Yolande of Brittany

Yolande of Brittany
suo jure Countess of Penthrièvre
suo jure Countess of Porhoet
Countess of La Marche
Countess of Angoulême
suo jure Dame de la Fère-en-Tardenois, de Chailly, and de Longjumeau
Spouse(s) Hugh XI of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême
Issue
Hugh XII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême
Guy of Lusignan
Geoffroy of Lusignan
Alice of Lusignan
Isabelle of Lusignan
Marie of Lusignan
Yolande of Lusignan
Noble family House of Dreux
Father Peter I, Duke of Brittany
Mother Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany
Born late 1218
Dreux, France
Died 10 October 1272
Chateau of Bouteville, Charente, France

Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet (late 1218 – 10 October 1272) was a French noblewoman and a suo jure countess. By her marriage to Hugh XI of Lusignan, the eldest uterine half-brother of King Henry III of England, she became Countess of La Marche and of Angoulême. She was the mother of seven children. From 1250 to 1256, she acted as Regent of La Marche and Angoulême for her son, Hugh XII of Lusignan.[1]

Yolande was betrothed to King Henry III of England in 1226 at the age of seven years.[2]

Contents

Family

Yolande was born in Dreux, France at the end of 1218,[3] the only daughter of Peter I, Duke of Brittany and Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany. She had two brothers, John I, Duke of Brittany and Arthur of Brittany (1220–1224). By her father's second marriage to Nicole, she had a half-brother, Olivier de Braine (1231–1279). Her mother had died on 21 October 1221, when Yolande was not quite three years old. Yolande's paternal grandparents were Robert II, Count of Dreux and Yolande de Coucy, and her maternal grandparents were Guy de Thouars and Constance, Duchess of Brittany.

In 1236, Yolande received as her dowry, the titles of Countess of Penthièvre, Dame de la Fère-en-Tardenois, de Chailly, and de Longjumeau which she held suo jure. Her brother John I, Duke of Brittany granted her the title of suo jure Countess of Porhoet.[3]

Betrothals, marriage and issue

Sometime before 19 October 1226, when she was seven years old, Yolande was betrothed to King Henry III of England. A letter of the King dated 19 October 1226 confirms his betrothal to Jolentam filiam Petri ducis Brittanniae et comitis Richemundiae[3] The marriage never took place, and King Henry eventually married Eleanor of Provence. Yolande's second betrothal occurred in March 1227 to John of France, Count of Anjou, the son of King Louis VIII of France. The engagement was broken off and she was affianced thirdly in 1231 to Theobald IV, Count of Champagne. As in the case with King Henry and John of France, this betrothal to Theobald did not result in marriage. His daughter Blanche however married her brother John in 1236. Yolande was more fortunate in her fourth betrothal, and in January 1236 she married Hugh XI of Lusignan who would succeed his father in 1249 as Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême. His uterine half-brother was King Henry III of England to whom Yolande had been betrothed in 1226.

Together Hugh and Yolande had seven children:

Her husband Hugh was killed at the Battle of Faruskur in Egypt on 6 April 1250. Yolande acted as Regent of La Marche and Angoulême for her eldest son Hugh from 1250 to 1256.

Yolande died at the Chateau de Bouteville, Charente on 10 October 1272. She was buried at the Notre Dame Abbey in Villeneuve-lez-Nantes.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Angoulême, La Marche, Périgord
  2. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Brittany
  3. ^ a b c Cawley, Medieval Lands, Brittany

Sources