Blanche II of Navarre

Blanche II
Queen of Navarre Princess of Asturias
Queen of Navarre (de jure)
Reign	23 September 1461 – 1464
Predecessor	Charles IV
Successor	Eleanor
Born	9 June 1424 Olite, Navarre
Died	2 December 1464 (aged 40) Orthez, France
Burial	Lescar
Spouse	Henry IV of Castile
House	House of Trastámara
Father	John II of Aragon
Mother	Blanche I of Navarre

Blanche II of Navarre (9 June 1424 – 2 December 1464), titular queen of Navarre, was the daughter of John II of Aragon and Blanche I of Navarre. She was also Princess of Asturias by marriage.

Early life

Heiress of Navarre

In 1427, she, her brother Charles, and her sister Eleanor, were proclaimed the rightful heirs of the kingdom of Navarre. Blanche was promised to the heir of Castile in the peace treaty between Navarre and Castile in 1436. She married Henry IV of Castile in 1440. The marriage was never consummated. In 1453, after thirteen years, Henry sought the annulment of the marriage. An official examination confirmed the virginity of Blanche. A divorce was granted by the Pope on the grounds that some "witchcraft" had prevented Henry from consummating the marriage. After this, Blanche was sent home to Navarre, where she was imprisoned by her family: from 1462, she was under the custody of her sister. She remained childless throughout her life.

Claimant to the throne

After the death of her brother in 1461, some Navarrese dissatisfied elements and some of the anti-Aragonese party regarded Blanche as the rightful monarch, as they had regarded Charles. They proclaimed her queen. She would have thus become Blanche II of Navarre, had not her father (who wanted to keep the government of Navarre) already had her incarcerated and thus not capable to act. John tried to marry her to Charles, Duke of Berry, and younger brother of Louis XI of France to make an alliance, but Blanche refused, and her act irritated John. In 1464, she died by poison. Both her father and her sister Eleanor are suggested to have been responsible for her death. Upon her death, her rights to Navarre were inherited by her next sister, Eleanor of Aragon, Countess of Foix, who however was their father's ally and supporter, and did not press her own claims until his death in 1479.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Blanche II of Navarre

16. Henry II of Castile (= #14)               8. John I of Castile                       17. Juana Manuel (= #15)               4. Ferdinand I of Aragon                             18. Peter IV of Aragon               9. Eleanor of Aragon                       19. Eleanor of Sicily               2. John II of Aragon                                   20. Alfonso XI of Castile (= #28)               10. Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque                       21. Eleanor of Guzman (= #29)               5. Eleanor of Alburquerque                             22. Peter I of Portugal               11. Infanta Beatrice of Portugal                       23. Inês de Castro               1. Blanche II of Navarre                                         24. Philip III of Navarre               12. Charles II of Navarre                       25. Joan II of Navarre               6. Charles III of Navarre                             26. John II of France               13. Joan of Valois                       27. Bonne of Bohemia               3. Blanche I of Navarre                                   28. Alfonso XI of Castile (= #20)               14. Henry II of Castile (= #16)                       29. Eleanor of Guzman (= #21)               7. Eleanor of Castile                             30. Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena               15. Juana Manuel (= #17)                       31. Blanca de La Cerda y Lara

Sources