Blanche I of Navarre

Blanca I of Navarra (Kingdom of Castile, August 1385-Santa María la Real de Nieva, April 3, 1441), belonging to the Évreux dynasty, was queen consort of Sicily between 1401-1409, and queen of Navarre from 1425 until her death.

She was the third daughter of King Carlos III of Navarre, nicknamed the Nobleman, and his wife Leonor de Trastámara, daughter of King Henry II of Castile.

According to José María Lacarra, in the court of Olite "she lived recollected in her devotions, sickly, surrounded by doctors who were often Moors and Jews to whom her piety was contagious." During the long absences of her husband Don Juan «she locks herself in an exalted and mystical devotion, multiplying her acts of mercy. She founded chaplaincies, hermitages and brotherhoods. (…) She showed special devotion to the Virgen del Pilar, where she made a pilgrimage in 1433... »

Key to the Cathedral of Pamplona representing the anagram of Blanca I of Navarra.

Biography

Birth and early years (1385-1402)

It seems clear that she was the third to be born within the marriage of Carlos III and Leonor de Trastámara, regarding the precise place of birth and the date on which it occurred, there is no clear and direct documentary record of when and where this event occurred:

• Regarding the dates the earliest (a quo) that has been pointed out 1379 although this date presents complications because the firstborn of the family, the Infanta Juana, was born in Barajas on 9 November 1382. As late (ad quem) another specialist, Ramirez Vaquero, has come to point, with many doubts, 1387. In between, there is greater consensus, especially with 1385: Castro Álava, specialist of the time and figure of Carlos III, no doubt that she was born in August 1385; more recently, Narbona Cárceles, also a researcher of the court of Carlos III, results in this, as well as Tanco Lerga. However, Ramirez Vaquero has stated, based on more recent studies, that he would have been born on June 6, 1486, although he continues to open the fan of the birth year (between 1385-1387).

• Regarding place that did it seems clear that it was in an undetermined place of the Kingdom of Castile.

Blanca, it seems that she did not set foot on Navarre soil until November 1394 or 1395.although it is not certain if she could have done so before, in 1387, when her mother, “accompanied by her daughters”, spent a few months in Navarra, after the death of Carlos II in January of that year.

In these first years, by 1402, his brothers (Carlos and Luis) had already disappeared, while three sisters would soon do so: María (1406), Beatriz (1407) and Juana (1413) who was the eldest until then. Only she and another younger sister, Isabel, survive them all. But when her eldest daughter, Juana, died, Blanca was already far from the Navarrese court.

During these childhood years, the Infanta Blanca developed her taste for music coinciding with the heyday of the musical Chapel of Carlos III, between 1397 and 1403.

Queen consort and regent of Sicily (1402-1416)

On January 21, 1402, her marriage to Martin the Younger, King of Sicily and heir to the Crown of Aragon, was arranged. On May 21 of that same year, in the city of Catania, the marriage by proxy, the bride being represented by Leonel de Navarra accompanied by his servant Vivior de Garro and Diego de Baquedano. On November 9 of that same year, the young infanta disembarked in Sicily, carried by a fleet commanded by the Admiral Bernardo de Cabrera and accompanied by Ojerot de Var and just over a month later, on Pentecost Sunday (December 26), the wedding is celebrated in person, being celebrated by Fray Miguel Mari.

This was the second marriage for the Sicilian king; His first wife, Maria, Proprietary Queen of Sicily, had died in 1401, but Martin the Younger was able to retain the Sicilian throne despite the death of his wife. Blanca, as the new queen of Sicily, did not have the power and influence of her predecessor. Her father, King Carlos III, complained bitterly not only about the mistreatment and material privations suffered by his daughter at the Sicilian court (he even went so far as to accuse the king's servants of causing Blanca an abortion that she suffered a few months after her marriage).) but also the delay of the marriage agreements. Only on July 17, 1404 Blanca received the assignment corresponding to her dowry, the so-called Camera reginale , consisting of the direct possession of the cities of Paternò, Mineo, Lentini, Francavilla and Vizzini.

In 1405 Martin the Younger temporarily abandoned Sicily to return to Aragon; Shortly before, on October 22, 1404, Blanca was named "vicaria" (regent) of the kingdom for her husband during her absence. Despite her youth, the queen, with the help of the Royal Council, ruled in fact and not just in name. During her first regency, Blanca had to face a conspiracy in Messina that was unsuccessful thanks to the joint action of Joan Cruilles, a former bailiff of the city, and the wealth contributed by Tomás de Diana, brother of the prior of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. With the return of the king to Sicily in August 1405, all participation of Blanca in the government was terminated.

