Blanche of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy

Countess of Savoy
Blanche of Burgundy
Countess of Savoy
Blanche (left) with Louis IX (right)
Born1288
DiedJuly 1348 (aged 59–60)
SpouseEdward, Count of Savoy
IssueJoan of Savoy
HouseBurgundy
FatherRobert II, Duke of Burgundy
MotherAgnes of France

Bianca of Burgundy (1288 – July 1348), was a Countess consort of Savoy by marriage to Edward, Count of Savoy. She was the mother of Joan of Savoy.

Life

She was born to Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, and Agnes of France. She married in 1307 Edward, Count of Savoy.[1]

The marriage was arranged by her mother, and the negotiations was signed at the French court of her uncle, the king of France, in Paris. In the marriage contract, her future spouse was officially secured the position of heir to Savoy. The wedding took place on 17 October 1307 at the Château de Montbard in Burgundy. In 1323, her spouse succeeded to become Count of Savoy. She commissioned a Book of Hours, titled Hours of Savoy, later kept at the Beinecke Library, Yale University. Her daughter Joan married the duke of Brittany in 1329.

Blanche was widowed when her spouse Edward died in Gentilly in 1329. Her was succeeded by his brother Aymon. Blanche negotiated with her brother-in-law about her dowry until 8 February 1330, when she was secured Bourg, Treffort, Coligny, Jasseron, Trivier, Pont-de-Vesle and Pontdevaux in Bresse;[2] she was also granted a house in Faubourg Saint-Marcel in Paris by the king of France in 1333.

Her daughter Joan questioned the succession and claimed the rights to Savoy from her uncle between 1329 and 1339. In 1346 and 1347, she used her influence at the court of her nephew, Amadeus VI, to pursue closer alliances with Burgundy to offset the pending sale of the Dauphiné to France. This led to his brief engagement with Joan of Burgundy, daughter of Philip of Burgundy and Joan I, Countess of Auvergne.[3]

She died July 1348, perhaps from the Black Death.[4]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Blanche of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy
16. Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy
8. Odo III, Duke of Burgundy
17. Alice of Lorraine
4. Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy
18. Hugues, Seigneur de Vergy
9. Alice of Vergy
19. Gillette de Trainel
2. Robert II, Duke of Burgundy
20. Robert II, Count of Dreux
10. Robert III, Count of Dreux
21. Yolanda de Coucy
5. Yolande of Dreux
11. Alianor de St. Valéry
1. Blanche of Burgundy
24. Philip II of France
12. Louis VIII of France
25. Isabella of Hainault
6. Louis IX of France
26. Alfonso VIII of Castile
13. Blanche of Castile
27. Eleanor of England
3. Agnes of France
28. Alfonso II, Count of Provence
14. Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence
29. Garsenda, Countess of Forcalquier
7. Margaret of Provence
30. Thomas, Count of Savoy
15. Beatrice of Savoy
31. Margaret of Geneva

Notes

  1. ^ Cox 1967, p. 59.
  2. ^ Samuel Guichenon, Histoire généalogique de la Royale Maison de Savoie ou Histoire généalogique de la Royale Maison de Savoie justifiée par titres, fondations de monastères, manuscrits, anciens monuments, histoires, et autres preuves authentiques, chez Jean-Michel Briolo, 1660
  3. ^ Cox 1967, p. 59–61.
  4. ^ Cox 1967, p. 70.

References

  • Cox, Eugene L. (1967). The Green Count of Savoy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. LCCN 67-11030.
Blanche of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Born: 1288 Died: July 1348
Royal titles
Preceded by Countess of Savoy
1323–1329 		Succeeded by