Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat

Yolande
Tomb of Aimone and Yolande
Countess of Savoy
Tenure	1 May 1330 – 24 December 1342
Born	June 1318 Moncalvo
Died	24 December 1342 (aged 23–24) Chambery
Burial	Hautecombe Abbey
Spouse	Aimone, Count of Savoy
Issue	Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy Bianca, Lady of Milan
House	Palaiologos
Father	Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat
Mother	Argentina Spinola

Yolande Palaiologina or Violant (Moncalvo, June 1318 – Chambery, December 24, 1342) was the daughter of Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat and Argentina Spinola {1303-1356}, a Genoese lady, daughter of Opicino Spinola. She received the name Yolande from her paternal grandmother Irene of Montferrat.

Life

Yolande married on May 1, 1330 to Aimone, Count of Savoy, from her marriage she became Countess consort of Savoy, Aosta and Moriana. Her marriage was arranged to seal the newly found peace between her family and the Counts of Savoy, and on the basis that the latter would succeed to Montferrato in case of extinction in the male line of the Palaeologus family.

According also to this act of inheritance in Montferatto, when the male line died out of the Palaeologus dynasty with the death of Bonifacio IV of Montferrat two centuries later, Charles III, Duke of Savoy laid claim to Montferrato through Yolande his great-great-great-great grandmother. However it was claimed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

After failing to produce a child for the count in the first few years of marriage, she went to the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Bourg-en-Bresse, which was considered at the time to help marriages become fruitful. Not long after, she conceived a son, Amadeus. She returned to the shrine after his birth, and was pleased to then conceive a daughter.^[1]

They had five children:

1. Amadeus VI (Amadeo VI) (1334–1383)
2. Bianca (1336–1388), married in 1350 to Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan.
3. John (1338–1345), died young
4. Catherine (1341), died young
5. Louis (b. 24 December 1342), died young

Yolande herself died whilst giving birth to her son Louis on 24 December 1342, and she was buried in a chapel at Hautecombe Abbey.^[2]

Her daughter Bianca was mother to Gian Galeazzo Visconti and Violante Visconti. Among Yolande's descendants are Louis XII of France, Henry II of France and Henrietta Maria, Queen of England.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat

16. Andronikos Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos               8. Michael VIII Palaiologos                       17. Theodora Angelina Palaiologina               4. Andronikos II Palaiologos                             18. John Doukas Vatatzes               9. Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina                       19. Eudokia Angelina               2. Theodore I Palaeologos, Marquess of Montferrat                                   20. Boniface II, Marquess of Montferrat               10. William VII, Marquess of Montferrat                       21. Margaret of Savoy               5. Irene of Montferrat                             22. Alfonso X of Castile               11. Beatrice of Castile                       23. Violant of Aragon               1. Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat                                         24. Corrado Spinola               12. Sbaralia Spinola                       6. Opicino Spinola                             3. Argentina Spinola                                   28. Manfred III, Marquess of Saluzzo               14. Thomas I, Marquess of Saluzzo                       29. Beatrice of Savoy               7. Violante of Saluzzo                             30. William II, Marquess of Ceva               15. Luigia di Ceva                       31. X of Saluzzo

References

• Cox, Eugene L. (1967). The Green Count of Savoy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. LCCN 67-11030.

1. Cox 1967, p. 13.
2. Cox 1967, p. 31.