Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon

Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon or Isabella of France (1313 – 26 July 1383), was a French noblewoman, and a daughter of Charles of Valois by his third wife Mahaut of Châtillon. She was the wife of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon. One of her daughters, Jeanne of Bourbon became the Queen consort of King Charles V of France, and through her, Isabella was the maternal grandmother of King Charles VI.

Family

Her paternal grandparents were king Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. Her maternal grandparents were Guy IV, Count of Saint-Pol and Marie of Brittany.

She was a sister of Blanche of Valois, who married Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Blanche's daughter was Katharine of Bohemia. Isabella's other sister was Marie of Valois who married Charles, Duke of Calabria in 1323. Marie was the mother of Joan I of Naples. Isabella had a brother called Louis, he became Count of Chartres, but he died aged ten. Her elder half brother was king Philip VI of France.

When her father died in 1325 all his titles went to Isabella's older half siblings by his first marriage to Margaret of Naples.

Marriage and issue

On 25 January 1336 Isabella married Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon and Mary of Avesnes. Peter and Isabella had only one son, Louis and seven daughters. Her husband died at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and Isabella never remarried. After her husband's death Isabella's son Louis became the Duke of Bourbon. In the same year 1356, Isabella arranged for her daughter Joanna to marry Charles V of France; as he was at the time the Dauphin of France, Jeanne duly became Dauphine.^[1]

Isabella outlived her eldest two daughters. Her husband suffered from madness, so this was passed on to their children.^[2]

She died on 26 July 1383 at the age of seventy five. She was buried in Eglise des Frères Mineurs in Paris.

Ancestors

References

1. ^ Isabelle de Valois
2. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, France, Capetian kings, Comtes de Valois, Kings of France 1328-1498