Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine
The Angevin princess who was Duchess of Lorraine for a year, then strategically stepped aside to secure her family's dynastic future.
1428–1483 (age 55)·Duchess of Lorraine in 1473·Birthday: November 2
Biography
Yolande of Anjou was born into the tangled, high-stakes world of 15th-century European nobility as the daughter of René, Duke of Anjou, and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Her life was less about personal rule and more about being a crucial piece in a complex geopolitical chess game. Heiress to the Duchy of Bar and, after her mother's death, Lorraine, her brief official reign as Duchess of Lorraine in 1473 was immediately followed by a calculated abdication. She transferred her rights first to her husband, Frederick of Vaudémont, and later to their son, René II. This move was not one of weakness but of shrewd strategy, consolidating the fractured territories of Lorraine and Bar under a single male ruler to strengthen them against powerful neighbors like Burgundy. Her legacy is one of dynastic stabilization, ensuring the survival and unity of her lands through a self-effacing political sacrifice.
#1 When Yolande, Was Born
The biggest hits of 1428
Yolande,'s Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1428Born
1433Started school
1441Became a teenager
1444Could drive
1446Could vote
1449Turned 21
1458Turned 30
1468Turned 40
1478Turned 50
1483Died at 55
Key Achievements
- Served as the ruling Duchess of Lorraine for a brief period in 1473 following her mother's death.
- Was Countess of Vaudémont and heiress to the Duchy of Bar through her father, René of Anjou.
- Her marriage to Frederick of Vaudémont united two competing branches of the House of Lorraine.
- Her abdication in favor of her son, René II, secured a unified and stronger Duchy of Lorraine.
Did You Know?
Her younger sister was Margaret of Anjou, the formidable Queen of England and wife of Henry VI.
Her father, René of Anjou, was a claimant to the thrones of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem.
She was married at the age of 16 to Frederick, Count of Vaudémont, to settle a family feud.
The famous 'Portrait of a Young Princess' (likely her sister Margaret) by the Master of the Dreux Budé is sometimes misidentified as being of Yolande.
“My claim is not through a sword, but through my blood.”