Blanca gives birth to her first child, named Martin in honor of her father and grandfather, on Friday, December 17, 1406. Heir to the throne of Sicily from birth (her half-brother Pedro, son of her father in his first marriage, he had died in 1400) and in direct line of succession for the kingdom of Aragon (as the only surviving grandson of his grandfather, King Martín I the Human), he died in August 1407 at eight months old.

On August 13, 1408, Blanca is once again appointed vicar of the kingdom of Sicily, when her husband leaves on a military expedition to the kingdom of Sardinia. In her government functions, she will be assisted by a Council made up of administrators and elected representatives of the main Sicilian cities, as well as exponents of Catalan power in the kingdom. On October 3, the king sets sail from the city of Trapani, leaving Blanca the government of the kingdom, to which Martin the Younger would never return, since he died in Cagliari on July 25, 1409, a victim of malaria.

The death of her husband did not interrupt Blanca's regency, since her husband, in the will signed the same day of his death, stipulated that she maintain her position. King Martin I the Human of Aragon, now King of Sicily as successor to his son, follows her wishes and confirms her daughter-in-law as Vicar on August 7, 1409.

Soon new marriage plans began for the queen-dowager and Vicar of Sicily. At the end of 1409, her formal betrothal to Louis of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, brother of Elizabeth, queen consort of France, was carried out in Paris. At the beginning of the year 1410, the engagement was cancelled.

In the same year of 1410 a new engagement is arranged for Blanca, this time with Eduardo, son and heir of Duke Robert I of Bar. It is probable that the engagement was also cancelled, although it is also possible that the wedding was frustrated due to the untimely death of the then Duke Edward I (who had succeeded his father in 1411) at the Battle of Azincourt in 1415.

The death of Martín I the Human (May 31, 1410) and the consequent struggle for the succession to the throne of Aragon, did not disturb Blanca's regency in the kingdom of Sicily, strengthened by her tact and prudence in government. The Sicilians saw in it a symbol of independence against the Aragonese; To keep her there were plans to marry her off to a descendant of King Federico III of Sicily, Nicolás Peralta, as well as the attempted kidnapping by Bernardo Cabrera, Count of Modica, and the attempts by King John I of Portugal to marry her to one of his sons, so that he could conquer Sicily with a naval expedition. When Bernardo Cabrera was tried as a rebel in May 1411, the Vicar declared that, despite the dangers to himself, he had never called his father, the King of Navarre or his cousins, to help him, since this implied the interference of foreign troops in the kingdom of Sicily, which she wanted to avoid.

The election of Fernando de Antequera as the new King of Aragon in the Compromise of Caspe (June 28, 1412), supposes the coup de grace for the independence of Sicily, since the new Aragonese monarch is awarded, with the support of Pope Benedict XIII, the investiture of the insular kingdom, on November 21 of the same year. A few weeks earlier, on October 1, Fernando I had confirmed Doña Blanca as lieutenant of Sicily.

Blanca, heiress of Navarre

Another fundamental fact diametrically changes Blanca's position: the childless death of her older sister, the Infanta Juana de Navarra, Countess of Foix and heiress to the kingdom (July 1413), leaves her as the next in line to the throne of Navarre. This fact forces her father to repeatedly ask him to return to her side.

Finally, and after having been replaced in April 1415 as lieutenant of Sicily by the second son of King Don Juan, Blanca left the kingdom of Sicily forever at the end of July 1415, where she had lived and ruled for almost thirteen years. She was escorted on her return to Navarre by mosen Pierres or Pedro de Peralta "el Viejo" and Juan de Asiáin y Lacarra, II Lord of Lacarra, appointed by the Navarrese Cortes for this purpose.

Estatua de Blanca de Navarra in the church of Santa María la Real (Olite).

From Sicilian myth to heroine of the Italian Risorgimento

According to Professor Laura Sciascia, the figure of Blanca de Navarra after this stage in Sicilian life generates a true myth and is also described as a “beautiful, very beautiful woman: her father-in-law had said so, who had bet his four kingdoms to this wise, attractive and "endreçada" girl, trained to reign.» This is also what her subjects say, above all Andria di Anfusu, judge and poet, who, admired for the courageous, exemplary and firm attitude shown during the eruption of Etna in 1408, sings the praises of Blanca, highlighting her beauty and royalty. while "attributing to him those thaumaturgical abilities conferred by the sacredness of the Crown." Along the same lines, Lorenzo Valla confirms it, stating "that the queen was of great and rare beauty", recounting the piquant story of the old, ugly and ambitious Bernardo Cabrera in love with the beautiful queen, who chases her throughout the kingdom, forcing her to flee. from his bed and take refuge by swimming in a boat.

