Yolande of Aragon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yolande of Aragon |
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| Countess of Maine, Provence and Forcalquier | |
Yolande of Aragon
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| Duchess consort of Anjou | |
| Tenure | 2 December 1400 – 29 April 1417 |
| Born | 11 August 1384 Zaragoza, Kingdom of Aragon |
| Died | 14 November 1442 (aged 58) Saumur, France |
| Burial | Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers, France |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Louis III of Anjou Marie, Queen of France René I of Naples Yolande, Countess of Montfort l'Amaury Charles, Count of Maine |
| House | Barcelona |
| Father | John I of Aragon |
| Mother | Yolande of Bar |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Yolande of Aragon (born August 11, 1384 – died November 14, 1442) was an important princess from the Kingdom of Aragon. She became the Duchess of Anjou and Countess of Provence when she married Louis II of Anjou. Yolande also served as a ruler (regent) for her young son in Provence. She was the daughter of John I of Aragon and Yolande of Bar. Yolande played a very important part in the long wars between France and England, known as the Hundred Years' War. She helped France by supporting and even helping to pay for Joan of Arc's army in 1429. This support helped France win key battles. Yolande was also known as Yolanda de Aragón and Violant d'Aragó.
Contents
Early Life and Marriage
Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon, on August 11, 1384. She was the oldest daughter of King John I of Aragon and his second wife, Yolande of Bar. Her mother was the granddaughter of King John II of France. Yolande had three brothers and two sisters. She also had five older half-siblings from her father's first marriage. Yolande became a very important person in the politics of England, France, and Aragon in the early 1400s.
In 1389, Louis II of Anjou became the King of Naples. To keep Aragon from causing problems for him, Louis's mother, Marie of Blois, started talking about a marriage between Louis and Yolande. When Yolande was eleven, she signed a paper saying she didn't agree to marry Louis II. But in 1395, Richard II of England also wanted to marry Yolande. To stop this, Charles VI of France offered his own daughter, Isabella, to King Richard instead.
After Yolande's father died, Marie of Blois convinced Yolande's uncle, Martin I of Aragon, to let Yolande marry Louis II. Yolande tried to protest again, but she was forced to agree. The couple got married in Arles on December 2, 1400. Even though Yolande had not wanted the marriage at first, and her husband later became ill, their marriage was a happy one.
Claiming the Aragonese Throne
Yolande was the only surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon. She believed she had a right to the throne of Aragon after her older sister Joanna and her uncle, King Martin I, died. However, the rules for who could inherit the throne in Aragon at that time usually favored male relatives over females. This is how Yolande's uncle, Martin of Aragon, became king.
Martin died in 1410 without any children who lived. After two years without a king, the leaders of Aragon chose Ferdinand to be the next King of Aragon. Ferdinand was the second son of Eleanor of Aragon and John I of Castile.
Yolande and her family believed that her oldest son, Louis III of Anjou, had a stronger claim to the throne. They even started using the title "Kings of Aragon." Because of these claims, Yolande was sometimes called the "Queen of Four Kingdoms." These kingdoms were usually listed as Sicily, Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Aragon. Some people also included Naples as a separate kingdom. In reality, Yolande and her family only controlled parts of these kingdoms for short times, if at all. Their true power was in the French areas they ruled, like Provence and Anjou. They also sometimes ruled Bar, Maine, Touraine, and Valois. Yolande's son René I of Anjou later became the ruler of Lorraine through his marriage.
Supporting France and the House of Anjou
As the Hundred Years' War continued, Yolande decided to support France against England and Burgundy. In 1413, after John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy, caused trouble for the Dauphin of France, Yolande and her husband broke off the engagement between their son Louis and John's daughter. This showed they were firmly on the side of the French. That same year, Yolande met with Queen Isabeau of France to arrange a marriage between her daughter Marie and Isabeau's son Charles.
After Charles's two older brothers died, Yolande strongly supported Charles's claim to the French throne. She helped him become Charles VII of France. Charles's own mother, Queen Isabeau, was working against him. So, many people said that Yolande was like a protective mother to Charles. She took Charles away from his parents' court and kept him safe in her own castles, often in the Loire Valley. It was in one of her castles that Charles met Joan of Arc. Yolande also arranged Charles's marriage to her daughter Mary of Anjou, which made Yolande his mother-in-law. This meant Yolande was deeply involved in helping the House of Valois survive in France.
Yolande's marriage to Louis II of Anjou in December 1400 was meant to help settle arguments over who should rule the Kingdom of Sicily and Naples. Louis spent much of his life fighting in Italy for his claim. In France, Yolande was the Duchess of Anjou and Countess of Provence. She preferred to have her court in Angers and Saumur. She had six children. Through her second son, René, she was the grandmother of Margaret of Anjou, who later became the wife of King Henry VI of England.
After the English won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the Duchy of Anjou was in danger. The French king, Charles VI, was mentally ill. France was also in a civil war between two powerful families, the Burgundians and the Orleanists. The situation got worse when the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, allied with the English and the French queen, Isabeau of Bavaria. They planned to stop Charles VI's children from becoming king. Fearing the growing power of the Duke of Burgundy, Louis II had Yolande move with their children and future son-in-law, Charles, to Provence in southern France.
