Blanche of Valois

Blanche of Valois (1317–1348) was the youngest daughter of Charles of Valois and a sister of Philip VI of France. In 1323 she was betrothed to Charles, eldest son of John of Bohemia, who had been educated at the French court. They married at Prague in May 1329.

The couple lived apart until 1334, when she entered Prague with her French household as Margravine of Moravia. She learned Czech and German and stayed on in Bohemia when Charles travelled, proving more popular than John's second wife, Beatrice of Bourbon. With no living son, she came under pressure from John and moved to Brno in 1337; her two daughters were Margaret and Katherine.

John fell at Crécy in 1346, and she became queen of Bohemia. She died on 1 August 1348 and was buried in St Vitus Cathedral; Charles became emperor seven years later.