Olga of Kiev, Regent of Russia: "As the Day-Spring Precedes the Sun and as the Dawn Precedes the Day "

Olga of Kiev, regent of Kiev (died 11 July 969)

Although little of her early life is known, traditional accounts of Olga of Kiev claim that she was born in Pskov, a city that is now in northwest Russia. Her date of birth is unknown, as are her origins--some accounts claim she was of Viking descent, others that she was of Slavic descent. (This disagreement may reflect a larger dispute over whether the Rus' were of Scandinavian or Slavic origin.)

The earliest mention of Olga is found in the twelfth-century Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let), which begins by claiming it preserves "the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus', the first princes of Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus' had its beginning." These annals begin after Noah's flood, move on to the division of the world among Noah's three sons, skip to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and quickly focus on "the long period of the Slavs," various "parties" of whom separated and spread among many lands. 

A detail from 
the fifteenth-century
Radziwill Chronicle
depicting Olga of Kiev

Rather quickly, the chronicler arrives at the figure of Igor of Kiev, who was the son of Rurik, a Varangian (Viking) chieftain who settled in Novgorod. Igor was "very young" when Rurik died (at some point in the 870s), becoming prince of Novgorod. Oleg, appointed by Rurik as Igor's regent, gets busy with lots of fighting, conquering, and killing, all in the boy's name, of course. Eventually Oleg "set himself up as prince in Kiev, and declared that it should be the mother of Russian cities. The Varangians, Slavs, and others who accompanied him, were called Russes."

As for Igor, "he followed after Oleg, and obeyed his instructions." Presumably one of Oleg's instructions that Igor obeyed was about his marriage. In 903, according to the chronicler, "[a] wife, Olga by name, was brought to him from Pskov." A later, sixteenth-century history, The Book of Royal Degrees (Stepennaya kniga), contains a fanciful story of how Igor was fishing in the Velikaia River in Pskov, how he got into a boat, then realized the "boatman" was not a man but a woman, Olga, "very beautiful, young, and brave." Since his "passions were kindled," Igor proceeded to act on his desires and "uttered shameless words to her." As one does.

Sources vary widely when providing a date of birth for Olga--many standard references, like the Encyclopedia Britannica, suggest the year "c. 890" for her birth, this date also offered by Michael C. Paul, in his recent biographical essay. If we accept this date, Olga would have been about thirteen at the time of her marriage to Igor.

After her brief mention in the twelfth-century chronicle, Olga's name disappears until the entry for 945, when Igor is killed by the Derevilians, whom he had attacked because they had lots of great stuff--his "retinue" had told Igor that the Derevilians were "adorned with fine weapons and raiment," and they urged Igor to go "after tribute." He did, and he was killed.

Then the chronicle return to the woman whom Igor had married decades earlier, Olga. She was in Kiev with her son, a two-year-old boy named Svyatoslav. According to the Primary Chronicle, the Derevilians hatched a plot after murdering Igor: "See, we have killed the Prince of Rus'. Let us take his wife Olga for our Prince Mal, and then we shall obtain possession of Svyatoslav, and work our will upon him."

They sent their twenty best men to Kiev, where Olga was waiting to receive them. She received the Derevilians with gracious words. When they delivered their offer, she replied, "Your proposal is pleasing to me; indeed, my husband cannot rise again from the dead. But I desire to honor you tomorrow in the presence of my people. Return now to your boat, and remain there with an aspect of arrogance. I shall send for you on the morrow, and you shall say, 'We will not ride on horses nor go on foot; carry us in our boat.' And you shall be carried in your boat."

Of course Olga was not at all pleased by the prospect of marrying Prince Mal. The chronicle goes into some detail about just what she had in mind for the men who had killed her husband--which is interesting, since the chronicle has passed over decades of Olga's life after her marriage to Igor without mentioning her at all. But the chronicle explains at length her plan for revenge. In short, Olga sets a trap, and the Derelians in their boat are buried alive. 

In one of her acts of vengeance, 
Olga burns some Derelians alive in a bathhouse
(from the fifteenth-century Radziwill Chronicle)

But this is just the first act of her terrible vengeance. The chronicle goes on for pages regaling its readers with details about Olga's brutal campaign against her enemies. About all this, historian Michael C. Paul notes, "the accounts of the vengeance Olga wrought on the Derevlians are probably not historically accurate; rather, they are hagiographic devices representing her behavior after baptism, demonstrating how Christianity tempered her pagan barbarism."

Aside from wreaking vengeance on her enemies, Olga began ruling Kievan Rus' on behalf of her son. According to the chronicle, she established laws, "collected tribute," and set up trading posts. Interestingly, the ruler's personal role in the collection of taxes seem to have caused a lot of resentment, particularly in Igor's case, so one of Olga's innovations was establishing a system of tax collectors. Returning to "her city of Kiev: in 947,  she "dwelt at peace with it." 

During her years as regent for her son, Olga "set about reforming the governmental structure" of Kiev. In The Czars, James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci write that she "had little interest in expanding the state," but she did preserve it, putting down rebellions and "recaptur[ing] lands lost during her husband's reign." By the time her son assumed his reign in 962, when Olga resigned as regent, she had not only "restored his domain to roughly the same borders" it had had at the time of Oleg's death, but she had put into place for her son a "well-organized government." 

In the mean time, about the year 955, Olga traveled to Constantinople--a city her husband had besieged (twice). Emperor Constantine VII was smitten, at least according to the Russian Primary Chronicle: "when he saw that she was very fair of countenance and wise as well, the Emperor wondered at her intellect. He conversed with her and remarked that she was worthy to reign with him in his city." 

Olga, however, reminded the emperor that she was a pagan--so she was soon being instructed by the patriarch of Constantinople: "He taught her the doctrine of the Church, and instructed her in prayer and fasting, in almsgiving, and in the maintenance of chastity." She was baptized jointly by the patriarch and the emperor. 