This life stage of Blanca will also be evoked during the Italian Risorgimento of the 19th century by the Sicilian historian Giuseppe Beccaria, author of the work La regina Bianca in Sicilia (1887) who, in addition to being a priest and archivist, became tutor of the House of Savoy. For Beccaria, «Blanca de Navarra was arbitrarily elevated to the role of heroine of the Italian Risorgimento, of political independence and national unity. But she was also opportunely indicated as a symbol of friendship and correspondence of feelings between Sicily and Navarre. »

Infanta of Aragon and heiress of Navarre (1416-1425)

Castillo de Peñafiel, where Carlos de Viana was born, the first son of Doña Blanca and the Infante of Aragón don Juan.

In the first days of September he returned to the Navarrese court after fifteen years, which motivated the monarch and father to celebrate several holidays (the 7th, 8th and 9th) and to use "a large amount of money in Venetian musicians to celebrate the arrival of the first-born Blanca", the first-born for these dates after the deaths of her sisters (Juana, María and Beatriz) and brothers (Carlos and Luis).

Once in Navarre, Blanca began to insistently request her father to summon the Parliament to proclaim her as the king's eldest daughter. King Carlos III yields to the wishes of his daughter, and on October 28, 1416, the Courts are convened in Olite, where Blanca is sworn heiress to the kingdom of Navarre.

In 1418, the deals between the new king of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous and the king of Navarre Carlos III the Noble came to fruition —counting on the mediation of the widowed queen of Aragon Leonor de Alburquerque— to marry Blanca to Juan de Aragón, King Alfonso's brother and whom Blanca had met in Sicily when Juan held the position of royal lieutenant on the island. In December of that year the papal dispensation arrived so that the marriage could be celebrated and the marriage chapters were signed on November 6, 1419 in Olite. In them it was stipulated that the rights to the Navarrese crown of Doña Blanca would pass on her death to the son they both had and that if she died before her husband without succession Don Juan should leave Navarre because "as a foreigner" he did not expect "the succession and inheritance of the said kingdom of Navarre" rather than by virtue of the rights of his wife. However, nothing was stipulated about what role the future king consort of Navarre would have in the event of the death of his wife with children of legal age, which would be the source of serious controversy in the future. The wedding finally took place on the 10th. July 1420 in the cathedral of Pamplona, but according to the chronicler Alvar García de Santa María, the ceremony took place on June 18.

By that time, Blanca was already a thirty-five-year-old widow, while the Aragonese child was just a young man of twenty-two. Despite the age difference, apparently the strong character of her husband was the one that prevailed in the marriage. Shortly after the wedding, Blanca moved with her husband to her estate in Peñafiel, where she gave birth to her second son —but firstborn from her second marriage—, Carlos, on May 29, 1421..

Blanca, her husband and son returned to Navarra in 1422, probably at the request of their father, King Carlos III, who decided to institute the title of Prince of Viana for his grandson, through a document dated in Tudela on January 20, 1423. Shortly after, Blanca gave birth to her second child, Juana.

On June 9, 1424, a third son, Blanca, was born in Olite, and on August 28 of that year the heiress Princess of Navarre made a trip to Castile taking her son Carlos in her company to Haro.

Blanca gave birth to her last child, Leonor, on February 2, 1425. Six months later, on August 22, her eldest daughter Juana died, barely two years old, and on September 8 she died King Carlos III in Olite. Blanca becomes sovereign queen of Navarre.

Queen of Navarre (1425-1441)

White of Navarre in a Lithography of the CenturyXIX

The constant interference of her husband in Castile —the land of his birth and where he possessed an immense patrimony—, delayed his coronation and that of Blanca. Only when he was definitively expelled from Castile in 1428, did the king consort of Navarre return to the country of her wife called by her, arguing that the ceremony had taken too long.

On May 15, 1429, Pentecost Sunday —that is, four years after her accession to the throne—, Blanca I was finally crowned Queen of Navarre with her husband Juan II as king consort in the Cathedral of Pamplona.

The apathy (loss of initiative) that characterized her allowed Navarre to remain subject in everything to her husband and his interests, the kingdom losing border territories as a consequence of the armed intervention of Juan II in the affairs of Castile, between 1428 and 1429. However, in 1436 the Concordia de Toledo was signed, which meant peace between Navarre and Castile and in which the marriage of the Infanta Blanca with Enrique, crown prince of Castile, was agreed upon, thereby recovering Navarre's towns and castles lost during the war.

