Blanche of Sicily, also called Blanche of Anjou ( ? – 1269/1270), was the eldest surviving child born to

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

and his first wife,

Beatrice Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...

, the reigning

Countess of Provence The County of Provence was a largely autonomous medieval state that eventually became incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481. For four centuries Provence was ruled by List of rulers of Provence, a series of counts that were vassals of the ...

and

Forcalquier Forcalquier (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Forcalquier is located between the Lure Mountain( fr) and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. Dur ...

. She later married

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, the future

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

Life

Blanche was the eldest child of

and

Beatrice of Provence Beatrice of Provence (23 September 1267), was the ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine and Queen of Sicily by marriage to Charles I of Naples. Beatrice was the fourth ...

, who inherited the counties of Provence and Forcalquier in 1245 from her

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

. Blanche's siblings included

Charles II, King of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (; ; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine (1285–1290); he also was King of Albania (12 ...

;

Beatrice, Latin Empress Beatrice of Sicily (c. 1252 – 17 November/12 December 1275) was titular Latin Empress as the wife of Philip of Courtenay. Her parents were Charles I of Sicily and Beatrice of Provence. Under the Treaty of Viterbo (27 May 1267), Baldwin II ...

;

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

and Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. In 1266, her father was installed as

King of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which oc ...

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV (; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois (; or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; ), was bishop of Le Puy (1257–1260), archbishop of Narbonne (1259–1261), cardinal of Sabina ( ...

, founding the

Capetian House of Anjou The Capetian House of Anjou, or House of Anjou-Sicily, or House of Anjou-Naples was a royal house and cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as ''Angevin'', meaning "from Anjou" in France. Foun ...

. In 1265, Blanche married Robert of Béthune. This union appears to have been happy, and they had one son together, named Charles, who died young. During his life, he was betrothed to

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

, daughter of

Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy Hugh IV (9 March 1213 – 27 or 30 October 1272) was Duke of Burgundy from 1218 and titular King of Thessalonica from 1266 until his death in 1272. Hugh was the son of Odo III, Duke of Burgundy, and Alice de Vergy. Issue Hugh married twice, fir ...

and Beatrice of Navarre. She would go on to become

Queen of Germany Queen of the Romans (, ) or Queen of the Germans were the official titles of the queens consort of the medieval and early modern Kingdom of Germany. They were the wives of the King of the Romans (chosen by imperial election), and are informally ...

as the wife of

Rudolf I Rudolf I may refer to: * Rudolf I (bishop of Würzburg) (died 908) * Rudolph I of Burgundy (859–912) * Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark (d. 1124) * Rudolph I, Count Palatine of Tübingen (1160–1219) * Rudolph I, Bishop of Schwerin (died ...

.#ES Histoire généalogique des ducs de Bourgogne de la maison de France, pag. 83
/ref> Blanche herself died either in 1269 or 1270, four years after her marriage. Her husband would go on to become the Count of Flanders long after her death. He had Blanche buried in Flines, and her tomb clearly displayed the alliance between Flanders and Sicily: King Charles and Queen Beatrice are prominently featured on it. Robert would further demonstrate his alliance with

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, choosing Yolande of Burgundy, the sister of Charles of Anjou's second consort

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

, as his second wife.

References

Sources

* * * *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanche of Sicily 1269 deaths Capetian House of Anjou 13th-century Italian women Charles I of Anjou Daughters of kings Daughters of counts