After Olga's baptism, the emperor suggested that Olga marry him, but Olga is as intelligent as she is keen for vengance. "How can you marry me," she asks him, reminding him that during the baptismal ceremony, he had referred to her as his "daughter" in faith. The emperor recognizes he has been "outwitted," and sends her off home, "still calling her his daughter," with "many gifts of gold, silver, silks, and various vases."

I haven't been able to find a map
of Kievan Rus' under Olga,
but this map of the eleventh-century
state is a way to see the geographical
location and extent of the territory

Once back in Kiev, Olga tried her best to convert her son, but she was unsuccessful. There were already Christians in Kiev, but Svyatoslav was not interested, though he did not persecute them: according to the chronicle, "when any man wished to be baptized, he was not hindered, but only mocked."

As soon as Svyatoslav attained his majority, he was off to war. He "collected a numerous and valiant army," undertaking "many campaigns." During his absences, presumably, Olga once again acted on her son's behalf, though the chronicle is silent about that. 

However, when Kiev is besieged 968, Olga "shut herself up in the city" with her three grandsons. (The chronicle is also silent about when Svyatoslav might have married, when these children were born, and who their mother or mothers might be.) The siege is brutal, the inhabitants of the city suffering greatly, but Olga and her three grandsons are eventually rescued. Hearing of the suffering of the city (he receives a note from Kiev accusing him of "neglect"), Svyatoslav returns, "kiss[ing] his mother and children and regrett[ing] what they had suffered."

Svyatoslav tells his mother that he no longer wants to live in Kiev, preferring to move his government to the city of Pereyaslavets, because of its central location in his "realm." Olga does not want to go, and she laments that her son wants to leave her--she was, in the words of the chronicle, "in precarious health." She begged him to wait until she died before he left so that he could bury her. 

Three days later, in 969, Olga of Kiev died. 

In 972, Svytasoslav died, succeeded by his son eldest son, Yarapolk, though a civil war soon broke out, turning him against his brothers. Yarapolk killed one of his brothers, but when he died in 978, he was succeeded by his surviving brother, Vladimir. 

In 988, Olga's grandson, Vladimir "the Great," converted to Christianity. It took him a while--he remained a pagan, enjoying 800 concubines (reportedly) as well as several wives, and building temples to numerous gods. Finally, however, he decided to convert--because he wanted to marry a Byzantine princess, and he couldn't do that if he were a pagan. So Vladimir converted and married Anna, daughter of Romanos II and sister of the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII. She wasn't thrilled about it. 

Michael Paul notes that Olga was "probably not formally canonized until the fourteenth century." In 1547 she was formally canonized by the Orthodox church and designated as Isapóstolos, "equal to the apostles." Her feast day is 11 July, conventionally accepted as the date of her death.

The Russian Primary Chronicle calls Olga of Kiev the "precursor of the Christian land" that Kievan Rus' would become, "even as the day-spring precedes the sun and as the dawn precedes the day."

Beatrice of Lorraine, Regent of Tuscany

Beatrice of Lorraine, marchioness and regent of Tuscany (died 18 April 1076)

Before his death in 855 (and after decades of rebellion and instability within the Frankish empire that had once been ruled by Charlemagne), the Carolingian emperor Lothair I divided his kingdom among his three sons--the northern third was given to Lothair II. This region, known as Lotharingen (in German) or Lotharii regnum (in Latin, "Lothair's kingdom"), would ultimately become known as Lorraine. 

Beatrice of Lorraine,
from a twelfth-century manuscript of

Donizo's Vita Mathildis

(Vatican Library,

Codex Vat. Lat. 4922, fol. 30v)

In this act of partition, Lothair I followed a divsion of territory that had occurred after the death of his father, Louis I, "the Pious." Louis was the only surviving son of Charlemagne, inheriting the entirety of the Carolingian empire after his father's death in 814. But during his tumultuous rule, he faced a series of civil wars (he had four rebellious sons by two different wives). 

After his death and yet another civil war, an attempt was made to settle the conflicts among his three sons. By the terms of the Treaty of Verdun (843), the empire was divided: Middle Francia was inherited by Lothair, East Francia, by Louis "the German," and West Francia. by Charles "the Bald." (No territory needed to be given to Louis' fourth rebellious son, Pepin, who had predeceased his father.)

And so, as Lothair I approached his death--after years of further unrest--he too attempted to solve conflicts by means of partition. He divided Middle Francia, the portion of the empire he had inherited following the Treaty of Verdun. The Treaty of Prüm (855) did not establish peace, however, and the result was further instability and conflict. 

It was by the terms of this agreement that Lothair II inherited what would become known as Lorraine from his father.* Lothair II would marry twice, but his "marital" history was more than a bit complicated. Although he had several children (at least two sons) by his second "wife," Waldrada, they were all declared illegitimate. Thus, when Lothair II died in 869, the succession was disputed, with control of Lorraine swinging between his two uncles, Louis the German and Charles the Bald.

In 870, by the terms of the Treaty of Mersen, Lorraine was once again partitioned, this time along slightly different lines. (And, interestingly, one of Lothair II's "illegitimate" sons, Hugh, got the duchy of Alsace under the deal.)

But conflict continued until 925, when the Germany king Henry I conquered Lorraine, establishing the kingdom as a duchy under German control. In 953, Henry I's son and successor, Otto I, deposed his rebellious son-in-law as duke of Lorraine and handed the title off to his own younger brother, Bruno. As archbishop of Cologne, Bruno did not marry and have children, but he did have two important feudal commanders to support him in Lorraine, Frederick, count of Bar, and Godfrey, count of Hainault.

In 959, Bruno, divided Lorraine, creating Upper and Lower Lorraine. Control of Upper Lorraine and the title of margrave were given to Frederick. After Bruno's death in 965, Frederick became duke of Upper Lorraine, and it was Upper Lorraine that was inherited by his grandson, Frederick II--who was Beatrice of Lorraine's father. 

