Violant of Bar

Violant of Bar
Queen consort of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, and Sardinia and Corsica; Countess consort of Barcelona

Tenure	1380–1395
Spouse	John I of Aragon
Issue	James, Duke of Girona Yolande, Queen of Naples Ferdinand, Duke of Girona Infanta Joanna Infanta Antonia Peter, Duke of Girona
House	House of Montbelliard House of Aragon
Father	Robert I, Duke of Bar
Mother	Marie of Valois
Born	c.1365 Northern France
Died	3 July 1431 Barcelona
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Violant of Bar (Catalan: Violant de Bar, also known as Iolant), (c. 1365, Northern France – 3 July 1431, Barcelona) was queen of the medieval Iberian kingdom of Aragon.

Background

She was the daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar and Marie of Valois. Her paternal grandparents were Henry IV of Bar and Yolanda of Flanders. Her maternal grandparents were John II of France and his first wife, Bonne of Bohemia.

Violante was the eighth of eleven children. She was married in 1380 at the age of 15 to Infante John, Duke of Girona, the heir to the throne of Aragon, thus becoming Duchess of Girona and Countess of Cervera.

Queen consort

Her husband became King John I of Aragon in 1387. He was often ill, and Violante wielded considerable administrative power on his behalf. She transformed the Aragonese court into a center of French culture. She especially cultivated the talents of Provençal troubadours (poet-musicians).

Family troubles sometimes got in the way for John and Violante. John and his brother, Martin of Aragon, had never agreed on the father Peter marrying Sibila of Fortia, for the marriage could cause dynastic problems that could imperil their rights in the line of succession.^[1]

Sibila had two sons with Peter but both did not survive to adulthood. They had a surviving daughter, Isabella; John had her married off to James II of Urgell. After Peter's death, Sibila was placed under house arrest in Barcelona, where she stayed for the rest of her days. Sibila was treated with respect, but she was kept under close surveillance.

John and Violant had six children, but only one daughter, Yolande lived to adulthood.

Infante James of Aragon (1382–1388), Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera
Infanta Yolande of Aragon (Zaragoza 1384 - Saumur 14 November 1442), married in 2 December 1400 at Louis II of Naples. She played a role in the history of France.
Infante Ferdinand of Aragon (1389 - Monzón October 1389), Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera
Infanta Joanna of Aragon (1392 - Barcelona 4 August 1396)
Infanta Antonia of Aragon (b and d 1392)
Infanta Peter of Aragon (1394-1394), Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera

Queen dowager

After John's death in 1395, she dedicated herself to the education of her only surviving child, Yolande. Yolande would go on to play a major role in the Hundred Years' War between France and England by financing Joan of Arc's army and protecting the future king Charles VII of France during Henry V's invasion of France.

Violant's stepdaughter, Joanna, claimed her rights to the Kingdom of Aragon. Her husband, Matthew of Foix invaded. They were hoping to depose John's brother, Martin, but they failed and were sent back to France, where Joanna died, childless. Violant's daughter, Yolande and her sons also claimed the Kingdom of Aragon.

Violant died in Barcelona on 13 August 1431 at the age of sixty-six.