Constance of Castile

For other people named Constance of Castile, see Constance of Castile (disambiguation).

Constance of Castile
Queen consort of France
Tenure	1154–1160
Born	c 1140
Died	4 October 1160
Burial	Basilica of St Denis
Spouse	Louis VII of France
Issue	Margaret, Queen of Hungary Alys, Countess of the Vexin
House	House of Burgundy
Father	Alfonso VII of León and Castile
Mother	Berenguela of Barcelona
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Constance of Castile (c 1140 - 4 October 1160) was Queen of France as the second wife of Louis VII, who married her following the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was a daughter of Alfonso VII of León and Berengaria of Barcelona, but her year of birth is not certainly known.

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; however, he was even more closely related to Constance.

Constance died giving birth to her second child. Desperate for a son, her husband remarried a mere five weeks after her death.

Constance was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, France.

Children

Constance bore her husband two children:

1. Margaret, 1157–1197, who married first Henry the Young King of England, and then Béla III of Hungary
2. Alys, 1160–1220, who married William IV of Ponthieu

Ancestry

Family of Constance of Castile

16. Reginald I, Count of Burgundy               8. William I, Count of Burgundy                       17. Alice of Normandy               4. Raymond of Burgundy                             9. Stephanie                       2. Alfonso VII of León and Castile                                   20. Ferdinand I of León and Castile               10. Alfonso VI of León and Castile                       21. Sancha of León               5. Urraca of León and Castile                             22. Robert I, Duke of Burgundy               11. Constance of Burgundy                       23. Hélie of Sémur               1. Constance of Castile                                         24. Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona               12. Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona                       25. Almodis de La Marche               6. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona                             26. Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia               13. Maud of Apulia                       27. Sikelgaita of Salerno               3. Berengaria of Barcelona                                   28. Berenguer II, Viscount of Rodés               14. Gilbert I, Count of Gévaudan                       29. Adela, Viscountess of Carlat               7. Douce I, Countess of Provence                             30. Geoffrey I, Count of Provence               15. Gerberga, Countess of Provence                       31. Stephanie-Douce de Marseille

References

French royalty
Preceded by Eleanor of Aquitaine	Queen of France 1154–1160	Succeeded by Adele of Champagne