Yolande of Aragon

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Yolande of Aragon bigraphy, stories - French noble

Yolande of Aragon : biography

11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442

Yolande of Aragon (11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442)Miramarek.genealogy.Eu was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son. She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Yolande of Bar (daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar, and Marie of Valois). Yolande played a crucial role in the struggles between France and England, influencing events such as the financing of Joan of Arc’s army in 1429 and tipping the balance in favour of the French. She was also known as Jolantha de Aragon and Violant d’Aragó. Tradition holds that she commissioned the famous Rohan Hours.

Family and marriage

Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon on 11 August 1384, the eldest daughter of King John I of Aragon by his second wife, Yolande of Bar, the granddaughter of King John II of France. She had three brothers and two sisters, as well as five older half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Martha of Armagnac. Yolande later played an important role in the politics of the Angevin Empire, France, and Aragon during the first half of the 15th century.

In 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples. His mother Marie of Blois opened negotiations for a marriage between her son and Yolande, to prevent Aragon from obstructing his rule there. When Yolande was eleven, she signed a document to disavow any promises made by ambassadors about her marrying Louis II. In 1395, Richard II of England also opened negotiations for Yolande’s hand. To prevent this marriage, Charles VI of France offered his own daughter Isabella to King Richard. After the death of Yolande’s father, Marie of Blois convinced Yolande’s uncle Martin I of Aragon to have Yolande wed Louis II. Yolande signed a protest, but was forced to retract that later. They married in Arles on December 2, 1400. Despite her earlier objections and the illnesses of her husband later, the marriage was a success.

Marriage and issue

She was betrothed in 1390 to Louis, the heir of Anjou (who had one year earlier succeeded in conquering Naples and become King Ludovico II of Naples), and married him on 2 December 1400 at Montpellier. Their children were:

  1. Louis III of Anjou (25 September 1403 – 12 November 1434), duke of Anjou, Titular King of Naples. He was adopted by Queen Joanna II of Naples. Married Margaret of Savoy. Died childless;
  2. Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463). Married in 1422 King Charles VII of France. Had issue including King Louis XI of France;
  3. Unnamed daughter (1406-). Married the Count of Geneva;
  4. René I of Naples (16 January 1409 – 10 July 1480) – Duke of Anjou, Duke of Bar, Duke Consort of Lorraine, Titular King of Sicily and Naples. Married Duchess Isabella of Lorraine. They were the parents of Margaret of Anjou, Queen-Consort of England.
  5. Yolande of Anjou (1412 – 1440). Married in 1431 Francis I, Duke of Brittany. She died childless. Duke Francis married secondly Isabella of Scotland by whom he had two daughters.
  6. Charles of Anjou (14 October 1414 – 10 April 1472), Count of Maine (who never was duke of Anjou, but his namesake son was). Married firstly Cobella Ruffo and secondly Isabelle de St.Pol, Countess of Guise. Had issue by both marriages.

Fictional portrayals

Queen Yolande appears as a character in the Catherine (1986 TV series), in which she is played by Geneviève Casile, the grand dame of the French theatre. Yolande appears as a character in the 1999 film The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, in which she is played by actress Faye Dunaway.

Claim to the Aragonese throne

As the surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon, she claimed the throne of Aragon after the deaths of her elder sister Joanna, Countess of Foix, and her uncle, King Martin I. However, unclear though they were, the laws of succession for Aragon and Barcelona at that time were understood to favour all male relatives over the females (this is how Yolande’s uncle, Martin of Aragon came to inherit the throne of Aragon). Martin died without surviving issue in 1410, and after two years without a king, the Estates of Aragon elected Ferdinand de Antequera as the next King of Aragon as Ferdinand I. He was the second son of Queen Eleanor of Aragon and King John I of Castile.