Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

Description

Medievalist Bruce L. Venarde recommends "the well-regarded biographies of Louis by Jacques Legoff and of Blanche by Lindy Grant".

King St. Louis IX was very well-bread; everyday he'd think of what his mother Queen Blanche told him, that she'd rather see him die than commit a mortal sin.

Blanche was holy, too (Fr. Butler's bio.):

In 1242 Queen Blanche founded the nunnery of Maubuisson, designing at the time to put on a habit of penance, and divest herself of her royal robes, before she should be stripped of them by death. Her son would needs contribute to this foundation, that he might have a share in her good work.

"31st Rose" of St. Louis de Montfort's Secret of the Rosary: [cf. Grant ¶2 p. 153 // PDF p. 163 for a record of all Blanche's 12 children: when 21 she had Philip, then twins at 25 (who also died in infancy), then finally at 26 she had St. Louis IX]:

BLANCHE OF CASTILLE, Queen of France, was deeply grieved because twelve years after her marriage [in c. 1200, when she was 12] she was still childless. When Saint Dominic went to see her he advised her to say her Rosary every day to ask God for the grace of motherhood, and she faithfully carried out his advice. In 1213 [really 1209] she gave birth to her eldest child, Philip, but the child died in infancy [in 1213 she gave birth to twins, who died in infancy].

The Queen’s fervor was nowise dulled by this disappointment; on the contrary, she sought Our Lady’s help more than ever before. She had a large number of Rosaries given out to all members of the court and also to people in several cities of the Kingdom, asking them to join her in entreating God for a blessing that this time would be complete. Thus, in 1215 [or 1214, when she was 26], Saint Louis was born—the prince who was to become the glory of France and the model of all Christian kings.

Thus, King Louis is a spiritual son of St. Dominic. 😺 (And of course friend of St. Thomas Aquinas and supporter of the mendicant orders!)

This is the first modern scholarly biography of Blanche of Castile, whose identity has until now been subsumed in that of her son, the saintly Louis IX. A central figure in the politics of medieval Europe, Blanche was a sophisticated patron of religion and culture. Through Lindy Grant's engaging account, based on a close analysis of Blanche's household accounts and of the social and religious networks on which her power and agency depended, Blanche is revealed as a vibrant and intellectually questioning personality.