Bianca of Burgundy (1288 – July 1348), was a Countess consort of

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

by marriage to

Edward, Count of Savoy Edward (1284–1329), surnamed the Liberal, was Count of Savoy from 1323 to 1329. He was the son of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, Amadeus V and his first wife Sybille of Bâgé. Edward was born at Baugé. He was married to Bianca of Burgundy, Blanc ...

. She was the mother of Joan of Savoy.

Life

She was born to

Robert II, Duke of Burgundy Robert II of Burgundy (1248 – 21 March 1306) was Duke of Burgundy between 1272 and 1306 as well as titular King of Thessalonica. Robert was the third son of duke Hugh IV and Yolande of Dreux. He married Agnes, youngest daughter of Louis IX of ...

, and Agnes of France. She married in 1307

. 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 The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

, 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;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 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 fo 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 The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. This led to his brief engagement with Joan of Burgundy, daughter of Philip of Burgundy and

Joan I, Countess of Auvergne Joan I (8 May 1326 – 29 September 1360, Chateau d'Argilly) was ruling Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne from 1332 to 1360 and Queen of France by her marriage to King John II. Life She was the daughter of William XII, Count of Auvergne and Bou ...

. She died July 1348, perhaps from the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

Notes

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianca Of Burgundy 1288 births 1348 deaths Countesses of Savoy 13th-century French women 13th-century French people 14th-century French women 14th-century French people