Yolande of Valois (23 September 1434 – 23 August 1478), also called Yolande of France, was
Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke
Amadeus IX of Savoy, and regent of Savoy during the minority of her son
Philibert I of Savoy from 1472 until 1478.
Yolande married Duke
Amadeus IX of Savoy in 1452.[3] After her wedding, she brought three chests of books with her.[4] Yolande's husband became duke of Savoy in 1465, making her duchess. Her husband's retiring disposition and
epilepsy left her in control of the state,[5] to struggle with the Savoyard barons.
Regency
After the death of her spouse in March 1472, Yolande became regent for her son
Philibert until her own death.[6] Like her brother
Charles, she was an ally to
Charles, Duke of Burgundy, against her own brother
Louis XI of France. After the humiliation of Burgundy at the
Battle of Grandson in 1476, the duke accused her of being in league with Louis and imprisoned her. After her release, she made peace with her brother and remained on good terms with him until her death. She is said to have been one of the very few women whose intelligence he respected.
Yolanda was the first person in Europe to own a
tiger, keeping one in a castle in
Turin in 1478.[7]
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