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Bianca of Savoy

Bianca
Lady of Milan
Tenure 1350–1378
Born 1337
Died 31 December 1387 (aged 49–50)
Pavia
Spouse Galeazzo II Visconti
Issue Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Maria Visconti
Violante Visconti
Full name
Bianca Marie di Savoia
House Savoy
Father Aimone, Count of Savoy
Mother Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat
Full name
Bianca Marie di Savoia

Bianca of Savoy (1337– Pavia, 31 December 1387) was the only surviving daughter of Aimone, Count of Savoy and his wife Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Bianca was Lady of Milan by her marriage to Galeazzo II Visconti.

Bianca was the second of five children born to Count Aimone and Yolande, herself the daughter of Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat (1291–1338) and Genoese noblewoman Argentina Hispanola.

When Bianca was six years old she lost her mother Yolande, who died giving birth on 24 December 1342 to her younger brother Louis, who died in childhood. Six months later on 22 June 1343 her father, Aimone died.

In 1345, negotiations were started for her to marry a son of Edward III of England, to renew the relationship between Savoy and England.

Bianca was raised in the Castle of the Counts of Savoy on the shores of Lake Bourget. In 1345 tragedy struck when Bianca's younger brother John died. This left only one son and heir to Savoy, Bianca's older brother Amadeus VI, the "Green Count" of Savoy. The period was marked by the devastating epidemic of the Black Death that killed off much of the population of Europe between 1347 and 1350.

In an attempt to curb the expansionist policies of Bianca's uncle John II, Marquess of Montferrat, an alliance was established on the 22 October 1349 between Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy and Giovanni Visconti of Milan. In the agreements, a marriage was arranged between Bianca and Giovanni's nephew Galeazzo II Visconti.

On 28 September 1350 at Rivoli, Bianca and Galeazzo were married, he was sixteen years her senior.


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