All of this just to get us through something of Beatrice of Lorraine's paternal background! 

As for Beatrice of Lorraine's mother. About the year 1012 or 1013, Frederick married Matilda of Swabia, a woman with her own relationship to the conflicts of this tumultuous geography. There had been some dispute about the validity of Matilda's first marriage, said to be consanguinous, though the couple remained together despite condemnation by the church.** After the death of her first husband, Matilda married Frederick despite very similar objections, that the two were too closely related to enter into a valid marriage. (Like her husband, Matilda of Swabia was a descendant of Charlemagne.)

Nevertheless, Frederick II and Matilda remained married and had three children: Sophie (born c. 1013-1018), Beatrice (born in Mantua c. 1013-1026), and Frederick (born c. 1017-1020). As you can see from the range of dates I've offered here, the birthdates--and, thus, birth order--of these children are not clear. Various dates and orders of birth are suggested by sources.

The seal of Beatrice of Lorraine
(reproduced in Nora Duff's Matilda of Tuscany,
La gran donna d'Italia)
 

Whatever the dates of their birth, the three children were still very young when their father died about the year 1026. Frederick's son succeeded his father as Frederick III, duke of Upper Lorraine, though I have found very little information about him. He seems to have died in 1033 because his sister Sophie inherited the county of Bar from him in that year. 

Meanwhile, after Frederick II's death and his son's succession, both Sophie and Beatrice were sent to the imperial household of the Holy Roman Emperor--their mother Matilda of Swabia's sister, Gisela, was married to Emperor Conrad III. (The marriage of Gisela and Conrad was also disputed because of their consanguinity--sheesh.) At the imperial court, the two girls were "nourished" by their aunt.

Matilda of Swabia was known to be at the imperial court with her sister and her children in 1030, but she died some time before January 1034. Her two daughters, Sophie and Beatrice, now "orphans," were "adopted" by their aunt.

It was at the imperial court of Conrad II and Gisela that a marriage was arranged for Beatrice with the the most powerful nobleman in northern Italy, Boniface of Canossa. From his father, Boniface had inherited the cities and counties of Mantua, Modena, Reggio, Parma, and Ferrara, among others. From his mother, he had inherited parts of Tuscany, including territory in and around Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia. Boniface supported the Holy Roman Empire in its various expeditions in northern Italy, and in 1027 Conrad awarded Boniface the lordship of Tuscany. 

In 1036, when Boniface attended the marriage of Conrad and Gisela's son, he seems to have met Beatrice. Recently widowed and childless, the fifty-two-year-old Boniface was soon married to Beatrice, then about seventeen years old, but perhaps a bit younger. In addition to her imperial connections, Beatrice brought her inheritance in Lorraine to the marriage: she was dame du château de Briey and "heiress of the lordships of Stenay, Mouzay, Juvigny, Longlier and Orval, all in the northern part of her family's ancestral lands."

After a magnificent marriage ceremony, Boniface and Beatrice took up residence in the ducal castle in Mantua, where the couple's "homecoming" was celebrated with lavish banquets and entertainments. Their court was known for its "brilliance and culture." 

Little documentation about Beatrice survives from the period, but during the years of her marriage, she seems to have spent most of her time in and around Canossa--there are references to her in Bologna (1040), Ferrara (1042), Mantua (1044), and Luca (1044).

During these years, Beatrice gave birth to three children. As with her natal family, the birth order and dates of birth of Beatrice's children are variously given, with only Matilda of Canossa's birthdate, 1046, generally agreed on. This year is derived from the epic poem about her life, Vita Mathildis, written by the monk Donizo of Canossa, who says Matilda was sixty-nine years old when she died in 1115. In addition to Matilda, Beatrice gave birth to a son, Frederick of Canossa (referred to in some chonicle sources, confusingly, as Boniface), and a third child, probably a daughter named Beatrice of Canossa, though some early chronicles indicate this child was also a boy, a younger son, "Beatricio." 

Boniface maintained his strong relations with the Holy Roman Empire after Conrad II's death in 1036, and received further territories, including Spoleto and Camerino, for his support for Conrad's son and successor, Henry III. In 1046, he hosted Henry, on his way to be crowned as emperor. But ultimately their relationship broke down, and the emperor may (or may not) have played a role in Boniface's assassination in 1052.

Boniface's son, Frederick, succeeded his father, with Beatrice of Lorraine assuming the role of regent for him. To protect his inheritance--to preserve what she could of Frederick II's lands and titles (as well as her own)--the widowed Beatrice needed to act quickly. In the words of a contemporary chronicler, Beatrice, having lost the protection of her husband, needed to find a new protector (Destitutam se priori marito desolatae domui patronuni paravisse). And so, Beatrice quickly married her cousin, Godfrey III, duke of Lorraine, probably in 1053.*** 

The marriage of Beatrice and Godfrey had, however, taken place without the permission of the emperor, Henry III, against whom Godfrey had already rebelled. Traveling to Florence in 1055 for a meeting with the pope, the emperor had Beatrice arrested--she and her daughter Matilda, then about ten years old, were taken as a prisoner to Germany. Her son, Frederick, remained in Tuscany. (It isn't clear whether Beatrice's third child was still alive at this point.)

But Frederick III did not survive for long, and it was rumored that the emperor had had both Frederick and Beatrice's third child killed, leaving only Matilda of Canossa as heir to Frederick II. (Beatrice of Lorraine would make a donation to the abbey of Santa Maria de Fenonica for the souls of of her husband, Boniface, her son, and her daughter, so perhaps that solves the question of her third child's sex).

As for Godfrey, he assumed control of Tuscany in the right of his wife and Matilda. The emperor died suddenly in October of 1056, succeeded by his son, Henry, a minor. The boy's mother, Agnes of Poitou, was appointed to act as the boy's guardian and regent--and she rather quickly reconciled with Godfrey of Lorraine. Beatrice and Matilda were released and reunited with Godfrey, who was recognized as margrave of Tuscany.

