Violant of Hungary

Violant of Hungary
Queen consort of Aragon
Tomb of Violant of Hungary
Tenure	1235–1251
Born	c. 1215
Died	1251 (aged 36)?
Burial	Monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona, province of Lleida
Spouse	James I of Aragon
Issue	Yolanda, Queen of Castile Constance, Infanta of Castile Peter III of Aragon James II of Majorca Isabella, Queen of France
House	House of Arpad House of Aragon
Father	Andrew II of Hungary
Mother	Yolanda de Courtenay

Violant of Hungary (c. 1215–1251) was a Queen consort of Aragon and the second wife of King James I of Aragon. She is also called Jolánta in Hungarian, Iolanda or Violant d'Hongria in Catalan and Yolanda or Violante de Hungría in Spanish.

Violant was born at Esztergom circa 1215, the only child of King Andrew II of Hungary and his second wife Yolanda of Courtenay.

Violant married James in 1235. James had already been married to Eleanor of Castile, but he had this marriage annulled on the basis of consanguinity in 1229. He and Eleanor had a son named Alfonso, who was considered legitimate, but who died prior to his father.

James and Violant had ten children:

Violant was the grandmother of King Philip IV of France and Charles, Count of Valois through her daughter Isabella. Charles was the father of Philip VI of France.

Violant was a woman of talent and character. Next to James I, she had an important political role in the Crown of Aragon. She was one of the most valuable advisors of the king, on whom she had a strong influence.

She intervened decisively in international agreements as important as the Treaty of Almizra with Castile (1244). It was signed with the condition that Zayyan ibn Mardanish surrender of the city of Valencia, into which she triumphantly entered with her husband on 9 October 1238.

Violant reportedly died in 1251, although there is some doubt about the exact year. Jerónimo Zurita, in his Anales de Aragon, mentions this discrepancy, and writes that while some annals state that Violant died in Santa María de Salas in 1251, others report that she lived for a few years after (the probable sources of the 1253 date), and that she only made her will and testament in Huesca in 1251. Zurita continues that her will stipulated her burial at Vallbona, bequeathed the county of Posana (Pozsony) to her sons Peter, James, and Sancho (Pozsony being in the possession of her half-brother Béla IV of Hungary, but apparently left to her by her mother Queen Yolanda), and mentioned that she had 5 daughters with the king.