 1384 - 1442 (58 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has no ancestors but 31 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Yolande de Aragon |
| Suffix |
Duchess of Anjou |
| Birth |
11 Aug 1384 |
Saragossa, Aragón, España  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Death |
14 Nov 1442 |
Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, République française |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
16 Feb 2022 |
HOUST |
| FamilySearch ID |
GN7R-QFC |
| Person ID |
I5665 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Family |
Louis de Anjou, II Duke of Anjou; King of Naples, b. 5 Oct 1377, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, République française d. 29 Apr 1417, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, République française (Age 39 years) |
| Marriage |
1400 |
Anjou, République française |
| Children |
| | 1. Louis de Anjou, King of Naples, b. 25 Sep 1403 d. 12 Nov 1434 (Age 31 years) |
| + | 2. Marie de Anjou, Queen consort of France, b. 14 Oct 1404, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, République française d. 29 Nov 1463, Poitou, République française (Age 59 years) |
| | 3. Rene de Anjou, Duke of Anjou; King of Naples, b. 16 Jan 1409, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, République française d. 10 Jul 1480, Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, République française (Age 71 years) |
| | 4. Yolande D' de Anjou, b. 1412, Arles, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, République française d. 1440 (Age 28 years) |
| | 5. Charles de Anjou, Count of Maine, b. 14 Oct 1414, Anjou, République française d. 10 Apr 1472, Neufvy-sur-Aronde, Oise, Picardie, République française (Age 57 years) |
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| Family ID |
F3951 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
21 Nov 2024 |
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| Notes |
- Yolande of Aragon (11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442) was a throne cl a i m ant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of N ap le s, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence d uri n g t he minority of her son. She was a daughter of John I of Arago n an d hi s wi fe Yolande of Bar (daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar, an d Mari e of V alois). Yolande played a crucial role in the struggles betw een Fra nce an d Engl and, influencing events such as the financing of Jo an of Ar c's arm y in 14 29 and tipping the balance in favour of the Fren ch. She w as als o known a s Jolantha de Aragon and Violant d'Aragó. Trad ition hold s tha t she commis sioned the famous Rohan Hours.
Family and marriage
Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon on 11 August 1384, the eldest dau g h t er of King John I of Aragon by his second wife, Yolande of Bar, th e g ra nd daughter of King John II of France. She had three brothers an d tw o sis ter s, as well as five older half-siblings from her father's f irs t marria ge t o Martha of Armagnac. Yolande later played an importan t rol e in th e polit ics of the Angevin Empire, France, and Aragon durin g th e first ha lf of th e 15th century.
In 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples. His mother Marie of Bl o i s o pened negotiations for a marriage between her son and Yolande, t o p re ven t Aragon from obstructing his rule there. When Yolande was ele ven , sh e si gned a document to disavow any promises made by ambassador s abo ut he r mar rying Louis II. In 1395, Richard II of England also ope ned ne gotiat ions f or Yolande's hand. To prevent this marriage, Charle s VI o f Franc e offere d his own daughter Isabella to King Richard. Afte r the d eath o f Yolande' s father, Marie of Blois convinced Yolande's un cle Mart in I o f Aragon t o have Yolande wed Louis II. Yolande signe d a protest , but wa s forced t o retract that later. They married in Arl es on Decemb er 2, 140 0. Despit e her earlier objections and the illness es of her hus band later, the marr iage was a success.
Claim to the Aragonese throne
As the surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon, she claimed the th r o n e of Aragon after the deaths of her elder sister Joanna, Countes s o f Fo ix, and her uncle, King Martin I. However, unclear though they w ere , th e la ws of succession for Aragon and Barcelona at that time wer e und ersto od t o favour all male relatives over the females (this is ho w Yola nde' s uncle, Martin of Aragon came to inherit the throne of Arago n). Mar ti n died wit hout surviving issue in 1410, and after two years w ithou t a ki ng, the Est ates of Aragon elected Ferdinand de Antequera a s the n ext Kin g of Arago n as Ferdinand I. He was the second son of Que en Elean or of Ar agon and Ki ng John I of Castile.
The Anjou candidate for the throne of Aragon was Yolande's eldest so n L o u is III of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, whose claim was forfeited in t he P a c t of Caspe. Yolande and her sons regarded themselves as the heir s wi t h th e stronger claim, and began to use the title of Kings of Arag on . A s a res ult of this additional inheritance, Yolande was called th e "Q uee n of Fou r Kingdoms" - the four apparently Sicily, Jerusalem, Cy pru s an d Aragon. A nother interpretation specifies Naples separate fro m Sic ily, plus Jerusal em and Aragon. The number could be raised to seve n if t h e two component k ingdoms of the Crown of Aragon (Majorca and Va lencia ) a nd Sardinia were i ncluded. However, the reality was that Yola nde an d he r family controlle d territories in the said kingdoms only a t shor t inter vals, if ever. Thei r true realm was the Anjou fiefdoms ac ross Fr ance: th ey held uncontestabl y the provinces of Provence and Anj ou, an d also at t imes Bar, Maine, Tour aine and Valois. Yolande's son R ené I o f Anjou beca me ruler of Lorraine t hrough his marriage to Isabel la, Duch ess of Lorrai ne.
France and the House of Anjou
In the emerging second phase of the Hundred Years' War, Yolande ch o s e t o support the French (in particular the Armagnac party) against t h e E ngli sh and the Burgundians. After John the Fearless, Duke of Burgu nd y in stiga ted a mob attack on the Dauphin of France in 1413, she an d he r husb and re pudiated the engagement of their son Louis to John's d aught er Cath erine o f Burgundy, which placed them decisively in the Arm agna c camp. I n the sam e year, Yolande met with Queen Isabeau of Franc e to f inaliz e a marriage c ontract between her daughter Marie and Isabe au's th ird sur viving son Char les.
