Blanche de France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_of_France_%281282%E2%80%931305%29

Blanche of France (1282–1305)

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For other people of the same name, see Blanche of France.

French Monarchy

Direct Capetians

Arms of the Kingdom of France (Ancien).svg

Philip III

  Philip IV

  Charles III, Count of Valois

  Louis d'Evreux

  Margaret, Queen of England

  Blanche, Duchess of Austria

Blanche of France (c.1282- March 1, 1305) was born in Paris, her parents were Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant[1].

Contents

[hide]

   * 1 Family

   * 2 Life

   * 3 Ancestry

   * 4 References

[edit] Family

Blanche was a half sister of Philip IV of France and Charles of Valois, her sister Margaret and Edward I were the parents of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent. Blanche was the great great aunte of Richard II of England. Her brother was Louis d'Évreux who was the father of Philip III of Navarre. Philip's daughter was Maria, Queen of Aragon.[2]

[edit] Life

Three years after the death of Edward I of England's beloved first wife, Eleanor of Castile, at the age of 49 in 1290, Edward I was still grieving. But news got to him of the beauty of Blanche. Edward decided that he would marry Blanche at any cost and sent out emissaries to negotiate the marriage with her half-brother, King Philip IV. Philip agreed to give Blanche to Edward on the following conditions:

  1. A truce was concluded between the two countries.

  2. Edward gave up the province of Gascony.

Edward, surprisingly, agreed and sent his brother Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, to fetch the new bride. Edward had been deceived, for Blanche was to be married. Instead Philip offered her younger sister Margaret, a young girl of 11, to marry Edward (then 55). Upon hearing this, Edward declared war on France, refusing to marry Margaret. After five years, a truce was agreed, under the terms of which Edward would marry Margaret, would regain the key city of Guienne, and receive £15,000 owed to Marguerite.

Instead of Edward I, on May 25, 1300 she married Rudolph I of Habsburg, Duke of Austria and son of King Albert I of Germany. Blanche bore him a stillborn daughter in 1304 and after this she had two miscarriages. The marriage was very unhappy and Blanche died after her second miscarriage during March 1305 at Vienna. Rudolph was married to Elisabeth Richeza of Poland the next year, they had no children and Rudolph died in 1307 after being King of Bohemia for only one year.

Blanche is buried at the Minoritenkirche, Vienna.

References

  1. ^ Habsburg family

  2. ^ House of Capet descendents

This page was last modified on 5 April 2010 at 15:20.