Constance of Castile, Queen of France
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Constance of Castile (1141 – October 4, 1160) was the second wife of Louis VII, King of France, following his divorce from Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was a daughter of Alphonse VII, King of Galicia, León and Castile, and Berenguela of Barcelona. Her maternal grandparents were Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona and his third wife Douce I of Provence.
The official reason for her husband's divorce from Eleanor of Aquitaine had been that he was too close a relative of Eleanor for the marriage to be legal by Church standards; ironically, he was even more closely related to Constance.
Constance bore her husband two children:
- Marguerite de France, 1158–1197, who married first Henry the Young King of England, and then Béla III of Hungary, leaving no living children.
- Alys de France, 1160–1220, who was betrothed (but never married) to Richard I of England, and later married to William IV of Ponthieu.
Constance died giving birth to her second child. Desperate for a son, her husband remarried a mere five weeks after her death.
[edit] References
- Meade, Marion, Eleanor of Aquitaine
| Preceded by Eleanor of Aquitaine |
Queen of France 1154–1160 |
Succeeded by Adele of Champagne |
