Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 1.djvu/138

124 124 ST. BLANCHE Blanche's father and his court accom- panied her to the frontier of Grascony, where Louis sent Matthew de Mont- morency to receive her. The marriage could not be solemnized at Paris, because the kingdom was under an interdict, on account of Philip's repudiation of his wife Ligibiorg, and his unlawful marriage to Agnes of Meran. Normandy, how- eyer, being the property of the bride's uncle, John, king of England, that monarch went to meet her and conducted her thither, and the wedding was cele- brated at Parmoy by the Archbishop of Bourges in presence of a brilliant assemblage of prelates and nobles of France and England. Louis " emmena sachere motets ** to Paris to the gay court of Philip Augustus, where the greater part of her married life was passed. The young couple were thirteen or fourteen years old, both amiable, inno- cent, pious, and much alike in many ways, so that they became devotedly attached, and could not bear to lose sight of each other, and no couple were ever more united or more happy. Blanche was remarkable all her life for her noble qualities of heart and intellect. When she came to France her beauty and dignity won the hearts of all the French, and her conversation was so reasonable and so charming that it was impossible to refuse her anything. Her father-in- law admitted the value of her judgment, and was often guided by her advice ; her husband would not undertake the smallest thing without consulting her. The chief business of his short reign was the war with England. The French won back many of the places which were in the hands of the English, and would prob- ably have driven them out of France had Louis not abandoned the struggle for the purpose of fighting the Albigenses. Blanche, who had a pious horror of heretics and infidels, gave some of her furniture and some valuable rings to contribute to the expense of a war which she considered sacrod. She went with him to Languedoc, and lived for some time in the camp, to encourage the Catho- lics. During this campaign a pestilence broke out in the French army; among the immense number of victims was the king. He made the nobles swear alle~ giance to his son Louis IK. the Saint, who was only eleven years old, and appointed Blanche to be regent until Louis should reach the age of twenty. The barons thought the reign of a child and the regency of a woman an excellent opportunity to recover the power and independence they had lost under Philip Augustus. They banded together against the queen-mother, but her firnmess of character and political ability were more than a match for their arrogant pretensions. The most power- ful of her opponents was Thibault, count of Champagne, afterwards king of Na- varre, an accomplished knight, a brave soldier, and a poet, who had long been in love with Blanche, and having never received the smallest encouragement from her, now thought to punish her cruelty; but she put him to shame by her remonstrances, and he became her staunchest champion, and helped her to overcome his former colleagues, so that her regency strengthened the authority of the crown and enriched it by prudent alliances. One of the notable events that occurred in Europe during her regency was the establishment, in 1229, of the Liquisi- tion, which Professor Gustavo Masson characterizes as ''the most formidable engine of ecclesiastical discipline the world has over seen." Blanche took very great trouble and care in the education of her children. St. Louis grew up to i>e one of the best kings that ever reigned in any country, and one of the best men that ever lived in France. She said to the young king^ " My son, I would rather see you dead than guilty of a mortal sin." She was regent for him a second time while he was absent at the sixth crusade (1249). She and all his wisest advisers dis- approved of his expedition to Palestine. She favoured the clergy, both from piety and policy. Both she and her husband are revered by Franciscans as members of their Third Order. The two monas- teries she built were Cistercian, namely, Maubuisson, at Pontoise, where -she is buried, and Le Lys, near Melun, where her heart is buried. She helped her