Beatrice of Lorraine, her husband, and her daughter, Matilda, were all in Rome in 1059, celebrating celebrating the election of Pope Nicholas II. Indeed, Beatrice played a role in three papal elections over the course of just a few years, those of Stephen IX (1057), Nicholas II (1059), and Alexander II (1061). Historian Valerie Eads notes that these elections were accompanied by a "turbulence" in Rome and that Beatrice "played an active role" in maintaining the peace, protecting the elections, and opposing the anti-popes supported by the empire. 

After 1060, Godfrey returned to Lorraine, leaving Beatrice in Italy, though the two were together again in Rome in 1062 and 1063. During these years, Beatrice took an active rold in papal politics and reform as well as governing Tuscany on behalf of her daughter. In November 1069, Beatrice returned to Lorraine with her husband and daughter, but by December Godfrey III of Lorraine lay dying. Before his death, Beatrice arranged for her daughter, Matilda, to be married to Godfrey's son, another Godfrey (he would succeed his father as Godfrey IV).****

Beatrice of Lorraine,

from a 14th century manuscript of 

Donizo's Vita Mathildis

(Biblioteca Panizzi, MS Turri E52)

Beatrice remained loyal to her second husband, commemorating their marriage in a seal (reproduced above) dating to 1073. The legend reads, "May you always be happy, dear Godfrey, Beatrix" (Sis semper felix, Gotfredo cara, Beatrix). But the younger Godfrey and Beatrice's daughter, Matilda, were not well matched, and after the birth and death of a daughter in 1071, Matilda left her husband and rejoined her mother.

Although Matilda of Tuscany was by now fully old enough to rule in her own name, Beatrice continued to exercise power as "dux of Tuscany." In her entry on Beatrice of Lorraine in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Margherita Giuliana Bertolini details Beatrice's "jurisdictional activity" (attività giurisdizionale) involving ecclesiastical institutions in the years from 1070 through 1076 in various locations, including Florence, Lucca, Siena, Perugia, Arezzo, and Pisa. Interestingly, given her past involvement in papal politics, Beatrice appears not to have played a role in the 1073 papal election of Gregory VII--she received news of the election by letter. 

During these years Beatrice also founded and endowed a number of religious institutions, including monasteries,  churches, and hospitals, in Siena, Arezzo, Luca, Florence, Parma, and Mantua, among other places (these are detailed by Bertolini).

Beatrice's daughter, Matilda of Tuscany, never reconciled with her husband, Godfrey. He was assassinated on 27 February 1076 while fighting on behalf of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV during what has become known as the Investiture Controversy--for her part, Matilda supported papal power against imperial power. 

On 18 April 1076, just two months after the death of her son-in-law (and stepson), Beatrice of Lorraine died. When he came to write his great epic poem about the life of Matilda of Tuscany, the Italian monk Donizo of Canossa noted the pivotal role that Beatrice had played during her lifetime: "She persuaded [the emperor] to peace with love for the pope, / And the the pious pope for love of the king" (Pontificis pacem regem suadebat amore / Atque pium papam de regis amore rogabat, quoted by Bertolini--my Latin is really bad these days, so I hope this translation is close).

The tomb of Beatrice of Lorraine,
Camposanto, Pisa

Beatrice of Lorraine was buried in a Roman sarcophagus in the cathedral church of Pisa, her burial arranged by her daughter. Her tomb was relocated inside the church in the fourteenth century, and then moved to its current location, in the Camposanto, in the nineteenth century. (For an excellent analysis of the tomb and its construction, click here.)

Letters from and to Beatrice of Lorraine are available at Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters (click here).

There is a full-length biography of Beatrice of Lorraine, Elke Goetz's Beatrix von Canossa und Tuszien :Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte des 11. Jahrhunderts (1995).

 

*For Paul B. Pixton's summary of all this, in Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, click here.

**Canon law concerned itself with the blood relationships among those who would marry. For a discussion of consanguinity as an impediment to a valid marriage, click here.

***Godfrey III, "the Bearded," duke of Lower Lorraine, was a member of the house of Ardennes-Verdun, Beatrice of the house of Ardennes-Bar. In her entry on Beatrice of Lorraine in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Margherita Giuliana Bertolini notes that after the death of Frederick II of Upper Lorraine in 1033, the House of Ardennes-Bar became "extinct," and  Gothelo, duke of Lower Lorraine, of the house of Ardennes-Verdun, was invested with Upper Lorraine, uniting the once-divided territories. After Gothelo's death, his son Godfrey eventurally succeeded to his father's role ("eventually" because there had been conflict and rebellion). Notably, Bertolini suggests that Godfrey had "probably" (probabile) administered Beatrice's holdings (dei beni) in Upper Lorraine. 

****Godfrey IV was the son of Godfrey III's first wife, Doda.

Isabelle, Duchess of Lorraine and Regent of Anjou

Isabelle, duchess of Lorraine and regent of Anjou (died 28 February 1453)

A seventeenth-century
imagined portrait of Isabella
by Ambito Fiorentino
(Uffizi)

Born about the year 1410,* Isabelle of Lorraine would inherit the duchy of Lorraine after the death of her father, Charles II ("the Bold). From 25 January 1431 until her death more than twenty years later, she was duchess of Lorraine in her own right (suo jure).

Isabelle's mother, Margaret of the Palatinate, was known for her piety, her confessor noting that she lived an "austere life," devoting herself to fasting and "wearing sack cloth." 

But Margaret didn't spend her entire life in prayer--she also appeared at the head of her husband's army, her support of the duke and her unexpected appearance credited with having scared her husband's enemies into running away. As Marion Chaigne-Legouy observes, the young Isabelle received "an extraordinary political education" (La princesse reçut vraisemblablement une éducation politique) from her mother.

