ISABELLA di FRANCIA, blessed. — Daughter of
Luigi VIII and Bianca di Castiglia, sovereigns of France,
born in March 1225 and died on 23 February 1270. Having rejected
conspicuous marriage offers, with the help of her
brother s. Luigi IX, in 1225–59 she founded the monastery
of the Poor Clares of Longchamp, whose statutes were ap-
proved by Alessandro IV in 1259 and tempered by
Urbano IV in 1263. Her cult, approved by
Leone X in 1521, was extended by Innocenzo XII to
the Franciscan Order in 1696.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Augusti, VI, Paris 1868, pp. 787–808;
H. Sbaraka, Bullarium Franciscanum, II, Rome 1761, pp. 477–
486; III, there 1765, pp. 64–69; L. Duchesne, Histoire de l’abbaye
royale de Longchamp 1253–1789, 2nd ed., Paris 1904.