Blanche II of Navarre

Blanche II
Doña Blanca de Navarra by José Moreno Carbonero, 1880, University of Santiago de Compostela.
Queen of Navarre de jure only
Reign	23 September 1461 – 2 December 1464
Predecessor	Charles IV
Successor	Eleanor (from 1479)
Contender	John II
Born	9 June 1424 Olite, Navarre
Died	2 December 1464(1464-12-02) (aged 40) Orthez, France
Burial	Lescar
Spouse	Henry IV of Castile ​ ​ (m. 1440; ann. 1453)​
House	Trastámara
Father	John II of Aragon
Mother	Blanche I of Navarre

Blanche II (Spanish: Blanca, Basque: Zuria; 9 June 1424 – 2 December 1464) was the titular Queen of Navarre between 1461 and 1464. She was the daughter of John II of Aragon and Blanche I of Navarre. She was also Princess of Asturias by marriage to Henry of Castile.

Early life

Birth

Blanche was born on 9 June 1424 in Olite, Navarre. She was the second child and eldest daughter born to John II of Aragon, who was Duke of Montblanc at the time, and his wife, Blanche of Navarre.

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, Prince of Asturias (later King Henry IV of Castile) in 1440. The marriage was reputedly 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 dissatisfied Navarrese 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 her father. In 1464, she came back to Pamplona with the help of its bishop Nicolas de Etchabarri, who was murdered shortly after, in order to attend the Courts of Navarre.

She died by poison in Orthez less than a month later. 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
8. John I of Castile 4. Ferdinand I of Aragon 9. Eleanor of Aragon 2. John II of Aragon 10. Sancho Alfonso 5. Eleanor of Alburquerque 11. Beatrice of Portugal 1. Blanche II of Navarre 12. Charles II of Navarre 6. Charles III of Navarre 13. Joan of Valois 3. Blanche I of Navarre 14. Henry II of Castile 7. Eleanor of Castile 15. Juana Manuel

Sources

• Orpustan, Jean-Baptiste (n.d.). La Basse-Navarre dans la guerre de Navarre (1512–1530), récit historique, d'après Navarra, 1512-1530… de Pedro Esarte Muniain (Pamiela, Pamplona-Iruña 2001) [Lower Navarre in the War of Navarre (1512–1530), historical narrative, according to the book 'Navarra, 1512-1530: ...' by Pedro Esarte Muniain (Pamiela, Pamplona-Iruña 2001).] (PDF) (in French). Osses: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan. pp. 1–25. Retrieved 22 April 2016 – via Tipirena.net.