In 1418, a marriage was proposed for Isabelle with René of Anjou. Negotiations for the alliance between Charles II of Lorraine and René's father, Louis II of Naples, were begun under the auspices of the cardinal of Bar (René's great uncle, on his mother's side, brother of the formidable Violant of Bar, queen of Aragon). Important, too, in the "matrimonial strategy" behind the alliance was Yolande of Aragon, duchess of Anjou, René's politically adept mother.

A treaty of marriage was signed in 1418 and ratified in 1419 after the cardinal designated René as heir to the duchy of Bar. It was hoped that the alliance would end conflicts between Bar and Lorraine. The young bride and groom were married in 1420 and began living in Lorraine, under the guardianship of Isabelle's father. 

Isabelle gave birth to her first child, a son, in 1424. He was quickly followed by a second son, in 1427, twins (a boy and a girl) in 1428, and a daughter, Margaret (who would marry Henry VI of England) in 1430. After Margaret, Isabelle of Lorraine would have five further children.

But in 1431, Isabelle's life took a slightly different turn. In addition to performing the role which she was expected to fulfill, producing an heir, she also gained a more public role. After the death of her father in 1431, she inherited the duchy of Lorraine. But her cousin, Antoine de Vaudémont (son of Duke Charles II's younger brother), disputed her inheritance and, allied with the duke of Burgundy, went to war. 

Fighting for Lorraine, Isabelle's husband René was captured at the battle of Bulgnéville and imprisoned, eventually transferred into the custody of the duke of Burgundy. Defending her rights and inheritance, Isabelle raised an army to free her husband and negotiated a cease fire. (Not to downplay René's imprisonment, but it doesn't seem to have been too tough--he received visitors, enjoyed "furloughs," and studied, painted, and pursued other activities of interest.)

Various concessions were made to free René, including one that indicated his two sons would be held as hostage for his good behavior. He was released from his imprisonment in 1432, though he had to remain in the Burgundian city of Dijon. 

After Isabelle's rights in Lorraine were recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund I, in 1434, René's parole was revoked, and he returned to his imprisonment. He would be held by the duke of Burgundy for two more years and released only after he paid a "punishing" ransom.

In the mean time, René of Anjou's elder brother died in 1435, and René inherited the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine. He also inherited what historian Helen Castor has called "grandly empty titles," in particular "his ambitious grandfather's accumulations of paper claims to far-flung crowns," the kingdoms of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem. Still imprisoned, the new "king" of Naples sent his wife into Italy, where she was to act as regent on his behalf.

Woodcut illustration of Isabelle of Lorraine,

detail from Philippus Bergomensis, 

De Claris Mulieribus, 1497

(Harvard Art Museum, M5249)

Although Isabelle had supporters for her role in Naples, there were also opponents, including Alphonso of Aragon. Isabelle maintained under "difficult conditions" (condicions difficiles) her husband's claim to the crown of Naples until he was released from his imprisonment in 1437. The marriage of the duke of Burgundy's niece to John, Isabelle and René's eldest son, helped to effect René's release. (Unfortunately, Louis, the younger of the two boys held as hostages, died while being held as a hostage for his father.)

Once her husband was released from captivity and arrived in Naples in 1438, Isabelle of Lorraine left Italy and returned to her duchy of Lorraine. Back in Lorraine, the duchess focused her attention on consolidating her power. To that end, she was finally victorious over Antoine de Vaudémont, who agreed to give up his claim to Lorraine in 1441. Isabelle's eldest daughter, Yolande, became a "pledge of piece"--she was married to Antoine de Vaudémont's son.**

By 1442, having definitively lost Naples to Alphonso of Aragon, René of Anjou returned to France. His mother, Yolande of Aragon, who had governed Anjou in his absence, died in November of that year, after her son's return. While he remained in Anjou, Isabelle stayed in her duchy of Lorraine. 

In 1444, Isabelle's daughter, Margaret of Anjou, was betrothed to Henry VI of England. In 1445, Isabelle appointed her son, John, to act on her behalf in Lorraine. She would travel to Angers, to join her husband, in 1453. She died there, on 28 February, at the age of fifty-three, while René was preparing another expedition into Italy.

Information about Isabelle of Lorraine is found primarily in biographies of her husband, René of Anjou, and of her daughter, Margaret of Anjou. Mary Ann Hookham's The Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England and France, which I have linked to, above, has particularly detailed information about René, but it also has one of the most extended discussions of Isabelle that I have been able to find. 

The political role of Isabelle of Lorraine is the focus of Marion Chaigne-Legouy's "Reine «ordinaire», reine «extraordinaire» : la place de Jeanne de Laval et d’Isabelle de Lorraine dans le gouvernement de René d’Anjou," in Noël-Yves Tonnerre and Jean-Michel Matz's René d’Anjou (1409-1480): Pouvoirs et gouvernement.

*There is some uncertainty about the year of Isabelle's birth. A variety of online sources in Englsh offer the date of 1400 for Isabelle's birth, but standard reference sources like the Encyclopédie Larousse and the Nouvelle Biographie Générale indicate her date of birth as 1410. Scholarly biographies of René of Anjou, like Margaret L. Kekewich's recent The Good King: René of Anjou and Fifteenth-Century Europe, note that when René married Isabelle on 24 October 1420, he was eleven and she was ten. 

**Yolande of Anjou, born in 1428, would eventually inherit the duchy of Lorraine after the death of her nephew, Nicholas I (her elder brother John's son) in 1473. Yolande turned over the rule of Lorraine to her son, René II. When Yolande's father, René of Anjou, died in 1480, she inherited from him the duchy of Bar, and once again ceded power to her son.

Jeanne de Penthièvre: "the Courage of a Man and of a Lion"

Jeanne de Penthièvre, duchess of Brittany (died 10 September 1384)

A year ago, I wrote about Joanna of Flanders, countess of Montfort, and her involvement in the War of the Breton Succession, and just last month, I posted an essay about another Jeanne, Jeanne de Belleville, who was also caught up in the conflict over the duchy of Brittany, an independent state. Both of these women gained a reputation for their activities during the war, Joanna of Flanders as "la flamme" (or, "fiery Joanna") and Jeanne de Belleville as an avenger of her husband's death. 

