Yolanda of Vianden

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Yolanda (or Yolande, Iolanda) of Vianden (1231–1283), youngest daughter of Count Henry I of Vianden, joined the Luxembourg Convent of Marienthal against the wishes of her parents when she was very young. She later became its devout prioress and is now a legend in Luxembourg's history.

1 The story of Yolanda
2 The Yolanda poems
3 References
4 Footnotes

[edit] The story of Yolanda

Yolanda's lasting fame is due in large part to Hermann von Veldenz's epic, Yolanda von Vianden (see more below), which recounts how, as a young girl, she wanted to become a nun against the wishes of her parents. Indeed, her mother had hoped to arrange a marriage into the nobility (to Walram of Monschau) in order to consolidate the influence of the Counts of Vianden, especially in their relations with the Counts of Luxembourg. Finally in 1245, when Yolanda was 14, her mother, Margareta of Courteney (French: Marguerite de Courtenay), accompanied her to the Dominican Convent of Marienthal where Yolanda unexpectedly fled into the protection of its inner sanctuary and became a novice. A year later, her mother returned, with the support of several Luxembourg noblemen, threatening to destroy the convent unless Yolanda agreed to leave. The girl was thus persuaded to return to Vianden where her parents' once again attempted to change her wishes. But Yolanda did not waver. If anything, she was reinforced in her views through discussions with well-known Dominicans such as Walter von Meisemburg and Albertus Magnus. Finally, even her mother relented and agreed that Yolanda should return to Marienthal. Entering a life of prayer and charity, Yolanda went on to become the convent's prioress in 1258 and remained there until her death 25 years later in 1283. Interestingly, her mother also joined the convent after the death of her husband Henry I during a crusade (1252).

There is little remaining evidence of the life of Yolanda apart from a skull, said to be hers, which is displayed at the Church of the Trinitarians in Vianden. As the convent in Marienthal was closed in the 18th century, there is little trace of her there today.

Yolanda's steadfast resolve to leave the riches and influence of the nobility in favour of a spartan, devout existence in a Dominican convent were quite unusual at the time. This no doubt explains why Brother Hermann was inspired to write the story of her life and why she has become such a revered figure, above all, for Luxembourg's women.

[edit] The Yolanda poems

There are two poems which relate the life of Yolanda:

Yolanda von Vianden by Brother Hermann von Veldenz^[1] who wrote the story of her life in 1290 after her death in 1283. The work consists of 5,963 lines of rhyming couplets in Moselle Franconian with close similarities to today's Luxembourgish. Brother Hermann's epic appears to have lain in the Marienthal monastery for almost four centuries after he wrote it. In 1655 the then lost original was copied on paper by the Belgian Jesuit, Alexander von Wiltheim. At the same time, Wiltheim wrote a life of Yolanda in Latin based on Brother Hermann's Middle High German. Then in November 1999, the Luxembourg linguist Guy Berg discovered the original manuscipt, now known as the Codex Mariendalenis, in Amsembourg Castle, a short distance from Marienthal. This was a very important discovery as it is considered to be the oldest manuscipt in Luxembourgish.
A second poem about Yolanda, by an anonymous English author, has also recently come to light. Entitled Iölanda, A Tale of the Duchy of Luxembourg, it was published in 1832.^[2]. The author, who was told about Yolanda on a visit to the castle in Vianden, was apparently aware of Brother Hermann's account as he explains in his introduction that, for romantic reasons, he has changed the story so that it concludes with Iölanda's marriage.