Blanche I of Navarre
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- For other persons of this name see Blanca of Navarre (disambiguation).
Blanche I of Navarre (1391 – April 3, 1441) was Queen regnant of Navarre from 1425 to 1441.
She was the daughter of King Charles III of Navarre and Eleanor, Infanta of Castile (died 1416).
Blanche married firstly Martin the Younger, King of Sicily and Crown Prince of Aragon. They were married by proxy on May 21, 1402 in Catania. Blanche travelled to meet her new husband and they were married in person on December 26, 1402. The bride was about eleven years old and the groom twenty-eight.
Martin had survived his previous wife and former co-ruler Mary of Sicily and their only son. He was in need of legitimate heirs. However Martin and Blanche only had one son:
They both survived their only son. Martin died on July 25, 1409 and was succeeded by his own father, Martin I of Aragon.
Blanche remained a widow for a decade. On November 6, 1419, Blance married her second husband John (Juan), duke of Peñafiel by proxy in Olite. John was the second son of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque. Ferdinand had succeeded his maternal uncle Martin I in 1412.
Juan traveled to meet her. On June 10, 1420, they were married in person in Pamplona. Charles III died on September 8, 1425 and Blanche succeeded him as Queen regnant of Navarre. John became King Consort of Navarre in her right. They had four children:
- Carlos of Viana (1421-1461)
- Juana of Aragon (1423-1425)
- Blanca of Navarre (1420-1464) married Henry IV of Castile. The marriage was never consummated. After 13 years of marriage, Henry sought and obtained a divorce. Blanca was sent home, where her family imprisoned her, and she was later killed by poison.
- Eleanor, Queen of Navarre
After the death of Blanche, he kept the government of Navarre in his own hands, from the hands of their own son Charles of Viana, the rightful heir of the line of Navarrese kings.
John became King of Aragon and Sicily, upon the death of his elder brother Alfonso V of Aragon in 1458.
[edit] External links
A listing of descedants of Philip III of Navarre
| Preceded by Antonia of Balzo |
Queen consort of Sicily 26 December 1402 - 25 July 1409 |
Succeeded by Margarita of Aragon-Prades |
| Preceded by Charles III |
Queen regnant of Navarre 8 September 1425–3 April 1441 |
Succeeded by John II |
