Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat

Not to be confused with her grandmother, the Byzantine empress Yolande of Montferrat.

Yolande Palaiologina or Violant (Moncalvo, June 1318 – Chambery, 24 December 1342) was the Countess consort of Savoy by marriage to Aimone, Count of Savoy. She was the daughter of Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat, and Argentina Spinola (1303-1356),^[1] a Genoese lady, daughter of Opicino Spinola. She received the name Yolande from her paternal grandmother Irene of Montferrat.

Yolande
Tomb of Aimone and Yolande
Countess of Savoy
Tenure	1 May 1330 – 24 December 1342
Born	June 1318 Moncalvo
Died	24 December 1342 (aged 23–24) Chambery
Burial	Hautecombe Abbey
Spouse	Aimone, Count of Savoy
Issue	Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy Bianca, Lady of Milan
House	Palaeologus-Montferrat
Father	Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat
Mother	Argentina Spinola

Life

On 1 May 1330 Yolande married Aimone, Count of Savoy;^[2] from her marriage she became countess of Savoy, Aosta and Moriana. Her marriage was arranged to seal the newly found peace between her family and the counts of Savoy, and on the basis that the latter would succeed to Montferrato in case of extinction in the male line of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family. According also to this act of inheritance in Montferatto, when the male line died out of the House of Palaeologus-Montferrat with the death of Bonifacio IV of Montferrat two centuries later, Charles III, Duke of Savoy, laid claim to Montferrato through Yolande his great-great-great-great grandmother. However it was claimed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

After failing to produce a child for the count in the first few years of marriage, she went to the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Bourg-en-Bresse, which was considered at the time to help marriages become fruitful. Not long after, she conceived a son, Amadeus. She returned to the shrine after his birth, and was pleased to then conceive a daughter.^[3]

Yolande died whilst giving birth to her son Louis on 24 December 1342, and she was buried in a chapel at Hautecombe Abbey.^[4]

Issue

They had:

1. Amadeus VI (Amadeo VI) (1334–1383)^[3]
2. Bianca (1336–1388),^[3] married in 1350 to Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan^[5]
3. John (1338–1345), died young^[6]
4. Catherine (1341), died young^[6]
5. Louis (b. 24 December 1342), died young^[6]

References

1. Knowles 1983, p. 20.
2. Cox 1967, p. 12-13.
3. Cox 1967, p. 13.
4. Cox 1967, p. 31.
5. Williams 2004, Table VI.
6. Cox 1967, p. 14.

Sources

• Cox, Eugene L. (1967). The Green Count of Savoy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. LCCN 67-11030.
• Knowles, Christine (1983). Les Enseignements de Theodore Paleologue (in French). The Modern Humanities Research Association.
• Williams, George L. (2004). Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes. McFarland & Company, Inc.

Preceded by Bianca of Burgundy

Countess of Savoy 1330–1342

Succeeded by Bonne of Bourbon