Violant of Hungary ( hu, Jolán; ca, Iolanda or Violant d'Hongria; es, Yolanda or Violante de Hungría; c. 1215 – c. 1251) was the

queen of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

from 1235 until 1251 as the second wife of King

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276 ...

. A member of the Hungarian

House of Árpád A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, Queen Violant was a valuable and influential advisor of her husband. She remains in

folk memory Folk memory, also known as folklore or myths, refers to past events that have been passed orally from generation to generation. The events described by the memories may date back hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years and often hav ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Family

Violant was born at

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

circa 1215, the only child of King

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 ...

and his second wife,

Yolanda of Courtenay Yolanda of Courtenay (c. 1200 – June 1233), was a Queen of Hungary as the second wife of King Andrew II of Hungary. Yolanda was the daughter of Count Peter II of Courtenay and his second wife, Yolanda of Flanders, the sister of Baldwin I ...

. Violant married King

in 1235. James had already been married to

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...

, but he had this marriage annulled on the basis of consanguinity in 1229. He and Eleanor had a son,

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, who was considered legitimate, but who died before James. James and Violant had ten children: # Violant (1236–1301), Queen of Castile by her marriage to

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

(1239–1269) #

Peter III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

(1240–1285) #

James II of Majorca James II ( ca, Jaume) (31 May 1243 – 29 May 1311) was King of Majorca and Lord of Montpellier from 1276 until his death. He was the second son of James I of Aragon and his wife, Violant, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary. In 1279, by the Trea ...

(1243–1311) # Ferdinand (1245–1250) # Sancha (1246–1251) #

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

(1247–1271), Queen of France by her marriage to

Philip III of France Philip III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (french: le Hardi), was King of France from 1270 until his death in 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, returned ...

# Maria (1248–1267), nun #

Sancho The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies/ ...

(1250–1275),

Archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

# Eleanor (born 1251, died young)

Queenship

A large number of Hungarian knights escorted the queen to her new homeland with the leadership of

Denis of Hungary Denis of Hungary ( la, Dionisius de Ungaria, hu, Magyarországi Dénes, an, Dionís d'Hongría, ca, Dionís d'Hongria, es, Dionisio de Hungría; ''c''. 1210 – 1268/72), was a Hungarian-born Aragonese knight and nobleman in the 13th century. ...

. Queen Violant was a woman of talent and character. Next to King James I, she had an important political role in the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

. She was one of the most valuable advisors of the king, on whom she had a strong influence. She intervened decisively in international agreements as important as the

Treaty of Almizra The Treaty of Almizra (or Treaty of Almiçra) was the third of a series of three treaties between the Crown of Aragon and Crown of Castile meant to determine the limits of their expansion into Andalusia so as to prevent squabbling between the Chri ...

with Castile (1244). It was signed with the condition that

Zayyan ibn Mardanish Zayyan ibn Mardanish or Zayán Ibn Mardanix (b. ?, Onda – d. 1270, Tunisia) also known as ''Zahén'' or ''Çaèn'', was the last king of the Taifa of Valencia before it fell to the Kingdom of Aragon in the Reconquista campaign led by James I of ...

surrender of the city of

, into which she triumphantly entered with her husband on 9 October 1238.

Death and burial

Violant reportedly died in September 1251.

Jerónimo Zurita Jerónimo (European Portuguese and Spanish) or Jerônimo (Brazilian Portuguese) may refer to: * Jerónimo (name), a given or surname, Jerome in English ** Jeronimo (singer) (born 1990), Dutch pop singer and actor * Jeronimo (band), German band ...

, in his ''Anales de Aragon'', mentions this discrepancy, and writes that while some annals state that Violant died in Santa María de Salas in 1251, others report that she lived for a few years after (the probable sources of the 1253 date), and that she only made her will and testament in Huesca in 1251. Zurita continues that her will stipulated her burial at Vallbona, bequeathed the county of Posana (

Pozsony Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

) to her sons Peter, James, and Sancho (Pozsony being in the possession of her half-brother Béla IV of Hungary, but apparently left to her by her mother Queen Yolanda), and mentioned that she had 5 daughters with the king. Violant and her daughter Sancha's remains are at the

Monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona Vallbona Abbey, otherwise the Monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona ( ca, Santa Maria de Vallbona de les Monges; es, El Real Monasterio de Santa María de Vallbona), is a Cistercian nunnery in Vallbona de les Monges, in the comarca of Urgell, Cat ...

Vallbona de les Monges Vallbona de les Monges () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. It is located at the southern end of the comarca, north of the Serra del Tallat, Catalan Pre-Coastal Range, where many wind turbines have been ins ...

. Violant chose burial in that monastery as she was a benefactor. Her tomb, placed along the wall on the right of the chancel, is fairly simple. It is raised on two pillars decorated with individual gold crosses inscribed in red (

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

) circles, and has a gabled lid of white stone. In the center of the lid is a cross with the same characteristics as those on the pillars, but larger and without color. The only ornamentations on the box itself are three depictions of her husband's royal coat of arms - one on the visible side and one at each end. The Queen's remains were moved to the tomb in 1275, as indicated by the inscription on the visible side of the box: ''Fuit translata donna'' , ''Violán regina'' , ''Aragonum'' , ''anno 1275''. In 2002, the

Hungarian government The Government of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország Kormánya) exercises executive power in Hungary. It is led by the Prime Minister, and is composed of various ministers. It is the principal organ of public administration. The Prime Minister (''miniszt ...

financed a restoration of her tomb, costing 12,000 euros, but the monastic community denied permission to study its interior. Violant is the only member of the

Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingd ...

whose remains are undisturbed. James I remarried one more time, to

Teresa Gil de Vidaure Teresa Gil de Vidaure (died on 15 July 1285) was the common law wife of King James I of Aragon, but never a queen. Claiming that she was a leper, James left her in order to pursue an incestuous relationship with Berenguela Alfonso. Teresa Gil died ...

, who was previously his mistress.

Posterity

Since the nineteenth century, streets have been dedicated to Queen Violant in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, and other cities in the counties and kingdoms of the former

. 9 October is the national day of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

, which commemorates the Christian reconquest and the day on which James I and Violant entered the city. The celebration is known as the Mocadorada of Sant Dionís, since 9 October is the feast day of

Saint Denis of Paris Denis of Paris was a 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris (then Lutetia) in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by d ...

. Men typically give their partners a scarf (mocador) containing candied fruits and vegetables made of

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

; these candies represent the fruits and vegetables that Valencian Muslims offered James and Violant when they entered the city, according to legend.

References

Sources

* * * * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Violant of Hungary 1215 births 1253 deaths 13th-century Hungarian people 13th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon 13th-century Hungarian women 13th-century Spanish women Hungarian princesses Aragonese queen consorts Majorcan queens consort Consorts of Montpellier Countesses of Barcelona House of Árpád Hungarian people of French descent Hungarian people of Belgian descent Hungarian emigrants to Spain Spanish people of Serbian descent Spanish people of French descent Spanish people of Belgian descent People from Esztergom Daughters of kings