Blanche de Castille's (1188-1252) grandmother was Eleanor of Aquitaine...who played a role in her marriage to the French Dauphin Louis who would later become Louis VIII. At one point in 1216, her English ancestry, led rebels to offer the British throne to her husband..but, that offer changed when the British King John died and his son was made King.
Wikipedia (
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"Louis continued to claim the English crown in her right, only to find a united nation against him. Philip Augustus refused to help his son, and Blanche was his sole support. She established herself at Calais and organized two fleets, one of which was commanded by Eustace the Monk, and an army under Robert of Courtenay. With French forces defeated at Lincoln in May 1217 and then routed on their way back to their London stronghold, Louis desperately needed the reinforcements from France. On 24 August, the English fleet destroyed the French fleet carrying those reinforcements off Sandwich and Louis was forced to sue for peace.
Upon his death in November 1226, he left Blanche, by then 38, regent and guardian of his children. Of her twelve or thirteen children, six had died, and Louis, the heir — afterwards the sainted Louis IX — was but twelve years old. She had him crowned within a month of his father's death in Reims and forced reluctant barons to swear allegiance to him.[4]
The situation was critical, since Louis VIII had died without having completely subdued his southern nobles. A minority made the Capetian domains even more vulnerable. To gain support, she released Ferdinand, Count of Flanders, who had been in captivity since the Battle of Bouvines. She also ceded land and castles to Philip Hurepel, son of Philip II and his controversial wife Agnes of Merania.[5] Still, Blanche had to break up a league of the barons (1226), and helped by Theobald IV of Champagne and the papal legate to France, Romano Bonaventura, she organized an army. Its sudden appearance brought the nobles momentarily to a halt.[6]
Twice more did Blanche have to muster an army to protect Capetian interests against rebellious nobles and Henry III of England. One of the barons tried to kidnap Louis. He took refuge in a castle and the people of Paris rode to his rescue.
In 1229, she was responsible for the Treaty of Paris,[7] in which Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, submitted to Louis. By it his daughter and heir Joan was forced to marry Blanche's son, Alfonso. It also meant the end of the Albigensian Crusade.
At the cost of some of the crown's influence in Poitou, Blanche managed to keep the English Queen mother Isabelle, Countess of Angoulême and her second husband Hugh X of Lusignan from supporting the English side. Pierre Mauclerc did support the English and Brittany rebelled against the crown in 1230. Blanche organized a surprise attack in the winter. She accompanied the army herself and helped collect wood to keep the soldiers warm.[9] The rebellion was put down, which added to the growing prestige of Blanche and Louis.[10]
St Louis owed his realm to his mother and remained under her influence for the duration of her life."
This marble sculpture depicts her standing in a heavy full-length dress and robes which she grasps with the left hand at her sternum. She holds a sceptor with her right hand. She wears a crown and looks straight ahead. There is no information at the site about the artist or date. It is located in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.