Queen Blanca I accompanied her daughter to Castile for her formal marriage with Prince Enrique of Castile, which took place in Valladolid on September 16, 1440. Once in Castile, the sovereign of Navarre took the opportunity to hold a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Guadalupe, in Extremadura, and to mediate in her husband's constant disputes with the Castilian nobles. This leads her to a constant movement in the Castilian kingdom, dying in Santa María la Real de Nieva (Segovia) on 1 April 1441. She was buried in the main chapel of the church-monastery of Ntra. Sra. de la Soterraña, against the wish expressed in her will to be buried in the church of Santa María de Ujué.

Tomb and remains of Blanca I of Navarre

False tomb of Blanca I of Navarra in the church of Sta. Ma la Real de Nieva

In her will, she expressed her wish to be buried in the church of Santa María de Ujué, however this last was not fulfilled. She was provisionally buried somewhere in Santa María la Real de Nieva. Years later, her daughter Leonor de ella arranged for them to be moved to Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia de Tafalla, but it was not carried out either. The location where she was provisionally buried was forgotten and is unknown today.

During some works in the church of Santa María la Real de Nieva, some remains were found, which due to their appearance, were assigned without any proof to Blanca I of Navarra. A tomb was made in the chancel of the church where these remains were introduced.

However, in order to clarify the authenticity of the remains of his son, the Prince of Viana, a Mitochondrial DNA test was performed on the prince and it was contrasted with another Mitochondrial DNA test performed on the remains of his mother, supposedly buried in the church of Santa María la Real de Nieva.

This test was presented in Poblet, on September 9, 2008. Its result showed that the remains of the prince and consequently those of his mother were false.

To this day, neither the church nor the local and regional government have corrected what at first was a blunder.

The will of Blanca I of Navarre and the succession lawsuit

In the testament, Doña Blanca, in accordance with the marriage chapters of her marriage with Don Juan, bequeathed the crown of Navarre to her son Carlos de Viana, but in it the queen introduced a paragraph that will be the object of the dispute between father and son. In it it was said: «And although the said prince, our dear and much-loved son, may, after our death, by inheritance and recognized right, title himself and name himself King of Navarre and Duke of Nemours, nevertheless, for keeping the honor due to the lord king his father, we beg you, with the greatest tenderness that we can, not to want to take these titles without the consent and blessing of the said lord father". With this clause the queen tried to ensure peace between her husband and his son, but, on the contrary, according to José María Lacarra, «with his will he made the conflict inevitable. She did not see that Juan II would never decide to abandon his royal title, nor did she think that a day would come when the same Navarrese would force the Prince of Viana to claim his right ».

In accordance with this clause in Doña Blanca's will, Don Juan did not renounce the title of King of Navarre, but granted the governorship of the kingdom to his son Carlos de Viana at a time when he was involved in the Castilian civil war from 1437-1445. However, as Jaume Vicens Vives has pointed out, "the constitutional problem remained unresolved, since the Prince of Viana being the true monarch who owned the kingdom, his authority could hardly submit to that of Juan de Aragón". In this sense, it is revealing that when he received the powers of attorney from his father in December 1441, the Prince of Viana made it clear that he did so without impairing his sovereign rights to the Navarrese Crown. Thus, while Don Juan continued to be engaged in the Castilian war, the governorship of Navarre was exercised by the Prince of Viana without any interference from his father. The situation changed when the war ended in 1445 with the complete defeat of Don Juan and he returned to Navarra, and especially after his wedding with Juana Enríquez in 1447, a link that Carlos de Viana's supporters considered rendered any ineffective. prerogative that he could hold in Navarre by virtue of Doña Blanca's will.

On the other hand, the will established that if Carlos de Viana died without children or legitimate descendants, the crown of Navarre would pass to his daughter, Doña Blanca, and if she had no children, to his other daughter, Doña Leonor.

Offspring

• Charles (1421-1461), prince of Viana and heir to the throne of Navarre. Married in 1439 with Inés de Cléveris, daughter of Duke Adolf I of Cléveris.
• Juana (1423-1425)
• Blanca (1424-1464), heir of the Navarre throne to the death of Charles, was the queen consort of Castile and Leon when he married Henry IV, king of Castile and Lion; this marriage annulled in 1453.
• Leonor I (1426-1479), head of Navarre. Married in 1442 with Gastón IV de Foix, Count of Foix and Viscount of Bearn.

Ancestors