Blanche

Blanche is a female name, meaning "white". English and French Blanche, Spanish Blanca, Italian Bianca.

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Became frequent in the last medieval centuries in Western European cultural sphere.

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Apparently the name, possibly invented at that time, received a boost when king Garcia VI of Navarre and his French-born wife Marguerite de L'Aigle named one of their daughters as Blanca. Many of their descendants, who rapidly spread to royal families all around Western Europe, named one of daughters Blanche.

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There have been several persons named "Blanche" or "Blanca":

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The Navarrese royal family:

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• Blanca of Navarre, daughter of Garcia VI of Navarre, wife of King Sancho III of Castile, died 1156
• Blanca of Navarre, also Blanche de Navarre, died 1229, countess of Champagne and regent of Navarre
• Blanche of Artois, also Blanche de Navarre, died 1300, regent of Navarre
• Blanche of Navarre, wife of duke John I of Brittany
• Blanche I of Navarre (1385-1441), Queen Regnant of Navarre
• Blanche of Navarre, daughter of the previous. Pretender of Navarre, divorced queen of Castile.
• Blanche II of Navarre (1391-1441), (same as Blanche I ?), wife of John (Juan) II of Aragon and Sicily
• Blanca of Navarre (1420-1464), first wife of Henry IV of Castile

The name vanished from the use of royals of Navarre after 1460's.

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Other Nobility:

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• Blanche of Castile, queen of France, granddaughter of Blanca of Navarre
• Blanche of Namur, queen of Norway and Sweden
• Duchess Blanche of Lancaster
• Blanche of Brittany, mother of Robert III of Artois
• Blanche of Sicily, wife of Robert III of Flanders
• Bianca of Naples, wife of James II of Aragon
• Blanche of Burgundy
• Blanche d'Evreux, queen of France
• Blanca of France, wife of Fernando, the eldest son of Alfonso X of Castile
• Blanche of France, wife of Rudolf III of Austria, eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Albert I
• Blanche of France, 1st Duchess of Orleans
• Blanche de Bourgogne

Others:

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• Blanche Devereaux, character in the Golden Girls
• Blanche Ravalec, actress
• Blanche Stuart Scott, aviatrix
• Blanche DuBois, character in A Streetcar Named Desire
• Blanche, a sick country/rock/punk band.
• Blanche Calloway, 1930's african american jazz singer.

Also:

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• Blanche de Navarre, premium asparagus from Navarre