Jeanne de Laval

Jeanne de Laval (10 November 1433- 19 December 1498), was the second wife and Queen consort of René I of Anjou (16 January 1409- 10 July 1480), King of Naples, Sicily, titular King of Jerusalem, Aragon, Majorca, Duke of Anjou, Bar, Lorraine, Count of Provence and Piedmont.

She was the step-mother of Margaret of Anjou Queen consort of King Henry VI of England.

Detail of The Burning Bush triptych, which shows Jeanne de Laval and René of Anjou

Biography

Jeanne was born on 10 November 1433 at Auray, the daughter of Guy XIV de Laval, Count of Laval and Isabella of Brittany. Her paternal grandparents were Jean de Montfort and Anne de Laval. Her father was a companion of Joan of Arc. His eldest son Francis, who was Grand Master of France would succeed him as Guy XV, Count of Laval.

On 10 September 1454, at the Abbey of St.Nicholas in Angers, Jeanne married King René of Naples and Sicily, Duke of Anjou, whose first wife, Isabella of Lorraine had died the previous year. She was 21 years old. Her husband was more than 20 years her senior. The marriage was happy. She became the step-mother to René's children, who included, John II, Duke of Lorraine, Queen consort Margaret of Anjou, and Yolande of Bar. Jeanne's marriage to René was childless.

René composed a 10,000 verse ode to Jeanne entitled, The Idyl of Regnault and Jeanneton. The poem was a debate on love between a shepherd and shepherdess with a pilgrim as arbiter. During his stay at Tarascon in Provence, René granted Jeanne the barony of Les Baux, which belonged to the Counts of Provence. She exchanged it on 18 February 1475 at Aix for Berre.

René died on 10 July 1480. Jeanne died on 19 December 1498 at the Chateau de Beaufort-en-Vallée, Maine-et-Loire. She was 65 years of age. Jeanne was buried in Angers egalise des Cordeliers.

References

1. Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Anjou