Protecting the Dauphin
In 1415 and 1417, the two oldest sons of Charles VI of France died quickly. Both had been under the care of the Duke of Burgundy. Yolande became the protector of her son-in-law, Charles, who was now the new Dauphin (the heir to the French throne). She refused Queen Isabeau's orders to send Charles back to the French Court. It is said that Yolande replied, "We have not raised and cared for this one for you to make him die like his brothers or go mad like his father, or become English like you. I keep him for my own. Come and take him away, if you dare."
On April 29, 1417, Louis II of Anjou died. Yolande, at 33 years old, was now in charge of the House of Anjou. She acted as regent for her son because he was still young. She also held the future of the French royal family, the Valois, in her hands. Her young son-in-law, the Dauphin Charles, was very vulnerable to the plans of the English King, Henry V, and his older cousin, John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy. Charles's closest older relatives were prisoners of the English after the Battle of Agincourt. With his mother, Queen Isabeau, and the Duke of Burgundy allied with the English, Charles had no one to support him except the House of Anjou and the smaller House of Armagnac.
After John the Fearless was killed in 1419, his son Philip the Good became the Duke of Burgundy. Philip and Henry V of England forced the Treaty of Troyes (May 21, 1420) on the mentally ill King Charles VI. This treaty named Henry as "Regent of France" and heir to the French throne. Because of this, the Dauphin Charles was declared not allowed to inherit the throne in 1421. When both Henry V of England and Charles VI of France died in 1422, the Dauphin Charles, at 19, officially became Charles VII of France. However, the English and their Burgundian allies challenged his claim. They supported Henry VI of England, the baby son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois (Charles's own sister), as the King of France. This led to the final part of the Hundred Years' War, known as the "War of Charles VII."
In this struggle, Yolande played a very important role. She made sure that the young King Charles VII was surrounded by advisors and helpers from the House of Anjou. She convinced John VI, Duke of Brittany, to break his alliance with the English. She also helped a soldier from the Breton ducal family, Arthur de Richemont, become the Constable of France in 1425. Yolande was one of the first and strongest supporters of Joan of Arc when others had doubts. Yolande was a very smart and practical politician. She used her influence to remove several of Charles VII's advisors who she didn't trust. For example, she helped force La Trémoille out of the court in 1433.
A writer from that time, Jean Juvenal des Ursins, described Yolande as "the prettiest woman in the kingdom." Another writer, Bourdigné, said she was "the wisest and most beautiful princess in Christendom." Later, King Louis XI of France remembered that his grandmother had "a man's heart in a woman's body." A modern French author, Jehanne d'Orliac, wrote that Yolande's genius and influence during Charles VII's reign are often not fully appreciated. She noted that Yolande is mentioned briefly, but she was "the pivot of all important events for forty-two years in France," while Joan of Arc was famous for only eleven months.
Yolande later moved to Angers and then to Saumur. She continued to be involved in politics. When the position of bishop in Angers became empty, she threatened Charles VII's chosen candidate. The king gave in, and her own secretary got the job. From 1439 onwards, her granddaughter Margaret of Anjou came to live with her. Yolande taught Margaret not only manners and reading but also how to manage money. Her last important act before she died was to prepare Margaret for a possible marriage to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. She met his ambassadors in Saumur and introduced her granddaughter to them. Yolande died in Saumur on November 14, 1442.
Family and Children
Yolande was engaged in 1390 to Louis, who was the heir of Anjou. He had become King Ludovico II of Naples one year earlier. They married on December 2, 1400, in Montpellier. Their children were:
- Louis III of Anjou (born September 25, 1403 – died November 12, 1434). He was the Duke of Anjou and claimed the title of King of Naples. He was adopted by Queen Joanna II of Naples. He married Margaret of Savoy but died without children.
- Marie of Anjou (born October 14, 1404 – died November 29, 1463). She married King Charles VII of France in 1422. They had children, including King Louis XI of France.
- René I of Naples (born January 16, 1409 – died July 10, 1480). He was the Duke of Anjou and Bar, and Duke Consort of Lorraine. He also claimed the titles of King of Sicily and Naples. He married Duchess Isabella of Lorraine. They were the parents of Margaret of Anjou, who became Queen of England.
- Yolande of Anjou (born August 13, 1412 – died July 17, 1440). She married Francis, Count of Montfort l'Amaury, in 1431. He became Duke of Brittany in 1442.
- Charles of Anjou (born October 14, 1414 – died April 10, 1472). He was the Count of Maine. He married Cobella Ruffo first and then Isabelle de St.Pol, Countess of Guise. He had children from both marriages.
Yolande in Stories and Movies
Queen Yolande is a character in some plays and movies:
- She appears in Jean Anouilh's famous play about Joan of Arc, The Lark.
- She is also in the TV series Catherine, played by Geneviève Casile.
- In the 1999 movie The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, actress Faye Dunaway plays Yolande.
Yolande is also the main character in a historical novel called The Queen of Four Kingdoms by Princess Michael of Kent (2014). She is also an important side character in Milja Kaunisto's book series about Olaus Magni's life.
Images for kids
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Yolande of Aragon
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The marriage of Yolande and Louis II of Anjou, from Froissart's Chronicles
See also
In Spanish: Yolanda de Aragón para niños
