Queen Jeanne de Bourbon was a cousin-wife to King Charles V of France known as the Wise (le Sage). Jeanne was born on the 3rd of February 1338 at Château de Vincennes, in the town of Vincennes, to Pierre I de Bourbon, Duke de Bourbon, and Isabella de Valois, Princess...
A Lost Prince: Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales
Prince Arthur Tudor was the elder son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. Destined to become the first husband of Catherine of Aragon in years to come, he was born on the 20th of September 1486 at St Swithun’s Priory in Winchester, England. His birth cemented...
Violant de Bar, mother of Yolande of Aragon
Violant (or Yolande) de Bar was the 8th of 11 children of Robert I, Duke de Bar, and Marie de Valois, Princess of France and daughter of King Jean II of France called the Good (le Bon). Violant’s uncle was King Charles V the Wise (le Sage), at whose court...
Yolande of Aragon: her mother, Violant de Bar, as a role model
Yolande of Aragon was born on the 11th of August 1384 in Zaragoza, in Aragon. She was the only surviving daughter of King Juan (or John) I of Aragon (born in 1350) and Violant (or Yolande) de Bar (born c 1365). In order not to confuse mother and daughter, I...
Life of Louis II, Duke de Bourbon
Louis II, Duke de Bourbon, called the Good (le Bon) was a prince du sang (a prince of the blood). He was the oldest son of Duke Pierre I de Bourbon, and his spouse, Princess Isabelle de Valois, who was the sister of King Philippe VI the Fortunate (le Fortuné)....
Galeazzo II Visconti: a versatile legacy
Galeazzo II Visconti was a second son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. His parents had 3 sons: Matteo II, Galeazzo, and Bernabò. After Stefano’s passing in 1327, Galeazzo became Lord of Alessandria, Alba, Asti, Como, Tortona, Novara, Pavia, Vercelli and, together with the siblings Matteo II and Bernabò, co-Lord...
Eleanor of Provence: loved by Henry III, but unpopular with the English populace
Eleanor of Provence (Éléonore/Aliénor de Provence), who was Queen of England as wife of King Henry III of England, died on the 24th or 25th of June 1291 in England. She is one of the few English queens who was not buried at Fontevraud Abbey or Westminster Abbey. By the...
Bonne de Luxembourg: a Queen of France in waiting
Bonne de Luxembourg, first wife of King Jean II the Good (le Bon), was born on the 20th of May 1315. She was the second daughter of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, and his first spouse, Elisabeth of Bohemia. When the baby girl first saw the world, she was...
Suzanne de Bourbon: an intelligent, but sickly, Bourbon heiress
Suzanne de Bourbon was born on the 10th of May 1491 at Château de Châtellerault. Her parents were Pierre II, Seigneur de Beaujeu and later Duke de Bourbon and d’Auvergne, and Anne of France, who both served as co-regents of France during the minority of King Charles VIII of France...
Jeanne of France: a princess better suited to be a nun
Princess Jeanne of France was born on the 23rd of April 1464 (died on the 4th of February 1505) to King Louis XI of France known as the Cunning (le Rusé) or the Universal Spider (l’Universelle Aragne) and his second spouse, Charlotte de Savoy. Jeanne was the 5th couple’s child...
King Jean II of France: family background, personality, and actions
King Jean II of France known as the Good (le Bon) was born on the 16th of April 1319 at Château du Gué-de-Maulny near Le Mans, in France. Given the horrendous troubles his reign brought to France, I think that he should be known not as the Good, but as...
Isabelle de Hainaut: ancestress of the Capetian, Valois, and Bourbon dynasties
Isabelle de Hainaut, Queen of France, was the first wife of King Philippe II of France known as Augustus. She was born in Valenciennes on the 5th of April 1170 to Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and his wife, Countess Marguerite I of Flanders. Isabelle was their oldest daughter and...
Marie de France, sister to Richard the Lionheart and Philippe Augustus
Princess Marie de France, Countess de Champagne, passed away on the 11th of March, 1198. She was the first and oldest daughter of King Louis VII of France known as the Young (‘le Jeune’) and his first and legendary consort – Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, or Aliénor d’Aquitaine. According to...
A forgotten Valois prince: Charles, Count d’Angoulême and father of King François I (part 3)
Let’s speak about genealogy. Count Charles d’Angoulême was not as highly inbred as many of his Valois cousins were. However, how was the count related to his wife, Louis de Savoy? Louise de Savoy was the eldest daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Savoy and his first wife, Marguerite de...
Agnès Sorel: her famous romance with King Charles VII of France (part 2)
Today, on St Valentine’s Day, it is high time to speak about one of the most famous royal love stories – the romance of King Charles VII of France and Agnès Sorel. When and how did the monarch meet the woman who seems to have been the love of his...