Yolande | |
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Tomb of Aimone and Yolande
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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.
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.
They had five children:
Yolande herself died whilst giving birth to her son Louis on 24 December 1342, and she was buried in a chapel at Hautecombe Abbey.
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.