Blanche of Valois

Infobox_Monarch|consort
name = Blanche of Valois
title =German Queen


coronation =
spouse =Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
issue = Margaret of Bohemia,

Katharine of Bohemia

royal house =House of Valois
royal anthem =
father =Charles of Valois
mother =Mahaut of Chatillon
date of birth =c. 1316
place of birth =
date of death =1 August, 1348,
place of death =
buried =St. Vitus Cathedral

She was a daughter of Charles of Valois and his third wife Mahaut of Chatillon.

Family

Her paternal grandparents were Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. Her maternal grandparents were Guy IV, Count of Saint-Pol and Marie of Brittany.

Marie was a daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany and Beatrice of England. Beatrice was a daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. She was the sister of Isabella of Valois, who married Peter I, Duke of Bourbon and was the mother Joanna of Bourbon, queen of France. Her other sister was Marie of Valois who married Charles, Duke of Calabria, Marie was the mother of Joan I of Naples.

Marriage

In May, 1329, Blanche married Charles of Bohemia. Her husband was the eldest son of John I of Bohemia and Elisabeth I of Bohemia. Both bride and groom were about thirteen years old. They had two children:

*Margaret of Bohemia (1335 - 1349). Married Louis I of Hungary.
*Katharine of Bohemia (19 August 1342 - 26 April 1395). She married first Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria and secondly Otto V, Duke of Bavaria.

On 11 July, 1346, Charles was elected King of Germany in opposition to Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor. His election was supported by Pope Clement VI who was in conflict with Louis. Charles was widely regarded as a papal puppet ("rex clericorum" as William of Ockham called him).

While the conflict in Germany continued, her father-in-law John of Bohemia was also allied with Philip VI of France. He was killed in the Battle of Crécy (26 August, 1346). Charles escaped the battlefield relatively unharmed and succeeded to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Blanche became his Queen consort.

On 11 October, 1347, Louis IV died suddenly and Charles gained wider recognition as King of Germany. Blanche died however before Charles was crowned the undisputed ruler of Germany on 25 July, 1349.

Ancestors

See also

*Środa treasure