Yolande of Valois

Yolande of Valois (23 September 1434 – 23 August 1478), also called Yolande of France, was Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy, and regent of Savoy during the minority of her son Philibert I of Savoy from 1472 until 1478.

Yolande of Valois
Dedication by the theologian Guillaume Fichet of his book Rhetorica to Yolande of France, Duchess of Savoy (1471)
Duchess consort of Savoy
Tenure29 January 1465 – 30 March 1472
Born23 September 1434
Tours
Died23 August 1478(1478-08-23) (aged 43)
Chambéry
SpouseAmadeus IX, Duke of Savoy
IssueAnne, Princess of Squillace
Louise
Philibert I, Duke of Savoy
Charles I, Duke of Savoy
HouseValois
FatherCharles VII of France
MotherMarie of Anjou

Life

Yolande was a daughter of King Charles VII of France, "The Victorious," and Marie of Anjou.[1] She was named after her grandmother, Yolande of Aragon. At the age of two, Yolande was betrothed to Louis, Duke of Savoy, the agreement being signed at Tours.[2]

Yolande married Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy in 1452. After her wedding, she brought three chests of books with her.[3]

Yolande's husband became duke of Savoy in 1465, making her duchess. Her husband's retiring disposition and epilepsy left her in control of the state,[4] to struggle with the Savoyard barons.

Regency

After the death of her spouse in March 1472, Yolande became regent for her son Philibert until her own death.[5] Like her brother Charles, she was an ally to Charles, Duke of Burgundy, against her own brother Louis XI of France. After the humiliation of Burgundy at the Battle of Grandson in 1476, the duke accused her of being in league with Louis and imprisoned her. After her release, she made peace with her brother and remained on good terms with him until her death. She is said to have been one of the very few women whose intelligence he respected.

Yolanda was the first person in Europe to own a tiger during the Middle Ages. She is known to have kept one in Turin in 1478.[6]

Issue

With Amadeus she had ten children:

  1. Louis of Savoy (1453)
  2. Anne of Savoy (1455–1480), married Frederick of Naples (1452–1504), prince of Altamura
  3. Charles of Savoy (1456–1471), Prince of Piedmont
  4. Maria of Savoy (1460–1511) married Philip of Hachberg-Sausenberg (1454–1503)
  5. Louise of Savoy (1462–1503), married in 1479 to Hugh de Chalon
  6. Philibert I of Savoy (1465–1482)[7]
  7. Bernard of Savoy (1467)
  8. Charles I of Savoy (1468–1490)
  9. James Louis of Savoy (1470–1485), Count of the Genevois, France
  10. John Claude Galeazzo of Savoy (1472)

Ancestry

References
  1. Ashdown-Hill 2016, p. xxviii.
  2. Vale 1974, p. 73.
  3. Bell 1988, p. 176.
  4. Merle 2013, p. 152.
  5. Bruening 2016, p. 368.
  6. Aleksander Pluskowski, "What is exotic?", in The Edges of the Medieval World (CEU Press, 2009), p. 126.
  7. Vaughan 2004, p. 128.

Sources
  • Ashdown-Hill, John (2016). The Private Life of Edward IV. Amberley Publishing.
  • Bell, Susan Groag (1988). "Medieval Women Book Owners: Arbiters of Lay Piety and Ambassadors of Culture". In Erler, Mary; Kowaleski, Maryanne (eds.). Women and Power in the Middle Ages. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 149–187.
  • Bruening, Michael W. (2016). "Francophone Territories Allied to the Swiss Confederation". In Burnett, Amy Nelson; Campi, Emidio (eds.). A Companion to the Swiss Reformation. Brill. pp. 362–388.
  • Merle, Michel (2013). "The Model of the Holy Savoyard Prince". In Vester, Matthew (ed.). Sabaudian Studies: Political Culture, Dynasty, & Territory, 1400-1700. Truman State University Press. pp. 151–166.
  • Vale, M.G.A. (1974). Charles VII. University of California Press.
  • Vaughan, Richard (2004). Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy. The Boydell Press.


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