OF ARTOIS, Blanche

Family/Spouse: HENRY, I. I (son of NAVARRE, Theobald I of and BOURBON, Margaret of) was born in 1244; died on 22 Jul 1274. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. NAVARRE, Jeanne de was born in 1273; died in 1305.

Family/Spouse: CROUCHBACK, Edmund. Edmund (son of ENGLAND, Henry III and PROVENCE, Eleanor of) was born on 16 Jan 1245 in London, England; died on 5 Jun 1296 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. LANCASTER, Henry of was born in 1281 in Grosmont Castle, Grosmont, Monmouthshire, Wales; died on 22 Sep 1345 in Monastery Cannons, Leicestershire, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Robert the Good

Robert + Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: The Lion

King + OF CASTILE, Blanche. Blanche (daughter of CASTILE, Alfonso VIII of and ENGLAND, Eleanor of) was born on 4 Mar 1188 in Palencia, Castilla-Leon, Spain; died in Nov 1226 in Paris, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Web Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_France
• Name: Philip Augustus

King + OF HAINAUT, Isabelle. Isabelle (daughter of HAINAUT, Count of Hainaut Baldwin V of and Living) was born on 5 Apr 1170 in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; died on 15 Mar 1190 in Paris, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of the Navas (el de las Navas)
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 1158 and 1214; King of Castile and Toledo

Alfonso + ENGLAND, Eleanor of. Eleanor (daughter of HENRY, II and OF AQUITAINE, Duchess of Acquitaine Eleanor) was born on 13 Oct 1162 in Falaise, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 31 Oct 1214 in Burgos, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Princess of England, Queen of Castile and Toledo

Notes:

In 1170 Eleanor married King Alfonso VIII of Castile in Burgos.[1] Her parents' purpose in arranging the marriage was to secure Aquitaine's Pyrenean border, while Alfonso was seeking an ally in his struggles with Sancho VI of Navarre. In 1177, this led to Henry overseeing arbitration of the border dispute.[8]

Around the year 1200, Alfonso began to claim that the duchy of Gascony was part of Eleanor's dowry, but there is no documented foundation for that claim. It is highly unlikely that Henry II would have parted with so significant a portion of his domains. At most, Gascony may have been pledged as security for the full payment of his daughter's dowry. Her husband went so far on this claim as to invade Gascony in her name in 1205. In 1206, her brother John granted her safe passage to visit him, perhaps to try opening peace negotiations. In 1208, Alfonso yielded on the claim.[9] Decades later, their great-grandson Alfonso X of Castile would claim the duchy on the grounds that her dowry had never been fully paid.

Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake was the only one who was enabled, by political circumstances, to wield the kind of influence her mother had exercised.[10] In her own marriage treaty, and in the first marriage treaty for her daughter Berengaria, Eleanor was given direct control of many lands, towns, and castles throughout the kingdom.[11] She was almost as powerful as Alfonso, who specified in his will in 1204 that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death, including taking responsibility for paying his debts and executing his will.[12] It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria to Alfonso IX of León. Troubadours and sages were regularly present in Alfonso VIII's court due to Eleanor's patronage.[13]

Eleanor took particular interest in supporting religious institutions. In 1179, she took responsibility to support and maintain a shrine to St. Thomas Becket in the cathedral of Toledo. She also created and supported the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, which served as a refuge and tomb for her family for generations, and its affiliated hospital.[14]

When Alfonso died, Eleanor was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter Berengaria instead performed these honours. Eleanor then went sick and died only twenty-six days after her husband, and was buried at Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.[15]