Yolande of Aragon

Overview

Yolande of Aragon was Charles VII’s mother-in-law and a principal dynastic supporter of the Valois cause during its weakest phase in the Hundred Years’ War.

Current Profile

The episode presents Yolande as an active political backer rather than a merely familial connection. Her daughter Marie married Charles, and the birth of their son Louis in 1423 strengthened her investment in preserving a Valois succession after the Treaty of Troyes had disinherited Charles.

Her support mattered inside a coalition whose resources and legitimacy were precarious. Charles remained uncrowned, English and Burgundian power dominated much of northern France, and defeat at Verneuil preceded the crisis at Orléans. The source identifies Yolande’s commitment as one element sustaining the alternative dynasty until Joan of Arc’s mission changed its prospects.

Key Characteristics

• Angevin dynastic actor supporting the disinherited Dauphin Charles.
• Mother-in-law whose daughter’s marriage tied her family to the Valois succession.
• Grandmother whose grandson Louis gave the threatened line a future heir.
• Political supporter operating during English-Burgundian military predominance.

Evidence

• Dynastic connection: 632. Joan of Arc: Warrior Maid (Part 1) connects Yolande to her daughter Marie’s marriage to Charles and the birth of Louis in 1423.
• Political support: 632. Joan of Arc: Warrior Maid (Part 1) presents her as a forceful backer of Charles while he remained uncrowned and strategically weak.

Qualifications

This profile rests on one episode’s compressed contextual account rather than a full biography. It does not quantify Yolande’s financial, diplomatic, military, or court influence, isolate her role from other Dauphinist supporters, or establish her views of Joan before the later court examination.

What Changed

• Created a source-bounded profile of Yolande as the dynastic supporter linking Charles’s marriage, heir, and survival during the pre-Orléans crisis.

Relationships

• Charles VII of France - son-in-law and claimant whose cause she supported.
• Treaty of Troyes - settlement that threatened the succession of her daughter and grandson.
• Hundred Years’ War - conflict in which her dynastic support operated.
• Joan of Arc - later supporter of Charles whose mission entered the coalition Yolande helped preserve.