Marie of Anjou

Marie of Anjou

Queen consort of France
Tenure	1422–1461

Born	(1404-10-14)14 October 1404 Angers
Died	29 November 1463(1463-11-29) (aged 59) Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou
Burial	Saint-Denis Basilica
Spouse	Charles VII of France
House	Valois-Anjou
Father	Louis II of Anjou
Mother	Yolande of Aragon
Religion	Roman Catholic

Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463) was Queen of France as the spouse of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. She served as regent and presided over the council of state several times during the absence of the king.^[1]

Life

Marie was the eldest daughter of Louis II of Anjou, titular King of Naples, titular King of Sicily, and Yolande of Aragon, titular Queen of Aragon.^[2]

Marie was betrothed to her second cousin Charles, fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, in 1413.^[2] The wedding took place in April 1422 at Bourges. The wedding made her Queen of France, but as far as it is known, she was never crowned. ^[3] Her spouse's victory in the Hundred Years War owed a great deal to the support he received from Marie's family, notably from her mother Yolande of Aragon.

Queen

Queen Marie presided over the Council of state several times in the absence of the king, during which she had power of attorney as regent and signed acts in the position of "lieutenant of the king" (April 1434). ^[4] She made several pilgrimages, such as Puy with the king in 1424, and Mount St Michel by herself in 1447.

Marie and Charles had fourteen children, but her spouse's affection was primarily directed towards his mistress, Agnès Sorel, originally Marie's lady in waiting, who became official mistress to the king in 1444 and played a dominant role at court until her death in 1450, somewhat eclipsing the queen. ^[5]

Robert Blondel composed the allegorical Treatise of the "Twelve Perils of Hell" for queen Marie in 1455.

Queen dowager

In 1461, Charles VII died and was succeeded by their son Louis XI, making Marie queen dowager. She was granted the Chateau of Amboise and the income from Brabant by her son.

During the winter of 1462-63, Marie of Anjou made a pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostela. It has been speculated that she had a mission in Spain as secret ambassador for her son, due to the political situation at the time and the fact that she made the pilgrimage during winter time, when the roads were so bad that such trips were normally avoided if possible. She died at the age of 59 on 29 November 1463 at the Cistercian Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou (Poitou-Charentes region) on her return. She is buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis alongside her spouse.

Issue

Marie was the mother of fourteen children:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Louis	3 July 1423	30 August 1483	King of France. Married firstly, Margaret of Scotland, no issue. Married secondly, Charlotte of Savoy, had issue.
John	19 September 1426		Lived for a few hours.
Radegonde	after 29 August 1428	19 March 1444	Betrothed to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria on 22 July 1430.
Catherine	after 29 August 1428	13 July 1446	Married Charles the Bold, no issue.
James	1432	2 March 1437	Died aged five.
Yolande	23 September 1434	23/29 August 1478	Married Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy, had issue.
Joan	4 May 1435	4 May 1482	Married John II, Duke of Bourbon, no issue.
Philip	4 February 1436	11 June 1436	Died in infancy.
Margaret	May 1437	24 July 1438	Died aged one.
Joanna	7 September 1438	26 December 1446	Twin of Marie, died aged eight.
Marie	7 September 1438	14 February 1439	Twin of Joanna, died in infancy.
Isabella	1441	Died young.
Magdalena	1 December 1443	21 January 1495	Married Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana, had issue.
Charles	12 December 1446	24 May 1472	Died without legitimate issue.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Marie of Anjou

References

↑ Murielle Gaude-Ferragu: Queenship in Medieval France, 1300-1500
1 2 David Green, The Hundred Years War: A People's History, (Yale University Press, 2014), 190.
↑ Murielle Gaude-Ferragu: Queenship in Medieval France, 1300-1500
↑ Murielle Gaude-Ferragu: Queenship in Medieval France, 1300-1500
↑ Murielle Gaude-Ferragu: Queenship in Medieval France, 1300-1500

French royalty
Preceded by Isabeau of Bavaria	Queen consort of France 1422 – 22 July 1461	Succeeded by Charlotte of Savoy

Queens and Empresses of France

Adelaide of Aquitaine Rozala of Italy Bertha of Burgundy Constance of Arles Matilda of Frisia Anne of Kiev Bertha of Holland Bertrade de Montfort Adelaide of Maurienne Eleanor of Aquitaine Constance of Castile Adèle of Champagne Isabella of Hainault Ingeborg of Denmark Agnes of Merania Blanche of Castile Margaret of Provence Isabella of Aragon Maria of Brabant Joan I of Navarre Margaret of Burgundy Clementia of Hungary Joan II of Burgundy Blanche of Burgundy Marie of Luxembourg Jeanne d'Évreux Joan the Lame Blanche of Navarre Joan I of Auvergne Joanna of Bourbon Isabeau of Bavaria Marie of Anjou Charlotte of Savoy Anne of Brittany Joan of France Mary Tudor Claude of France Eleanor of Austria Catherine de' Medici Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots Elisabeth of Austria Louise of Lorraine Margaret of Valois Marie de' Medici Anne of Austria Maria Theresa of Spain Marie Leszczyńska Marie Antoinette of Austria Marie Joséphine of Savoy* Joséphine de Beauharnais Marie Louise of Austria Marie Thérèse of France* Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily Eugénie de Montijo

*disputed

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 77746157 LCCN: n85112395 GND: 1012140865

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.