Bianca of Savoy (1337–

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, 31 December 1387) was Lady of Milan by marriage to

Galeazzo II Visconti Galeazzo II Visconti ( – 4 August 1378) was a member of the Visconti dynasty and a ruler of Milan, Italy. His most notable military campaigns were against Pope Gregory XI, around 1367. These battles fought between the papacy and the Viscon ...

. She was the only surviving daughter of Aimone, Count of Savoy and

Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat Yolande Palaiologina or ''Violant'' (Moncalvo, June 1318 – Chambery, 24 December 1342) was the Countess consort of Savoy by marriage to Aimone, Count of Savoy. She was the daughter of Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat, and Argentina Spinola ...

Early life

Bianca was the second of five children born to Count Aimone and Yolande, herself the daughter of

Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat Theodore I Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Θεόδωρος Παλαιολόγος, full name: ''Theodoros Komnenos Doukas Angelos Palaiologos'') ( – 24 April 1338) was Marquis of Montferrat from 1306 until his death. Life He was a son of E ...

(1291–1338) and Genoese noblewoman Argentina Hispanola. When Bianca was six years old she lost her mother Yolande, who died giving birth on 24 December 1342 to her younger brother Louis, who died in childhood. Six months later on 22 June 1343 her father, Aimone died. In 1345, negotiations were started for her to marry a son of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

, to renew the relationship between

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 ...

and England. Bianca was raised in the CastleThe castle, built at the mouth of the Leysse by the grandfather of Bianca,

Thomas II of Piedmont Thomas II (c. 1199 – 7 February 1259) was the Lord of Piedmont from 1233 to his death, Count of Flanders ''jure uxoris'' from 1237 to 1244, and regent of the County of Savoy from 1253 to his death, while his nephew Boniface was fighting abroa ...

. It is now in ruins. of the Counts of Savoy on the shores of Lake Bourget. In 1345 tragedy struck when Bianca's younger brother John died. This left only one son and heir to Savoy, Bianca's older brother Amadeus VI, the "Green Count" of Savoy. The period was marked by the devastating epidemic of 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 ...

that killed off much of the population of Europe between 1347 and 1350.

Lady of Milan

In an attempt to curb the expansionist policies of Bianca's uncle

John II, Marquess of Montferrat John II Palaeologus (5 February 1321 – 19 March 1372) was the Margrave of Montferrat from 1338. Career John was the son of Theodore I of Montferrat, with whom he was associated in the government from 1336. He had great fortune in extending ...

, an alliance was established on the 22 October 1349 between

Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy Amadeus VI (4 January 1334 – 1 March 1383), nicknamed the Green Count ( it, Il Conte Verde) was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aymon, Count of Savoy, and Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Though he started unde ...

and Giovanni Visconti of Milan. In the agreements, a marriage was arranged between Bianca and Giovanni's nephew

. On 28 September 1350 at Rivoli, Bianca and Galeazzo were married, he was sixteen years her senior. Only weeks after the marriage in October 1350, Galeazzo was asked by his uncle to seize the city of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

but his fragile health forced him to leave the conquest. After moving to

in 1351 their first child was born,

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the foundi ...

, then in 1352 a daughter, Maria (who died aged ten in April 1362) and then another daughter Violante in 1354. In 1360 Galeazzo was appointed Imperial vicar by

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

and

fell under the domination of the Visconti family. Bianca followed her husband here who built the Visconti Castle where she educated, availed herself of illustrious friends, including

Francesco Petrarca Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

founder of the Library Visconti, which brought the first copies of

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

. When war broke out between Milan and her uncle John II, on the side of the latter was Bianca's brother, Count Amadeus VI. Bianca tried to whatever means to avert quarrels between him and her husband. The conflict ended with a dedication by John II in occupied areas of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Later life

When the state of her husband's health deteriorated, the couple relocated to

Cortenova Cortenova ( Valassinese lmo, Cornöva) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about north of Lecco.All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical ...

. Galeazzo died in 1378. Bianca founded the Franciscan Monastery Cortenova dedicated to St. Clare of Assisi. In the last years of life, Bianca spent time raising her granddaughter, Valentina, whom she taught French and German. In 1385, together with her son, she participated in a conspiracy against

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he an ...

. The conspiracy succeeded, and Bernabò died half a year later in captivity. Bianca's son Gian Galeazzo was then the sole ruler of Milan. In 1386, Violante died. Bianca took the death of her daughter very badly. Bianca died on 31 December 1387 at the age of 51. She was buried at

Pavia Santa Chiara Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capi ...

Issue

Gian Galeazzo Gian Galeazzo Sforza (20 June 1469 – 21 October 1494), also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan. Early life Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only seven years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assa ...

(November 1351 – 3 September 1402), succeeded his father as

Lord of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elect ...

. Married firstly to

Isabella of France Isabella of France ( – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II, and regent of England from 1327 until 1330. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving ...

and secondly to

Caterina Visconti Caterina Visconti (1361 – 17 October 1404) was Duchess of Milan as the second spouse of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duchy of Milan, Duke of Milan, and was the mother of two succeeding Dukes of Milan, Gian Maria Visconti, Gian Maria and ...

. #Maria (1352 – April 1362), betrothed to the future

Secondotto, Marquess of Montferrat Secondotto Palaeologus (also ''Otho'' or ''Ottone''; died 16 December 1378) was the Margrave of Montferrat from 1372 to his death, the third of the House of Palaeologus-Montferrat. His name ''Secondotto'' may derive from his being the second Otto ...

with

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...

as her dowry; she died before the wedding took place. # Violante (1354 – November 1386), married firstly to

Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (; 29 November 133817 October 1368) was the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was named after his birthplace, at Antwerp in the Duc ...

, secondly to

and thirdly to Lodovico Visconti.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianca Of Savoy 1337 births People from Chambéry 1387 deaths 14th-century Italian women House of Savoy House of Visconti 14th-century people from Savoy