Iolande de Bar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iolande de Bar (1428 – 1483)[1] was the daughter of René d'Anjou. In 1445 she was married to Ferri, lord of Sion-Vaudémont - which, under her auspices, was extended from a local pilgrimage center to a sacred site for the whole of Lorraine. In the distant pagan past the place had already enjoyed such status, and a statue of Rosemerthe, an old Gallo-Teutonic mother-goddess, was subsequently found there. Even in early Christian times the site was regarded as holy - although its name then was Mount Semita, implying something more Judaic than Christian.[2]
During the Merovingian epoch a statue of the Virgin had been erected there, and in 1070 the ruling count had publicly proclaimed himself 'vassal of the Queen of Heaven'. The Virgin of Sion was officially declared 'Sovereign of the Comté of Vaudémont', festivals were held in her honour every May and she was acknowledged Protectress of all Lorraine.[3]
A charter, dating from 1396, pertains to a specific confraternity based on the mountain, the Confraternity of Chevaliers de Sion - which reputedly traced its origin to the old abbey on Mount Sion just outside Jerusalem. By the 15th century, however, Sion-Vaudémont seems to have lost some of its significance. Iolande restored to it something of its former glory. Her son, René, subsequently became duke of Lorraine. On his parents instructions he was educated in Florence, thus becoming well versed in the esoteric tradition and orientation of the academies. His tutor was Georges Antoine Vespucci, one of Botticelli's chief patrons and sponsors.[4]
