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Blessed Isabelle of France
Image: Louis Desprez · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Blessed Isabelle of France

Sister of King Louis IX who founded Longchamp abbey and refused royal marriages

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Royalty, Virgin, Religious
Life
1225 – 1270
Era
13th century
Feast
22 February
Countries
France
France

Life story

Isabelle was born in March 1225 in Paris, a daughter of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile and a sister of King Louis IX (later a saint). Under the 1227 Treaty of Vendôme she was betrothed to Hugh, heir of the Lusignan family, and the contract was signed in June 1230. As she grew up she refused to go through with the wedding, saying she was resolved to remain a virgin.

She later also refused Conrad IV of Germany, despite pressure from many quarters, including Pope Innocent IV.

In 1256 she founded Longchamp abbey near Paris; the first stone of the abbey church was laid on 10 June. The rule was composed by her with Franciscan masters, among them Bonaventure; Pope Alexander IV sanctioned it on 2 February 1259 and Pope Urban IV approved a revised version on 27 July 1263. The Catholic Encyclopedia says she founded the house for Poor Clare nuns, while noting that counting it fully within that order is open to some question.

She never entered the community as a nun and refused the office of abbess, living in a separate dwelling near the abbey. Isabelle died at Longchamp on 23 February 1270. In 1521 Pope Leo X allowed Longchamp to celebrate her feast with a special office, and in 1696 Pope Innocent XII extended it to the whole Franciscan Order. The Church treats her as Blessed; feast days differ by source (22 or 26 February in modern lists, 31 August in the Catholic Encyclopedia).

Works and witness

  • Refused her betrothal to Hugh of Lusignan and the proposal of Conrad IV
  • Founded Longchamp abbey in 1256
  • Composed a rule with Franciscan masters, approved 1259 and 1263
  • Her cult was confirmed in 1521

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

  • Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent), St. Isabel of France (newadvent.org/cathen/08179a.htm)
  • Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent), Poor Clares (newadvent.org/cathen/12251b.htm)
  • Franciscan Media, Lent with St. Clare series (franciscanmedia.org)
  • Saint of the Day, 22 February: Isabella of France (anastpaul.com)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.