Constance of Castile

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

Constance of Castile (1136 or 1140 – 4 October 1160)^[1] was Queen of France as the second wife of Louis VII, who married her following the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine.^[2] She was a daughter of Alfonso VII of León and Berengaria of Barcelona,^[3] but her year of birth is not known.

Constance of Castile
Effigy at Basilica of Saint-Denis
Queen consort of the Franks
Tenure	1154 – 4 October 1160
Coronation	1154
Born	1136–1140
Died	4 October 1160 (aged 19–24)
Burial	Basilica of St Denis
Spouse	Louis VII of France ​ (m. 1154)​
Issue	Margaret, Queen of England and Hungary Alys, Countess of Vexin
House	Castilian House of Ivrea
Father	Alfonso VII of León and Castile
Mother	Berenguela of Barcelona

Life

The official reason for her husband's annulment 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. They were second cousins through William I, Count of Burgundy.

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, Paris.

Children

Constance had two children:

1. Margaret, 1157–1197, who married first Henry the Young King of England,^[4] and then Béla III of Hungary^[5]
2. Alys, 1160–1220, who married William IV of Ponthieu^[6]