Marie of Blois (1345-1404) was a daughter of Joan of Penthièvre, Duchess of Brittany and Charles of Blois, Duke of Brittany. Through her marriage to

Louis I, Duke of Anjou Louis I, Duke of Anjou (23 July 1339 – 20 September 1384) was a French prince, the second son of John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg, Bonne of Bohemia. His career was markedly unsuccessful. Born at the Château de Vincennes, Louis was th ...

, she became

Duchess of Anjou The Countesses and Duchesses of Anjou were the wives of the ruling counts of Anjou and later the nominal French counts and dukes of County of Anjou, Anjou. Countess of Anjou First creation House of Ingelger Plantagenets Second crea ...

, Countess of Maine, Duchess of Touraine, titular

Queen of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou In 1382, the Kin ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Countess of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

Biography

Marie married Louis I, son of

John II of France John II (french: Jean II; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: ''Jean le Bon''), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which kill ...

, in 1360. Throughout their marriage his official titles increased, though he would never actually rule the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. After his death in 1384, most of the towns in Provence revolted against her son, Louis II. Marie pawned her valuables and raised an army. She, her young son and the army went from town to town to gain support. In 1387 Louis II was formally recognized as Count in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

. She then appealed to

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...

to support her son in obtaining Naples. In 1390, Louis, supported by the pope and the French, set sail for Naples. Marie negotiated for a marriage between Louis and

Yolande of Aragon Yolande of Aragon (11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442) was Duchess of Anjou and Countess of Provence by marriage, who acted as regent of Provence during the minority of her son. She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Violant o ...

, to prevent the Aragonese from obstructing him there. They finally wed in 1400. Marie was an able administrator and on her deathbed revealed to Louis that she had saved the amount of 200,000 écus. This was to make sure that she could pay his ransom in case he was captured.

Issue

With Louis I she had the following children: * Marie (1370 – after 1383) *

Louis II of Anjou Louis II (5 October 1377 – 29 April 1417) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1384 to 1417; he claimed the Kingdom of Naples, but only ruled parts of the kingdom from 1390 to 1399. His father, Louis I of Anjouthe founder of the House ...

(1377 – 1417) *Charles (1380 – 1404,

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

Prince of Taranto The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I of Antioch, Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the success ...

, Count of

Roucy Roucy () is a small commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Notable features of this town include the wide central plaza on which village fetes occur every summer. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne d ...

Étampes Étampes () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department. Étampes, together with the neighboring c ...

, and Gien

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anjou, Marie of Blois, Duchess of 1345 births 1404 deaths 14th-century French women 15th-century French women 15th-century French people 14th-century French people 15th-century French nobility Duchesses of Anjou Countesses of Maine Countesses of Provence