Blanche of Burgundy

Blanche was the younger daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, and Mahaut, Countess of Artois. Her father died in 1302, leaving the county to Blanche's younger brother, Count Robert.[1] Blanche's elder sister Joan was supposed to marry King Louis the Headstrong of Navarre, the eldest son and heir apparent of King Philip the Fair of France, but Philip the Fair changed his mind and arranged for her to marry his second son, Count Philip the Tall of Poitiers, in 1307. The same year, Louis married Margaret of Burgundy.[2][3] The Countess of Artois was proud of this achievement and quickly started negotiating her younger daughter's marriage to Count Charles the Fair of la Marche, King Philip's third son, offering a huge dowry. The negotiations were successful and on 23 September 1307, the eleven-year-old Blanche and two years older Charles concluded a marriage contract.[3] The marriage ceremony was hastily performed at Countess Mahaut's castle in Hesdin in January 1308.[1] At first, the Count and Countess of la Marche had an unremarkable marriage that was neither as flawed as that of the King and Queen of Navarre nor as harmonious as that of the Count and Countess of Poitiers.[3]

From left to right: Charles the Fair, Philip the Tall, Isabella, Philip the Fair, Louis the Headstrong, and Philip the Fair's brother, Charles of Valois.

In 1313, the Countess of la Marche's sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Queen Isabella and King Edward II of England, paid a visit to King Philip. Isabella presented her brothers and sisters-in-law with embroidered coin purses. Later that year, upon their return to London, Isabella and Edward held a banquet during which the Queen noticed that the coin purses she had given to Blanche and Margaret were now in the possession of the Norman knights Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay. From that she concluded that the brothers were having relationships with her sisters-in-law. When she visited Paris again in 1314, she informed King Philip about her suspicions.[4]

Blanche and Margaret were soon accused of inappropriate conduct, such as drinking and eating with the knights, and of eventually committing adultery with them in Paris guard tower known as the Tour de Nesle. Blanche's sister Joan was accused of hiding the affair and later of participating in it.

The accusations against Countess Blanche and Queen Margaret were more than likely true, but several 14th-century chroniclers believed that their father-in-law's popularly despised chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny might have falsely incriminated them and the knights.[4]

The ruins of Château Gaillard.

After a certain period of time, King Philip ordered the arrest of all his daughters-in-law and the knights.[4] Following torture, the knights confessed to adultery[5] and admitted that it had lasted three years.[6] The Countess of la Marche and the Queen of Navarre were tried before the Paris Parlement and were found guilty of adultery. Their heads were shaven and both were sentenced to life imprisonment underground in Château Gaillard, while their lovers were condemned to death and duly executed.[4] Her first child, a son named Philip, was born around 5 January 1314 and thus before the accusation of adultery levelled at his mother, so presumably his paternity was not challenged; her second child, a daughter named Joan, was born in 1315 after the trial, so some doubt about her paternity was suggested by the contemporary Continuatio of the Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis, moreover because reportedly Blanche became pregnant either by one of her jailers or by her own husband ("a serviente quodam eius custodiæ deputato dicebatur...a proprio [comite] diceretur");[1][7] however, she was presumably accepted as part of the royal family according to later sources.[8] Despite her disgrace, Blanche remained in contact with her ambitious mother and often received gifts from her.[9]

King Philip, severely shocked by the scandal, died within a year. Margaret, now queen of France, died imprisoned soon thereafter. Louis' reign was cut short by his sudden death. Soon, Philip the Tall and Blanche's sister Joan became king and queen of France and Navarre. It was suggested that Blanche was treated better once her sister became queen, but that was concluded from a single misinterpreted document and may not be entirely accurate.[9] Queen Joan did, however, arrange for her youngest daughter Blanche to become a nun, hoping that the seven-year-old's cloistered life would atone for her sister's transgression.[10]

Pope John XXII annulling the marriage of Charles the Fair and Blanche of Burgundy

On Philip the Tall's death on 3 January 1322, Blanche's husband inherited the crowns. Blanche thus became queen of France and Navarre, but her husband still refused to release her.[11] Both of her children died in infancy, Philip before 24 March 1322 and Joan on 17 May 1321.[1] Charles requested annulment of their marriage, to which Blanche reluctantly agreed. The annulment was justified by the claim that Blanche's mother was Charles's godmother, although probably the real reason was Blanche's pregnancy during her imprisonment.[7] Pope John XXII declared their marriage null and void on 19 May 1322,[1] and gave both Charles and Blanche permission to remarry.[9] The Countess of Artois requested, among other things, the return of her daughter's enormous dowry.[3]

Though she was replaced immediately by Marie of Luxembourg, there was no hope for Blanche to remarry, as she was sent to Gavray Castle. There is no evidence that supports the common belief that she died as a nun at Maubuisson Abbey.[9] Having spent eight years imprisoned underground, the former queen suffered from poor health.[4] The date of her eventual death is unknown; the Pope mentioned her as dead in a document of 5 April 1326 issuing a dispensation for the marriage of her former husband and Jeanne d'Évreux.[9]

Blanche is a character in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon. She was portrayed by Catherine Hubeau in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series, and by Anne Malraux in the 2005 adaptation.[12][13]

• Blanche de Bourgogne