Blanche of Castile was queen consort of France and twice acted as regent for her son Louis IX. She defended Capetian authority during Louis’s minority and again while he was on crusade.
Blanche married the future Louis VIII of France and became queen in 1223. After his death she governed as regent for their young son Louis IX, defeated baronial opposition and remained an influential counsellor during his adult reign and crusading absences.
Jean Plaidy’s The Hammer of the Scots follows his marriage to Eleanor of Castile, the conquest of Wales and the increasingly bitter struggle to impose English authority over Scotland. Further fictional perspectives on Blanche of Castile can be found in Robert Shea’s All Things Are Lights.