Yolande (Dreux) Duchesse de Bretagne (abt. 1263 - 1330)

Born about 1263 in Dreux, Eure Et Loir, Centre, France [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Alexander (Dunkeld) King of Scots — married 14 Oct 1285 in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland

Descendants

Died 2 Aug 1330 at about age 67 in Paris, France

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Yolande (Dreux) Duchesse de Bretagne was a member of Scottish Nobility. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

“Queen consort of Scotland," "Reine d'Écosse," "comtesse de Montfort l'Amaury"

House of Dreux [Maison capétienne de Dreux]

Birth and Parents

Yolande de Dreux was born the daughter of Robert de Dreux and Beatrix de Montfort. ^[1]

Marriage to Alexander III, King of Scots

She married 1st Alexander III, King of Scots on 14 Oct 1285 at Jedburgh, Scotland, who died in a tragic accident on 19 Mar 1286. ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Scottish Succession Crisis

The untimely death of her robust young husband on 19 Mar 1286 left Scotland. “a land without a king,” and thrust Yolande, Queen consort of Scots into the center of an unprecedented succession crisis. After the children of Alexander III, two sons and a daughter, had predeceased him, this left as his heir, the only surviving descendant of the Dunkeld Dynasty, a three-year-old, granddaughter, Margrete Eriksdatter, Princess of Norway. However, she could not be made queen if the widow, Yolande, might be pregnant with a viable heir. Her child, male or female, would have the stronger claim to the crown. In this uncertain environment, and fearing the long-standing ambitions of Edward I, King of England to seize Scotland, leading Scot nobles, notably Robert Bruce, John Balliol, and John Comyn, took steps to preserve their own claims to the throne, initiating a fierce competition that led to war within a decade. “This issue of the succession would turn from a short-term crisis into a drawn-out military and political struggle, and the next three generations of Scots would face the issues raised by this sustained crisis…the course of the struggle would transform the character of the thirteenth-century kingdom and threaten its survival.” ^[8] As a "foreign" French queen, Yolande and any unborn child could expect little support from any quarter. ^[9][10]

“Alexander was buried in Dunfermline on 29 March, Yolande moved to Stirling Castle, and a meeting was called to discuss the succession crisis. Yolande might be pregnant, but even if she was, there was no knowing whether she would carry the baby to full term or give birth to the desired son. The nobles and churchmen who met at Scone on about 28 April therefore swore fealty to Princess Margaret of Norway, taking a solemn oath to guard and preserve Scotland for her, but acknowledging that if Yolande did have a son, then the throne would go to him. During the royal minority the country would be governed by six guardians acting with a council. It was also agreed that three envoys would be sent to Edward I to ask his advice about the situation. The truth about Yolande’s pregnancy remains unclear. According to the Lanercost chronicler, there were rumours that the Queen pretended to be expecting a child, with the intention of passing off some other woman’s son as her own in order to maintain her position in Scotland. The chronicler alleged that, when her deception was uncovered, Yolande was sent back to France in disgrace. However, since in 1288 the royal exchequer was still paying her the revenues from her jointure lands, this seems unlikely. Historians are now more inclined to believe that she suffered a miscarriage or gave birth that autumn to a son, who was either stillborn or died shortly afterwards. According to tradition, the baby was buried at Cambuskenneth. When she had recovered, Yolande returned to France.” ^[11]

In France, she created a new life and a new family, marrying Arthur II, Duc de Bretagne et Vicomte de Limoges. ^[1][12]

Children of Arthur II de Bretagne and Yolande Duchesse de Bretagne

1. Jean IV, Duke of Brittany, Count of Montfort-l'Aumury. ^[1]
2. Béatrix de Laval, wife of Guy IX, baron of Laval, seignieur of Vitré. ^[1]
3. Jeanne, wife of Robert of Flanders, Count of Marle. ^[1]
4. Alix de Bretagne, wife of Bouchard VI, Count of Vendôme. ^[1]
5. Blanche. ^[1]
6. Marie, nun at Poissy. ^[1]

According to Richardson, "Yolande, dowager Queen of Scotland, Duchess of Brittany, Countess of Montfort-l'Aumury, died 2 Aug 1322." ^[1] However, it is more likely that she "died on 2 August 1330 in the convent of Port-Royal des Champs outside of Paris." ^[13]

Research Notes

1. Please refer to Scotland Project - Reliable Sources for pre-1500 profiles, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Scotland_-_Reliable_Sources.
2. Estimated birth year, 1263. She married in 1285 and died in 1330. The unsourced birth year of 1263 would make her 22 years old at her marriage and 67 at death; possible and not unlikely.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, 593-595.
2. ↑ Cawley, Charles, Medieval Lands: a Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families, (Hereford, UK: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2006) Chapter 3. KINGS of SCOTLAND (DUNKELD), B. KINGS OF SCOTLAND 1034-1290, ALEXANDER of Scotland,1. Alexander.
3. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), 94-102, 280.
4. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour, The Scots Peerage; Founded on Wood’s Edition of Sir Robert Douglas’s Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of That Kingdom, (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904), vol. 1, 6.
5. ↑ electricscotland. Significant Scots Alexander, Kings I, II & III. Muskegon, MI: Electric Scotland USA LLC (2022), Alexander III.
6. ↑ Fordun, John, John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish nation. Skene, William F. (ed). (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1872), bk. v., chap. xxiv, 289-305.
7. ↑ Brown, Michael, The Wars of Scotland 1214-1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 4 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 67, 141.
8. ↑ Brown, Michael, The Wars of Scotland 1214-1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 4 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 157.
9. ↑ Nicholson, Ronald, Scotland, The Later Middle Ages, The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 2, (Edinburgh: Mercat Press, 1997), 28-29.
10. ↑ Brown, Michael, The Wars of Scotland 1214-1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 4 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 158-9.
11. ↑ Marshall, Rosalind K., Scottish Queens: The Queens and Consorts who Shaped a Nation, Kindle edition, (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2019), 26-27. [Kindle].
12. ↑ Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, 550.
13. ↑ Rivet de La Grange, Antoine, Nécrologe de l'abbaye de Notre-Dame de Port-Royal-des-Champs, (Netherlands: n.p., 1723), 300.

See also:

• Wikipedia contributors, House of Dreux, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), House of Dreux.
• Wikipedia contributors, Yolande of Dreux, Queen of Scotland, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), Yolande of Dreux, Queen of Scotland.