Blanche of Artois

Blanche of Artois (1248 – May 2, 1302) was the queen regent of Navarre from 1274 to 1284, and later became Countess of Lancaster by marrying into the English royal family. She was the daughter of Count Robert I of Artois and Matilda of Brabant. From 1274 to 1284 she ruled Navarre and the counties of Brie, Champagne, Troyes et Meaux for her daughter, Joan I of Navarre (ruled 1274 to 1305).

Her paternal grandparents were Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Philip of Swabia.

Blanche married Henry I of Navarre (ruled 1270-1274) who died in 1274. They had two children:

* Theobald II of Navarre d. 1270 fell from a battlement at the castle of Estella
* Joan I of Navarre, who became Queen regnant of Navarre and Queen consort of France

After Henry's death, Blanche married Edmund Crouchback (1245-1296), in 1276, an English prince who was a younger son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Edmund was also a widower, his young wife having died the same year as Blanche's husband.

Edmund and Blanche had four children:

* Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster (b. 1278)
* Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (b. 1281)
* John Plantagenet, Lord of Beaufort (c. 1282 - 1327)
* Mary Plantagenet (c. 1284 - c. 1289)