, the convent for women was the Monastère des Clarisses de l'Ave Maria, and the convent for men was the Couvent des Cordeliers.
2. The year of her death, 1320, 1322 or 1323, is disputed.