Yolande de Dreux

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Seal of Yolande de Dreux

Yolande de Dreux (also Yolanda von Dreux ) († after February 1, 1324 ) was a French noblewoman. As the wife of the Scottish King Alexander III. she was first Queen of Scotland before she became Duchess of Brittany through her second marriage .

origin

Yolande was one of the daughters of Count Robert IV von Dreux and his wife Beatrice . Her mother was the heir to Count Jean de Montfort-l'Amaury and his wife Jeanne de Châteaudun . As count of the County of Dreux, about 60 km west of Paris, her father was a powerful vassal of the French crown and had good connections to numerous members of the French nobility. Through her father, Yolande was a direct descendant of the French King Louis VI. According to the Lanercost Chronicle , she is said to have entered a monastery as a nun before she renounced her spiritual life again because of the prospect of marrying the Scottish king. There is no evidence for this, however, and nothing is mentioned in other chronicles of an earlier monastic life of Yolande. Since the chronicler of Lancercost reported mainly negative about Yolande and her first husband, this claim should be viewed very critically.

Queen of Scotland

In February 1285, the Scottish King Alexander III sent. a delegation to France to find a new wife for him. Margaret , the king's first wife, had died in 1275, and by early 1284 the couple's three children had also died, making Margaret of Norway , the king's only granddaughter, the next heir to the throne. For dynastic reasons, the king wanted to marry again in order to have a son as direct heir to the throne. The Scottish Legation selected the young Yolande as the bride for the king. In the summer of 1285 she traveled to Scotland with her brother Jean , and the wedding took place on October 14th in the presence of a large number of Scottish and French nobles. Allegedly, however, the celebration was overshadowed by dark omens, and in fact the king had a fatal accident on March 18, 1286 when he was riding ahead of his entourage on the way to his wife in Kinghorn . At this point, Yolande was already pregnant, after which several Guardians took over the reign of Scotland. In late November 1285, Yolande either miscarried or the child died shortly after birth. There are different reports about her pregnancy, and according to the chronicler of Lanercost, she should not have been pregnant at all, but should have tried to pass the child of a strange woman as her own. The Earl of Buchan is said to have thwarted this plan and sent Yolande back to France. In view of several inconsistencies in the report, the Lanercost chronicler has apparently only written down unconfirmed rumors or even deliberately misinformation.

Queen widow and second marriage

In fact, after the king's death, Yolande initially continued to live in Scotland, possibly in Stirling Castle . As the king's widow, she was entitled to an appropriate widow until her death . She received £ 200 a year from Berwick's income and owned properties in Stirlingshire and a stud farm in Jedworth . Eventually she returned to France and in May 1294 married Arthur , the eldest son of Duke John II of Brittany and his wife Beatrix , a sister of the English King Edward I. Yolande was the heir to the county of Montfort-l'Amaury a worthwhile game for Arthur, but over the potential inheritance there was a legal battle between Yolande and her sister Jeanne and her husband Jean de Roucy . After the death of her mother in 1311, Yolande was able to enforce her inheritance claim. In 1305, after the death of his father, Yolandes husband inherited the Duchy of Brittany , but he died in 1312. After his death, Johann III inherited . , the eldest son from her husband's first marriage, Brittany.

In Scotland, Margaret of Norway, the granddaughter of Alexander III. inherited the claim to the throne. However, when she died unexpectedly in 1290, the direct line of the Scottish royal family was extinguished. Thirteen descendants of previous Scottish kings now claimed the throne , which led to an extensive dispute over succession and finally to a war of independence against England . Yolande continued to insist on their Scottish possessions and income. In October 1323 a French knight was granted safe conduct to travel to Scotland and take care of Yolandes Wittum there. Yolande is mentioned for the last time on February 1, 1324 when she was looking after her daughter Marie , who had entered a convent as a nun. The date of her death is unknown.

Descendants and inheritance

From her second marriage to Arthur, Yolande had several children:

After her death, her son Johann inherited the county of Montfort-l'Amaury. When his half-brother, Duke Johann III. died of Brittany, he had appointed his niece Johanna as heir. Johann von Montfort did not accept his niece as heir and claimed the title of duke himself, which led to the Breton War of Succession . His son, Yolandes grandson Johann , was finally able to win this war .

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predecessor Office Successor
Johanna Queen Consort of Scotland
1285–1286 		Elizabeth de Burgh
personal data
SURNAME Dreux, Yolande de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dreux, Yolanda de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Royal Consort of King Alexander III of Scotland
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH after February 1, 1324