Blanche of France (1313 – 26 April 1358), nun at Longchamp Abbey, was the fourth and youngest daughter of King Philip V of France and Countess Joan II of Burgundy.

Blanche was born in 1313, before either of her parents ascended their respective thrones, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Philip IV of France. She was named after her mother's ill-fated sister, Blanche of Burgundy. A year after Blanche's birth, her mother and both paternal aunts, Blanche and Margaret of Burgundy, were implicated in the Tour de Nesle affair. The marriage of her parents was successful enough for her father to insist on her mother's acquittal, but her aunts were imprisoned.

Blanche of France (nun)

By the time Blanche was seven years old, her parents had become king and queen of France and Navarre and count and countess palatine of Burgundy. Queen Joan decided that her youngest daughter should join the Order of Saint Francis, probably wishing that the girl's cloistered life could compensate for the sins of her imprisoned namesake aunt. In 1319, Blanche's parents along with Charles of Valois, Mahaut of Artois, and her uncle Charles, were present at her official entrance into the nunnery at Longchamp abbey. The Queen secured a special dispensation that allowed her and the King to visit their daughter frequently, but was later cautioned by the pope against visiting Blanche too often.

Blanche of France (nun)

Despite her religious vows, Blanche is more often mentioned as daughter of a French king by primary sources than any of her titled sisters - Countess Joan III of Burgundy, Countess Margaret I of Burgundy and Dauphine Isabella of Viennois. She is presumed to have at some point owned a richly decorated Franciscan breviary, the earliest known work of Jean Pucelle. Blanche died as a Poor Clare on 26 April 1358, outliving all her siblings except Margaret.

Blanche of France (nun)

Notes

References

Sources

1313 births

1358 deaths

Poor Clares

14th-century French nuns

French Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns

House of Capet

French princesses

Daughters of kings