After his two older brothers died, she supported the claim of the Dau p h i n Charles who, relying upon Yolande's resources and help, succeed e d i n be coming crowned Charles VII of France. As Charles' own mother , Qu ee n Isabe au, worked against his claims, it has been said that Yola nde w a s the pers on who protected the adolescent Charles against all so rts o f p lots on hi s life and acted as a substitute mother. She remove d Charl es f rom his par ents' court and kept him in her own castles, usu ally tho se i n the Loire V alley, where Charles received Joan of Arc. Yo lande arr ange d the marriag e of Charles to her daughter Mary of Anjou , thus becom ing C harles' mother -in-law. This led to Yolande's personal , and crucial , invo lvement in th e struggle for the survival of the Hou se of Valois i n Franc e.
Yolande's marriage to Louis II of Anjou, at Arles in December 1400 , w a s a rranged as a part of long-standing efforts to resolve conteste d cla im s up on the kingdom of Sicily and Naples between the houses of A njou a n d Arago n. Louis spent much of his life fighting in Italy for hi s clai m t o the Ki ngdom of Naples. In France, Yolande was the Duchess o f Anjo u an d the Coun tess of Provence. She preferred to hold court in A ngers a nd Sa umur. She h ad six children, and through her second son Rén e was th e gran dmother of M argaret of Anjou, the wife of King Henry V I of Englan d.
With the victory of the English over the French at the Battle of Aginc o u r t in 1415, the Duchy of Anjou was threatened. The French king, Char l e s VI, was mentally ill and his realm was in a state of civil war betw e e n th e Burgundians and the Orleanists (Armagnacs). The situation wa s ma d e wors e by an alliance among the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearl ess , th e Engli sh, and the French queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, who submit te d to th e Duke o f Burgundy's scheme to deny the crown of France to th e C hildre n of Charle s VI. Fearing the abusive power building behind th e Du ke of B urgundy, Lou is II had Yolande move with her children and fu tur e son-in-l aw, Charles, to Provence in southern France.
The Dauphin
In the years 1415 and 1417, the two oldest surviving sons of Charl e s V I o f France died in quick succession: first Louis, then Jean. Bot h b roth er s had been in the care of the Duke of Burgundy. Yolande was t he p rotec tre ss of her son-in-law, Charles, who became the new Dauphin . Sh e refuse d Qu een Isabeau's orders to return Charles to the French C ourt , reported ly re plying, "We have not nurtured and cherished this on e fo r you to mak e hi m die like his brothers or to go mad like his fath er, o r to become E nglis h like you. I keep him for my own. Come and tak e hi m away, if you d are."
On 29 April 1417, Louis II of Anjou died of illness, leaving Yoland e , a t age 33, in control of the House of Anjou. She acted as regent f o r h er s on because of his youth. She also had the fate of the French r oy al h ous e of Valois in her hands. Her young son-in-law, the Dauphin C har les, wa s exceptionally vulnerable to the designs of the English King , He nr y V, a nd to his older cousin, John the Fearless, the Duke of Bur gundy . C harles ' nearest older relatives, the Dukes of Orléans and of B ourbon , ha d bee n made prisoners at the Battle of Agincourt and were he ld capt ive b y th e English. With his mother, Queen Isabeau, and the Duk e of Bur gund y allie d with the English, Charles had no resources to sup port hi m othe r than th ose of the House of Anjou and the smaller Hous e of Armag nac.
Following the assassination of John the Fearless at Montereau in 1419, H i s son Philip the Good succeeded him as Duke of Burgundy. With He n r y V o f England, he forced the Treaty of Troyes (21 May 1420) on th e me nt ally-i ll King Charles VI. The treaty designated Henry as "Regen t of F ran ce" an d heir to the French throne. Following this, the Dauphi n Charl es w as decl ared disinherited in 1421. When both Henry V of Engl and an d Charl es VI o f France died in 1422 (on 31 August and 21 October , respe ctively), the Da uphin Charles, at age 19, legitimately became Ch arles VI I of Fra nce. Char les' title was challenged by the English an d their Bur gundian a llies, wh o supported the candidacy of Henry VI o f England, th e infant so n of Henr y V and Catherine of Valois, Charles ' own sister, a s king of Fr ance. Thi s set the stage for the last phas e of the Hundre d Years' War: t he "War o f Charles VII".
In this struggle, Yolande played a prominent role in surrounding the y o u n g Valois king with advisors and servants associated with the Hous e o f A nj ou. She maneuvered John VI, Duke of Brittany, into breaking a n all ianc e w ith the English, and was responsible for a soldier from th e Bret on du ca l family, Arthur de Richemont, becoming Constable of Fran ce in 1 425. Y ola nde's early and strong support of Joan of Arc, when ot hers ha d doubts, su ggests her possible larger role in orchestrating Joa n's appe arance o n th e scene. Yolande unquestionably practiced realisti c politic s. Usin g the C onstable de Richemont, Yolande was behind the f orceful re moval o f severa l of Charles VII's less desirable advisors. T he worst, L a Trémoi lle, wa s attacked and forced from the court in 1433 . Yolande wa s not ave rse to r ecruiting beautiful women and coaching th em to becom e the mistre sses of i nfluential men who would spy on them o n her behalf . She had a n etwork o f such women in the courts of Lorrain e, Burgundy , Brittany, an d her son-i n-law.
The contemporary chronicler Jean Juvenal des Ursins (1433–44), Bis h o p o f Beauvais, described Yolande as "the prettiest woman in the king do m. " S ource: Wikipedia
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Has no ancestors but 31 descendants in this family tree.
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