Yolanda de Dreux

Yolanda was the daughter of Robert IV , Count of Dreux , and Beatrice de Montfort . The Yolanda family was distant relatives to the kings of France from the Capetian dynasty, and also had close ties with other powerful aristocratic families. Her father was a descendant of King Louis VI of France , her grandmother Maria de Bourbon was the cousin of Count of Flanders Guy de Dampier , while her mother was the only child of Count de Montfort-l'Amoury Jean I. Yolanda inherited the title of Countess Montfort from her mother.

Yolanda became the second wife of Alexander III , king of Scotland, who married a young Frenchwoman because after the death of his son Alexander , he needed the heir to the throne. Also, marrying Yolanda, Alexander even more distanced himself from his neighbor Edward I of England , than emphasized the sovereignty of Scotland. Yolanda was a close relative of Alexander III, because they had the same ancestors from the aristocratic houses of Kushi and Dreu.

Wedding celebrations were held on October 15, 1285 at Jedburg Abbey. However, family life was short-lived. King Alexander died from March 18 to March 19, 1286, falling from his horse when he was in a hurry from Edinburgh to Yolanda in Kinghorn. It is believed that the queen by this time was pregnant with the expected heir, and the parliament, meeting in Skoon on April 2 or 28, 1286, appointed the Guardians to manage the affairs of the kingdom.

It is not known exactly what happened to Yolanda’s child. Most likely, she had a miscarriage. Nevertheless, according to one of the reports of the Guardians who gathered in Klakmannan on St. Katerina's day (November 25, 1286) to testify the birth, the child was born stillborn, or, it is possible that she had a false pregnancy, and according to one dubious English report, she faked a pregnancy.

Yolanda married a second time in 1292 to the Duke of Breton, Arthur II . This marriage was longer and more fruitful; Yolanda and Arthur had six children:

• Jean (c. 1294 - September 26, 1345), Earl de Montfort (under the name of Jean II ; from 1330), Earl of Richmond (1341-1342), Duke of Brittany ( Jean IV ; 1341-1345).
• Beatrice (December 7, 1295 - December 9, 1384); husband: from 1315 Guy X (d.1347), seigneur de Laval
• Jeanne (c. 1296 - May 24, 1364); husband: Robert of Flanders (d. 1331), Count de Marl
• Alice (c. 1297 - 1377); husband: Bouchard VI (d.1341), Count de Vendome
• Blanca (born c. 1300), died as a child
• Mary (c. 1302 - May 24, 1371), nun

Arthur died in 1312, after which he was succeeded by his son Jean III the Good , born of his first marriage. It should be distinguished from Jean de Montfort, born of Yolanda.

Yolanda survived Arthur, passing away on August 2, 1330. Her county Montfort passed to her son Jean, who subsequently unsuccessfully fought for his rights to the duchy of Breton in the wars for the Breton inheritance .

• Duncan AAM The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. - Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002 .-- ISBN 0-7486-1626-8 .
• Macdougall Norman . L'Écosse à la fin du XIIIe sieclè: un royaume menacé. // James Laidlaw (ed.) The Auld Alliance: France and Scotland over 700 Years. - Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999. - ISBN 0-9534945-0-0 .