Blanche of Castile (Blanca de Castilla in Spanish; 4 March 1188 – 26 November 1252), wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England. Eleanor was a daughter of Henry II of England and his Queen consort Eleanor of Aquitaine.
In consequence of a treaty between Philip Augustus and John of England, Blanche's sister Urraca was betrothed to the former's son, L...
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Blanche of Castile (Blanca de Castilla in Spanish; 4 March 1188 – 26 November 1252), wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England. Eleanor was a daughter of Henry II of England and his Queen consort Eleanor of Aquitaine.
In consequence of a treaty between Philip Augustus and John of England, Blanche's sister Urraca was betrothed to the former's son, Louis. Their grandmother Eleanor, upon getting acquainted with the two sisters, judged that Blanche's personality was more fit for a queen of France. In the spring of 1200 she brought her to France instead. On 22 May 1200 the treaty was finally signed, John ceding with his niece the fiefs of Issoudun and Gracay, together with those that André de Chauvigny, lord of Châteauroux, held in Berry, of the English crown. The marriage was celebrated the next day, at Portmort on the right bank of the Seine, in John's domains, as those of Philip lay under...
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