Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          8 Jun 1236 Zaragoza, Aragon
Death:          1301 Roncesvalles, Navarre

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violant_of_Aragon
Violant or Violante of Aragon, also known as Yolanda of Aragon (8 June 1236–1301), 
was Queen consort of Castile and León from 1252 to 1284 as the wife of King Alfonso 
X.
Life[edit]

Violant was born in Zaragoza, the daughter of King James I of Aragon (1213–1276) 
and his second wife, Yolande of Hungary (ca.1215-1253).[1] Her maternal 
grandparents were Andrew II of Hungary and Yolanda de Courtenay.[2]

In January 1249, Violant married King Alfonso X of Castile at Burgos,[1] who before his 
marriage, had a romantic relationship with Mayor Guillén de Guzmán who bore to him 
an illegitimate daughter Beatrice.

Due to Violant's young age, she was unable to get pregnant for several years. Alfonso 
came to believe that his wife was barren and came to even consider the possibility of 
asking the pope for an annulment of the marriage.

Legend has it that the Queen could not get pregnant and the doctor told her to rest. 
Alicante was recaptured by the Crown of Castile and the King and Queen rested in a 
farm located in the fields near the city, and there she became pregnant; the King 
decided to call the place "Pla del Bon Repos" ("Plain of good sleep"), a name that 
has been left to posterity and today is a suburb of Alicante.

In 1275, Violant's son and heir to Castile, Ferdinand de la Cerda died heir to the 
Castilian-Leonese throne and Alfonso at first ignored the rights of Ferdinand's two 
sons, Alfonso and Fernando, and instead made their second son, Prince Sancho heir; 
he would later succeed as Sancho IV of Castile.

In response, the widow of Ferdinand, Blanche of France, enlisted the help of her 
brother, Philip III of France. At the same time, queen Violant sought support for her 
grandchildren from her brother, King Peter III of Aragon, who agreed to protect and 
guard them in the kingdom of Aragon, accommodating her grandchildren in the Castle 
of Xativa. During the reign of her son Sancho IV, and the latter's son, Ferdinand IV of 
Castile, Queen Violant lived almost permanently in Aragon and she supported the 
rights to the throne of Castile and León of her grandson, Alfonso de la Cerda.

In 1276, Violant founded the Convent of San Pablo in Valladolid. This was erected in 
honor of the Hungarian Order of St. Paul. Violant's mother brought some Hungarian 
influence on the Spanish culture, and also introduced the Order of St. Paul.

Queen Violant of Aragon died at Roncesvalles, in the kingdom of Navarre in 1301, on 
her return from Rome, where she had won the Jubilee in 1300.

Children[edit]

Alfonso and Violant had the following children:
1.Berengaria (1253 – after 1284). She was betrothed to Louis, the son and heir of King 
Louis IX of France, but her fiance died prematurely in 1260. She entered the convent 
in Las Huelgas, where she was living in 1284.
2.Beatrice (1254–1280). She married William VII, Marquess of Montferrat.
3.Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile (23 October 1255 – 25 July 1275). He 
married Blanche, the daughter of King Louis IX of France, by whom he had two 
children. Because he predeceased his father, his younger brother Sancho inherited 
the throne.
4.Eleanor (1257–1275)
5.Sancho IV of Castile (13 May 1258 – 1295)
6.Constance (1258 – 22 August 1280), a nun at Las Huelgas.
7.Peter, Lord of Ledesma (June 1260 – 10 October 1283)
8.John, Lord of Valencia de Campos (March or April 1262 – 25 June 1319).
9.Isabella, died young.
10.Violant (1265–1296). She married Diego López V de Haro, Lord of Biscay
11.James, Lord of Cameros (August 1266 – 9 August 1284)

Parents
____ Jaime I "The Conqueror" (1 Feb 1207 - 25 Jul 1276)
____ Yolande (Jolan) (ABT 1215 - 12 Oct 1251)

Siblings
OF ARAGON Yolanda (Violante) (8 Jun 1236 - 1301)
OF ARAGON Pedro III "the Great" (1239 - 2 Nov 1285)
OF ARAGON Isabel (1248 - 28 Jan 1271)

Marriage To ____ Alfonso X "El Sabio" (23 Nov 1221 - 4 Apr 1284)
    m. 1249 

Notes

Parents
ALFONSEZ Fernando III "The Saint" (5 Aug 1201 - 30 May 1252)
VON HOHENSTAUFEN Elizabeth (1205 - 5 Nov 1235)

Children by ____ Alfonso X "El Sabio" 23 Nov 1221 - 4 Apr 1284
ALFONSEZ Sancho IV "the Brave" (12 May 1258 - 25 Apr 1295)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017