Blanche of Castile was said to have told her son, Louis IX, that she would rather see him "fry in hell" than commit a mortal sin - according to the Handbook for Grade School Nuns (Saint Fidgeta and Other Parodies, 107).
Inspiration[]
Blanche of Castile was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX. Blanche was a patron of the arts and owned a variety of books, both in French and in Latin. Some of these were meant as teaching tools for her son. She oversaw the education of her children, all of whom studied Latin. She also insisted on lessons in Christian morals for all of them. Both Louis and Isabelle, her only surviving daughter, were canonized[1].
Bowen feels this story of an alleged wish of the king's mother has probably been given a wee turn of the screw. “I vaguely remember hearing something like it (attributed to whose mother I don't know), but I'm pretty sure that the alternative to mortal sin was death or some other physical disaster, not frying in hell. As John wrote it, it presents a lovely paradox, which he must have cherished whether or not he was the originator.[2]"
References[]
- ↑ Wikipedia: Blanche of Castile
- ↑ Correspondence with Charles Bowen.