hief works are his portraits of his father, of
Pierre Louys, the Thaulow family, Aubrey Beardsley and Yvette Guilbert.

BLANCHE OF CASTILE (1188-1252), wife of Louis VIII. of France, third
daughter of Alphonso VIII., king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England,
daughter of Henry II., was born at Valencia. In consequence of a treaty
between Philip Augustus and John of England, she was betrothed to the
former's son, Louis, and was brought to France, in the spring of 1200,
by John's mother Eleanor. On the 22nd of May 1200 the treaty was finally
signed, John ceding with his niece the fiefs of Issoudun and Gracay,
together with those that Andre de Chavigny, lord of Chateauroux, held in
Berry, of the English crown. The marriage was celebrated the next day,
at Portmort on the right bank of the Seine, in John's domains, as those
of Philip lay under an interdict.

Blanche first displayed her great qualities in 1216, when Louis, who on
the death of John claimed the English crown in her right, invaded
England, only to find a united nation against him. Philip Augustus
refused to help his son, and Blanche was his sole support. The queen
established herself at Calais and organized two fleets, one of which was
commanded by Eustace the Monk, and an army under Robert of Courtenay;
but all her resolution and energy were in vain. Although it would seem
that her masterful temper exercised a sensible influence upon her
husband's gentler character, her role during his reign (1223-1226) is
not well known. Upon his death he left Blanche regent and guardian of
his children. Of her twelve or thirteen children, six had died, and
Louis, the heir--afterwards the sainted Louis IX.,--was but twelve years
old. The situation was critical, for the hard-won domains of the house
of Capet seemed likely to fall to pieces during a minority. Blanche had
to bear the whole burden of affairs alone, to break up a league of the
barons (1226), and to repel the attack of the king of England (1230).
But her energy and firmness overcame all dangers. There was an end to
the calumnies circulated against her, based on the poetical homage
rendered her by Theobald IV., count of Champagne, and the prolonged
stay in Paris of the papal legate, Romano Bonaventura, cardinal of Sant'
Angelo. The nobles were awed by her warlike preparations or won over by
adroit diplomacy, and their league was broken up. St Louis owed his
realm to his mother, but he himself always remained s