But there is a third woman caught up in this conflict over Brittany, Jeanne de Penthièvre. She did not have quite as colorful a life as her two contemporaries, though the trauma and tragedy she faced were much like the traumas and tragedies the other women suffered.

An imagined portrait of 

Jeanne de Penthièvre

from Jacques de Boucq's 

Receuil de portraits historiques

(image 107, fol. 045r)

Born about the year 1325,* Jeanne de Penthièvre was the daughter of Guy II de Bretagne and Jeanne d'Avaugour, the daughter of Henri d'Avaugour, count of Penthièvre. 

Guy de Bretagne was the younger son of Arthur II, duke of Brittany, and his wife, Marie of Limoges. Guy's elder brother, John (or Jean) III, became duke of Brittany after the death of Arthur II. 

But Arthur of Brittany had remarried after the death of his wife, and his second wife bore him another son, John de Montfort. Notably, John III detested his father's second wife and after his father's death, John III attempted to have the marriage annulled posthumously and to have his half siblings declared illegitimate. Remember John de Montfort . . . 

Meanwhile, following his wife's death in 1327, Guy de Bretagne married Jeanne de Belleville--but, as you may already know if you've read the earlier post for Jeanne de Belleville, this marriage was annulled by the pope in 1330 after complaints by Guy's family about its legitimacy--and there was also some involvement by Charles of Blois, nephew of the king of France, Philip VI, in the annulment of this marriage. (Even though Jeanne de Belleville's marriage to Guy was annulled, she was still pulled into the Breton war of succession by her marriage to Olivier de Clisson.)

After the failure of his marriage to Jeanne de Belleville, Guy tried again, this time allying himself with Marie of Blois--who just so happened to be Philip VI's niece and Charles of Blois' sister. A dispensation for the two to marry during Lent was issued on 12 February 1331. But on 26 March, just a few weeks later, Guy de Bretagne died. His only child, his daughter Jeanne de Penthièvre, was his heir. 

After her father's death, which occurred when she was about eleven years old, Jeanne became countess of Penthièvre in her own right. From her father, she also inherited a claim to the duchy of Brittany. But in 1331, her uncle, John III, was still alive, and although his first two marriages had been childless, he had married for a third time in 1330. 

In the meantime, arrangements were being made for Jeanne de Penthièvre's marriage. In 1335, negotiations for her match to John, earl of Cornwall, King Edward III's younger brother, were begun, but the projected alliance with England did not materialize. (In any case, John of Cornwall died in September of 1336--maybe his death is the reason the negotiations were abandoned.) Instead, on 4 June 1337, Jeanne was married to Charles of Blois, the French king's nephew. (Remember him? He was involved in having Guy of Penthièvre's marriage to Jeanne of Belleville annulled, and his sister, Marie of Blois, would have been married to Guy of Penthièvre if he had not died . . . hmm.) With her marriage to Charles of Blois, Jeanne, countess of Penthièvre, became countess of Blois. 

I've spent a lot of time here noting all of these relationships and interrelationships because after John III, duke of Brittany, died on 30 April 1341, still childless, all hell broke loose about who would succeed him--the result was the so-called War of the Breton Succession. 

Without a direct male heir to succeed John III as duke of Brittany, who was to inherit the duchy? The two claimants were Jeanne de Penthièvre, only heir of John III's younger brother Guy, and John de Montfort, John III's half brother. 

The critical question was to be which of these claims took precedence. When Arthur II, duke of Brittany, died, he had been succeeded by John III, his eldest son by his first wife. When John III died, himself childless, his younger brother Guy was also dead, and Guy's daughter, Jeanne de Penthièvre, was her father's heir. But Arthur II of Brittany had a third son, still living, John de Montfort, the child of Arthur and his second wife. 

So, did John III's younger brother, Guy, have a right of succession to the duchy of Brittany? And, if so, could a daughter--in this case, Guy's daughter--inherit her father's rights of succession? Or did the succession belong to the next eldest male heir in the line? That is, did John de Montfort, as the only surviving son of Arthur II, have a right of succession? In sum: since John III had no direct male heir, who had the better claim: his half brother or his niece?

Here is an analysis of the problem from historian Dan Moorhouse: since John III died childless, the question of inheritance "reverted back to his father [Arthur II], with claims being made against lineage from him." Arthur had been married twice--John III and Guy were the sons of his first wife, Marie, countess of Limoges. Although Guy had died before his elder brother, he had an heir, Jeanne; if her right to inherit was recognized, she would become duchess of Brittany, and her husband, Charles of Blois, would become duke of Brittany "by right of her claim." Moorhouse continues: Arthur II of Brittany had been married a second time, to Yolande de Dreux, and with her he had another son, John de Montfort. If the right of inheritance was "to the male with the closest lineage, then he would inherit." 

It was not as if John III were unaware of the explosive situation. According to the contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart, the duke's intentions were for his niece to succeed him: "It seemed to the duke, that the daughter of his brother-german ought, by reason of her proximity, to have the duchy after his death, in preference to the earl of Montfort, his [half] brother. And as he had long had his suspicions that the earl of Montfort would, after his decease, enforce his claim, to the prejudice of his young niece, with all his [Montfort's] power, he had married her to the lord Charles of Blois, with the intent that the king of France, his [Charles of Blois'] uncle, might more powerfully assist him in preserving his rights, should the earl of Montfort attempt to encroach on them." 

So that was the state of affairs after the death of John III, duke of Brittany. The succession of Jeanne de Penthièvre was recognized by the parlement of Paris and by the king of France--Philip VI accepted the homage of her husband, his nephew Charles of Blois, on 7 September 1341. Although Jeanne's right to inherit Brittany would trigger decades of war, she would assert her right to be recognized as duchess of Brittany for twenty-three years, from this date until she was forced to relinquish the title in 1364. 

