Blanche of Bourbon
| Blanche of Bourbon | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Castile and León | |
| Tenure | 1353–1361 |
| Born | 1339 |
| Died | 1361 Medina Sidonia |
| Spouse | Peter of Castile |
| House | House of Bourbon |
| Father | Peter I, Duke of Bourbon |
| Mother | Isabella of Valois |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Blanche of Bourbon (1339–1361) was Queen of Castile as the wife of King Peter. She was one of the daughters of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon and Isabella of Valois.
On 3 June 1353, aged 14, she married in person at Valladolid, Spain, King Peter of Castile. Previously, she had been married by proxy at Abbaye de Preuilly on 9 July 1352. They married because Peter wanted an alliance with France. It is believed that King Peter had married his lover, the Castilian noble Maria de Padilla before his marriage to Blanche, though he did deny this. There were many difficulties in getting the money promised as a dowry for Blanche.
Three days after their marriage, Peter abandoned Blanche for Maria de Padilla, with whom he later had four children.
Eventually Blanche was imprisoned in the castle of Arevalo. Blanche's cousin, John II of France, appealed to Pope Innocent VI to have Peter excommunicated for keeping Blanche imprisoned, but the Pope refused. Blanche and Peter had no children.
In 1361, Blanche was transferred to the town of Medina Sidonia, where she was kept distant from possible rescue by the forces from Aragon and France battling King Peter. The pope advocated for her release.
In 1361, after Peter had made peace with the King of Aragon, he returned to Seville and hoped to eliminate the last bastions of resistance to his rule. According to Pero López de Ayala, he then instructed Iñigo Ortiz de Estuñiga, who was charged with keeping his wife imprisoned in Medina Sidonia, to kill her. Ayala, who had later joined with winning faction led by Henry II, states that to Peter's anger, Estuñiga declined because the act was treasonous and likely to cause further disorder in the country. The King demanded that she be handed over to Juan Pérez de Rebolledo of Jeréz, a crossbowman of the king, who carried out the execution. However, partisans over the years were to write divergent stories about these events, depending on whether you looked upon him as "the cruel" (el Cruel) or "the purveyor of justice" (el Justiciero). During the 19th century, while Spain was ruled by the Bourbon monarchy, her tomb was provided with the following inscription in Latin:
...
Wikipedia