Blanche of Navarre (1331–1398)

Blanche of Navarre
Blanche with her daughter and Saint Louis
Queen consort of France
Tenure	29 January 1350 – 22 August 1350
Born	1330
Died	1398 (aged 67–68) Neaufles-Saint-Martin, Normandy, France
Burial	Basilica of St Denis Saint-Denis, France
Spouse	Philip VI of France
Issue	Joan of France
House	Évreux
Father	Philip III of Navarre
Mother	Joan II of Navarre
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Blanche of Navarre (French: Blanche d'Évreux; 1330 – 5 October 1398) was Queen of France as the wife of King Philip VI. She was the second child and daughter of Queen Joan II of Navarre and King Philip III of Navarre. She belonged to the House of Évreux, a cadet branch of the House of Capet, and married into the House of Valois, another cadet branch of the House of Capet.

At first, the Kings of Navarre wanted to achieve an alliance with Castile by having Blanche marry Peter, eldest son and heir of King Alfonso XI. However, Blanche was eventually betrothed to Prince John of France. As the most beautiful princess of her time — she was nicknamed the "Beautiful Wisdom" (Belle Sagesse)— Blanche captivated the recently widowed King Philip VI of France, father of her intended husband and almost forty years her senior. Their marriage on 29 January 1350 at Brie-Comte-Robert alienated his son and many nobles from the king.

The union was short-lived: King Philip VI died one year later, on 22 August 1350, according to some chroniclers of exhaustion from constantly fulfilling his conjugal duties. Pregnant at that time, Blanche gave birth a daughter, Joan (also named Blanche), in May 1351. After her husband's death, the Dowager Queen retired to Neaufles-Saint-Martin near Gisors in Normandy. Soon after, the now King Peter I of Castile asked her hand in marriage, but she refused the offer, saying: "The Queens of France never remarried" (Les reines de France ne se remarient point). She appeared in the French court on rare occasions, especially during the solemn entry of Isabeau of Bavaria in Paris, which was organized by her. Blanche also played a political role as a mediator between her brother King Charles II of Navarre and France.