Despite the French king's recognizion of Jeanne's claims to Brittany, John de Montfort had arrived in Nantes after John III's death and seems to have been recognized there as duke in May of 1341. According to Froissart, he "held a solemn court, and a great feast at Nantes. Summons were ordered to be sent to all the barons and nobles of Brittany, and to the councils of the great towns. Inviting them to attend this court, to do their fealty and homage as to their true lord, which was done."

But by October 1341, Charles of Blois and his forces reached Nantes, and the city surrendered to him. John de Montfort was captured and imprisoned in the Louvre, his wife, Joanna of Flanders, carrying on the fight without him. Although John de Montfort was eventually released, he died in 1345, leaving his wife to continue the struggle, claiming the inheritance of Brittany for her son.

Jeanne de Penthièvre's seal
1369

As for Jeanne de Penthièvre. Her husband, Charles of Blois, was initially successful in pursuing her claims to Brittany, and after John de Montfort's capture and imprisonment, it seemed as if the pair had been victorious. Joanna of Flanders, however, continued to pursue war, in her son's name, and Charles of Blois was taken captive by the English in 1347. He was taken to England, where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Although there are records documenting Jeanne's role in the administration of Brittany from the time she claimed the title of duchess, it was after her husband's capture that she played a more active role. She took command of Charles of Blois' troops, leading them into battle. In Froissart's words, she "takes the war with a great will." In a later version of his chronicle, he adds that she "held the bridle to the teeth and showed the courage of a man and of a lion," reminding her husband's forces that they fought for her two sons. 

At this point, the war for Brittany had become a fight between two women, two Jeannes, as the chronicler noted: "[Jeanne de Penthièvre] waged as good and strong a war against [Joanna, or Jeanne,] the Countess of Montfort and her people as had my lord Charles, her husband, and his people before."

During her husband's captivity, Jeanne de Penthièvre also sought assistance from the pope, attempted to engage Edward III in negotiations to settle the Breton conflict, and even suggested a marriage between one of the English king's daughters and one of her sons. She attended peace talks in Calais in 1351, one of the results of which was the marriage of her daughter, Marguerite, to Charles de la Cerda ("Charles of Spain"), who was appointed constable of France by his cousin, John II, who had succeeded Philip VI in 1350. Jeanne also involved Breton religious leaders, barons, and citizens of the towns as she negotiated for her husband's release--for one thing, she would have to pay a huge ransom, and she would need support in Brittany from all these groups. 

In 1353, three of Jeanne de Penthièvre's children were sent to England as part of the negotiations for her husband's release--her daughter Marie, and her two sons, Jean and Guy. Charles of Blois was finally relieased from captivity--after nine years, he was ransomed in 1356. When he returned to Brittany, he was accompanied only by his daughter. His sons would remain in England for decades.

Back in Brittany, Charles of Blois resumed the title of duke, and the war for control of Brittany recommenced. But within three years he was dead; Charles of Blois was killed on 29 September 1364 at the battle of Auray, after which Jeanne de Penthièvre was forced to relinquish her claims to the duchy, ceding them to the son of Joanna of Flanders and John de Montfort (he was also named John, becoming John IV of Brittany). 

Jeanne de Penthièvre did not lose everything, however. She may have lost the title of duchess of Brittany, but by the terms of the first treaty of Guérande, she retained her rights to Penthièvre and Avaugour, she was exempt from paying homage to the new duke, and she received a pension. She also retain some claim to Brittany--if the Montfort dukes failed to produce an heir, her descendants would inherit.** 

In the years following the loss of her title, Jeanne de Penthièvre endeavored to have her husband, Charles of Blois, canonized. Charles had always been a pious man (despite all the fighting!), and as early as 1366, groups had begun traveling to the monastery of the Cordeliers in Guincamp to pray at his tomb. A few cures were attributed to him, as were a miracle or two. An investigation into his case began in 1368 and continued until 1371, after which the report was sent to Avignon. The case was under review throughout the papacies of Gregory XI, Clement VII, and Urban VI, but Charles was never canonized. His case was reopened in 1894, and Charles of Blois was beatified in 1904.

During this same period, Jeanne struggled to repay debts that she and her husband had incurred in their long struggle for Brittany. After the Montfort duke of Brittany, John IV, was forced into exile in 1373--he had tried to strike a balance between his English allies and the Breton lords, and he had failed--she also attempted to reclaim her rights in the duchy, actions which brought her into increasing conflict with Charles V, now king of France (he was Philip VI's grandson). 

When the king attempted to bring the independent duchy of Brittany under French control in 1379, Jeanne de Penthièvre briefly united with her old enemies. The combined efforts of the barons of Brittany brought the Montfort duke back to the duchy and preserved its independence.

Cenotaph of
Jeanne de Penthièvre

After Charles V's death in 1380, a second treaty of Guérande was negotiated with his son and successor, Charles VI. Jeanne signed the second treaty on 2 May 1381. It confirmed the terms which the earlier treaty had laid out. 

Although no longer duchess of Brittany, Jeanne de Penthièvre lived in a peaceful Brittany for the rest of her life. Jeanne spent the last years of her life in La Roche-Darrien, where her husband had been fighting when he was taken captive by the English in 1347. 

She died on 10 September 1384. Notice of her death is preserved in a contemporary chronicle of Brittany: "Lady Jeanne, daughter of Guy of Brittany, count of Penthièvre, and Jeanne of Avaugour, duchess of Brittany, wife of Charles of Blois of good memory (Pendomina Johanna filia D. Guidonis de Britannia Penthevriæ comitiis, Johannæque de Avalgorio...ducissa Britanniæ uxor bonæ memoriæ Caroli de Blesis). The necrology of Notre Dame de Beauport (Brittany) also records the death of Jeanne, duchess of Brittany, in 1384. 

She is buried at the Franciscan monastery, the Cordeliers à Guingamp, where her father, mother, and husband are also buried.

