Marie of Anjou

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Marie of Anjou
Marie d'Anjou.jpg
Queen consort of France
Tenure18 December 1422- 14 July 1461
Born14 October 1404
Angers
Died29 November 1463(1463-11-29) (aged 59)
Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou
Burial
Saint-Denis Basilica
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1422; died 1461)​
Issue
more...
HouseValois-Anjou
FatherLouis II of Anjou
MotherYolande of Aragon
ReligionRoman Catholic

Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463) was Queen of France as the spouse of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. She served as regent and presided over the council of state several times during the absence of the king.[1]

Life[]

Marie was the eldest daughter of Louis II of Anjou, claimant to the throne of Naples, and Yolande of Aragon, claimant to the throne of Aragon.[2]

Marie was betrothed to her second cousin Charles, son and heir apparent of Charles VI of France, in 1413.[2] When a Burgundian force took Paris in 1418, Charles left her stranded, but she was taken by John the Fearless to Saumur to be reunited with him. However, Charles failed to arrive for the agreed rendezvous.[3]

The wedding took place on 18 December 1422 at Bourges.[4] The marriage made Marie Queen of France, but as far as it is known, she was never crowned.[1] Her spouse's victory in the Hundred Years War owed a great deal to the support he received from Marie's family, notably from her mother Yolande of Aragon.

Queen[]

Queen Marie presided over the council of state several times in the absence of the king, during which she had power of attorney as regent and signed acts in the position of "lieutenant of the king" (April 1434).[1] She made several pilgrimages, such as Puy with the king in 1424, and Mount St Michel by herself in 1447.

Marie and Charles had fourteen children, but her spouse's affection was primarily directed towards his mistress, Agnès Sorel, originally Marie's lady in waiting, who became official mistress to the king in 1444 and played a dominant role at court until her death in 1450, somewhat eclipsing the queen.[1]

composed the allegorical Treatise of the "Twelve Perils of Hell" for Queen Marie in 1455.

Queen dowager[]

In 1461, Charles VII died and was succeeded by their son Louis XI, making Marie queen dowager. She was granted the Chateau of Amboise and the income from Brabant by her son.

During the winter of 1462-63, Marie of Anjou made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It has been speculated that she had a mission in Spain as secret ambassador for her son, due to the political situation at the time and the fact that she made the pilgrimage during winter time, when the roads were so bad that such trips were normally avoided if possible.

She died at the age of 59 on 29 November 1463 at the Cistercian Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou (now in Nouvelle-Aquitaine region) on her return. She is buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis alongside her spouse.

Issue[]

Marie was the mother of fourteen children:

Name Birth Death Notes
Louis 3 July 1423 30 August 1483 King of France. Married firstly, Margaret of Scotland, no issue. Married secondly, Charlotte of Savoy, had issue.
John 19 September 1426 Lived for a few hours.
Radegonde August 1428 19 March 1444 Betrothed to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria on 22 July 1430.
Catherine 1431/1432 13 July 1446 Married Charles the Bold, no issue.
James 1432 2 March 1437 Died aged five.
Yolande 23 September 1434 23/29 August 1478 Married Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy, had issue.
Joan 4 May 1435 4 May 1482 Married John II, Duke of Bourbon, no issue.
Philip 4 February 1436 11 June 1436 Died in infancy.
Margaret May 1437 24 July 1438 Died aged one.
Joan 7 September 1438 26 December 1446 Twin of Marie, died aged eight.
Mary 7 September 1438 14 February 1439 Twin of Joan, died in infancy.
Mary 1441 Died young.
Magdalena 1 December 1443 21 January 1495 Married Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana, had issue.
Charles 12 December 1446 24 May 1472 Died without legitimate issue.

Ancestry[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Gaude-Ferragu 2016, p. ?.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Green 2014, p. 190.
  3. ^ Jonathan Sumption (4 September 2015). The Hundred Years War, Volume 4: Cursed Kings. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 593. ISBN 978-0-8122-4799-2.
  4. ^ Ashdown-Hill 2016, p. xxiv.

Sources[]

  • Ashdown-Hill, John (2016). The Private Life of Edward IV. Amberley Publishing.
  • Gaude-Ferragu, Murielle (2016). Queenship in Medieval France, 1300-1500. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Green, David (2014). The Hundred Years War: A People's History. Yale University Press.
French royalty
Preceded by
Isabeau of Bavaria 		Queen consort of France
1422 – 22 July 1461 		Succeeded by
Charlotte of Savoy
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