To complete her trilogy of tales of French medieval Queens, Julianna Lees writes about the powerful Spanish Princess.

Blanche of Castile

An exciting event happened in the kingdom of Castile in the year 1200: The famous queen Eleanor of Aquitaine arrived on a state visit to choose a princess from among the King's daughters as a bride for Prince Louis of France, grandson of her first husband.

Blanche of Castile

Queen Blanche and the young King Louis IX from the « Moralized Bible » which she had made for him in about 1230.

The indomitable Queen was already nearly eighty when she made the journey across the Pyrenees on horseback in the depths of winter, falling prey to an ambush before she had left France. Nevertheless she arrived in January and no doubt was delighted to be united with her daughter, “young Eleanor of England” who had married King Alphonso VIII of Castile in 1176, when she was fourteen, and borne him four daughters before the all-important son arrived.

Queen Blanche and a pilgrim, from Queen Blanche’s Psalter, which Louis had made for her

It is unlikely that mother and daughter had met in the intervening years, but now they were united at last, to negotiate the marriage. The official exchange of letters that had preceded her referred to the fourteen-year-old Urraca, but when her Majesty met the family she decided to take the twelve-year-old Blanche, instead. We don’t know what endeared the little girl to Queen Eleanor: the only reason she gave was that poor Urraca’s name would be awkward for the French, and they would relate better to the name of Blanche! After two months in Castile, Eleanor set off for home with her granddaughter in tow. The little girl must have had qualms about leaving her parents and family and the gaiety of the Castilian court, but how exciting it must have been to be travelling with her stately grandmother to marry the future King of France who was only a year older than her. By Easter they had reached Bordeaux and the marriage took place in May, in Normandy. Blanche was eventually to prove a rival to Eleanor in political influence and success as queen of France.

For a decade or more the young couple occupied themselves with raising a family, but in 1214 Blanche’s husband embarked on a series of battles with King John, actually waging war on him in England in 1216. He was away for over a year, but eventually returned without having captured the island. Meanwhile, John died, leaving his infant son as Henry III.

 La Sainte Chapelle, Paris

On the death of his father in 1223, Louis became King Louis VIII of France, and Blanche, Queen. Several of their 12 children had been born by the time of their accession, of whom the heir was Prince Louis, now aged nine.

Blanche began to reign over France as a professional Queen rather than a mere consort as a result of her warlike husband’s frequent absences. In between fighting King John, Louis joined his father’s «Crusade» against the Albigensians, or Cathars, massacring them by the thousand. This was to be the pattern for the three years that were left to him. I wonder if he would have conducted himself in this fashion had he known how soon he was to die? Probably, because he passionately believed in his causes. Only seven weeks after returning to France to strengthen his forces, Louis was back fighting in England again. Eventually bought off for 100,000 marks, Louis returned to the massacre of the « heretics » who had introduced an early form of Protestantism to Southern France.

In 1226, however, Louis VIII was dead and Blanche a widow. Building on the valuable experience she had acquired during her husband’s absences, Blanche now became regent for her twelve-year-old son, King Louis IX until he reached his majority in 1234. In the same year, young Louis married Margaret of Provence.

Two years later, her sister Eleanor was wedded to Henry III of England. It was hoped that their reign would be peaceful, and bring an end to fighting between England and France - at least for a while! Blanche went to London for the family marriage, which was to be a dynastic alliance.

A patroness of the arts, Blanche had ordered a magnificent illustrated bible to be made for her son in about 1230. Called “The Moralized Bible”, it has a portrait of them as frontispiece, and Louis presented it to Alphonso X of Castile after his mother’s death. It is preciously conserved in Toledo.

La Sainte Chapelle, Paris

Louis not only appreciated books and acquired a splendid collection of them, many made to his orders, he also became a passionate relic collector. So much so, that he had that famous treasure house of stained glass, “La Sainte Chapelle” built in Paris to keep them safe. In fact, this delightful little church is really a huge reliquary. Young Louis was also to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Crusader and once again Blanche found herself ruling France when he took up arms in his "holy war." On his departure in 1248, now aged thirty-five, Louis told his accomplished mother: "I leave my three children for your wards. I leave this realm of France to you to govern it. Truly I know that they will be well guarded and well governed."

Blanche managed to suppress rebellions, and actually extend the power of the French dynasty. In 1249 she completed the absorption of the Midi into the French State and made advantageous alliances. As a result, the kingdom of France more closely assumed the shape and appearance it has today.

The following year, Louis was captured by the Saracens in Egypt. When the news reached Blanche she fell into a fury of despair and ordered that the messengers be hung! She managed to organise her son’s ransom, but he promptly returned to the fray, and Blanche lived on for three more years, dying at the age of 65 in the Louvre Palace in Paris on 30 November, 1253.

Louis returned to France the following year with his reputation enormously enhanced. He seems, then, to have gone through a strange character-change, living like a studious and saintly monk until 1270. Perhaps he was depressed by the demise of his powerful mother, and felt guilty that he had not been with her at the end. In 1270, however, he returned to Crusading, dying of an attack of the plague in Tunis on the way, aged 56.

The Pope had him canonized as “Saint Louis” just twenty-seven years later, in 1297.

Castle of Uruena built by Blanche’s father, King Alphonso VIII of Castile.