Constance of Castile (France)

Konstanze (right) in the Basilica of Saint-Denis

Constance of Castile (* 1140 , † 1160 in Paris ) was Queen of France.

Life

Konstanze was born as the daughter of King Alfonso VII of Castile and León and his wife Berenguela of Barcelona .

In 1154 she was married in Orléans to the French King Louis VII , after his first marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine was annulled on March 21, 1152 at the Council of Beaugency due to the lack of a male heir to the throne, officially because of too close consanguinity.

After a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Konstanze died giving birth to her second daughter, Adelheid.

Constanze was buried in the Saint-Denis basilica . When the royal tombs of Saint-Denis were sacked during the French Revolution, their tomb was opened and looted in August 1793, and their remains were buried in a mass grave outside the church.

progeny

Margarethe (1158–1197), ⚭ I Henry the Younger , co-king of England; ⚭ II King Béla III. of Hungary .
Adelheid (Alix) (1160–1220), ⚭ Wilhelm IV, Count of Ponthieu; she was first with the future King of England I. Richard betrothed

literature

Gerd Hit: The French queens. From Bertrada to Marie Antoinette. Pustet, Regensburg 1996, ISBN 3-7917-1530-5

Web links

Commons : Constance of Castile - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

↑ According to other sources, not she, but her half-sister of the same name and ten years younger, is the fiancée of Richard the Lionheart and later Countess von Ponthieu.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Eleanor of Aquitaine	Queen of France 1154–1160	Adela of Champagne

personal data
SURNAME	Constance of Castile
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Queen of France
DATE OF BIRTH	1140
DATE OF DEATH	1160
Place of death	Paris

[1] According to other sources, not she, but her half-sister of the same name and ten years younger, is the fiancée of Richard the Lionheart and later Countess von Ponthieu.