Jeanne de Penthièvre had six children: Marguerite de Blois-Châtillon (1339-c. 1354), Marie de Blois-Châtillon (1343-1404), Jean I de Blois-Châtillon, comte de Penthièvre (1345-1404), Guy de Blois-Châtillon (b. before 1347-d. 1385), Henri de Blois-Châtillon (c. 1356-c. 1400), and Charles de Blois-Châtillon (b. and d. before 1364).

• In 1352, Marguerite de Blois-Châtillon married Charles de la Cerda, who was given the title count of Angoulême. Charles "the Spaniard" was a descendant of both Alfonso X of Spain and of Louis IX of France. 
• Marie de Blois-Châtillon married Louis I, duke of Anjou, son of John II of France, in 1360. Historian Erika Graham-Goering notes that Marie was sent to England, along with her brothers Jean and Guy, as a hostage. She was the only one of the three to return to Brittany when her father was ransomed in 1356.
• Jean de Blois-Châtillon became count of Penthièvre and continued to claim the duchy of Brittany. He remained as a hostage in England until 1387--Graham-Goering notes that he was finally released with the assistance of Olivier de Clisson, and the following year he married Olivier's daughter, Marguerite de Clisson (Jeanne de Belleville's granddaughter!).
• A reference in his father's canonization file indicates that Guy de Blois-Châtillon was still a hostage in England. Graham-Goering indicates that he died there in 1385, a year after his mother's death.
• Henri de Blois-Châtillon was likely born after his father was released from captivity in 1356. Graham-Goering notes a reference, dated 1365, that says he is in the care of nourrices, suggesting that he was still a small child. Graham-Goering also writes that along with his mother, Henri swore on 2 May 1381 to uphold the terms of the seconed treaty of Guérande. In 1382, when his brother-in-law Louis, duke of Anjou, went to Italy to claim the crown of Naples, Henri went with him. There, at some point after 1385 (when her first husband died), he married Giacobella Caetani. Henri is named in a legal document dated 31 July 1400, the last surviving reference to him.
• Charles de Blois-Châtillon (d. before 1364). According to Graham-Goering, this child "probably died in infancy."

In her assessment Jeanne de Penthièvre, Graham-Goering concludes that she "was an active and determined ruler who maintained her claim to the duchy throughout a war of succession and even after her eventual defeat." 

*The years given for Jeanne de Penthièvre's birth vary widely--here, I have used the date provided by Erika Graham-Goering in her full-length study, Princely Power in Late Medieval France: Jeanne de Penthièvre and the War for Brittany. She notes that a 1337 betrothal contract indicates that Jeanne will be "of an age to bear children in a year or two" and that her "intelligence" could "make up for age," suggesting she is "about 10 or 12 years old" at the time. Twelve was the canonical age for marriage for girls: "The marriageable age is fourteen full years in males and twelve full years in females, under penalty of nullity (unless natural puberty supplies the want of years)."

**Although the treaty of Guérande was intended to settle the War of the Breton Succession, it was not quite successful. In 1420, another John de Montfort, duke of Brittany (this one is John V, John IV's son) was abducted by Olivier, the count of Penthièvre, and his brother, Charles de Avaugour (the grandsons of Jeanne). They held John for five months before his release was negotiated. As a result of his abduction and captivity, John V declared that the treaty settling the Breton War of Succession had been abrogated, thus ending any future Penthièvre claims. So, when Francis II, duke of Brittany (John IV's grandson), died in 1488 without a male heir, the rights of inheritance to the duchy of Brittany did not revert to the Penthièvres--Francis II was succeeded by his daughter, Anne of Brittany.

Constance of Arles, Queen of the Franks

Constance of Arles, queen of the Franks (died 28 July 1032)

Lucky Constance of Arles, third wife of Robert II of France
(detail from a copy of Grandes Chroniques de France,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 10135);
the manuscript's text indicates this image depicts Constance.
confronting her son, Henry, who is fleeting from her

Consider the terrible plight of Robert II of France--Robert "the Pious"--the son and heir of Hugh Capet, king of the Franks. Poor Robert just wanted a wife.

And so in 988, he married Rozala (or Rosela) of Italy--it was a marriage that was arranged by his father, Hugh Capet, a marriage that brought the king an important alliance and Robert significant territorial possessions, and a marriage that gave Rozala a new name, Susanna. 

A fifteenth-century image
of Rozala of Italy--
too old
(detail from a panel,
St. Peter's Abbey, 
Ghent)

But within a very few years, the marriage had broken down. By 992, the couple was living separately, and after Hugh Capet's death in 996, Robert was quick to repudiate Rozala/Susanna.

According to one contemporary chronicler, Robert was still a young man, and Susanna was "too old" to bear children. This view of the gross disparity in their ages persisted--the noted nineteenth-century historian Chrétien  Pfister, whose account of Robert's marital career remains the most thoroughly documented, sniffs at the marriage between Rozala, "the old widow" (la vieille veuve), and poor Robert, tied to an aged crone, a man "in the springtime of youth" (dans le printemps de sa jeunesse). Sheesh. 

Although the birthdates of Rozala and Robert are unknown, she was some ten to fifteen years older than he was--Robert was likely about eighteen when they married, Rozala about thirty. Notably, when he rid himself of his "old" wife, Robert kept a significant part of her dowry.*

So then poor Robert married Bertha of Burgundy. He'd met her before he repudiated his first wife--he was a godfather to one of Bertha's children (like Rozala, Bertha had been married before and had several children with her first husband). Bertha's husband, Theobald of Blois, conveniently died just before the death of Robert's father, and after repudiating Rozala/Susanna, Robert quicky married Bertha. Interestingly, his new wife was not much younger than the discarded "old" one--Bertha was over thirty when she married Robert, who was still in his early twenties.

A twelfth-century image
of Bertha of Burgundy--
too incestuous
(detail from Genealogy of 
the Germans) 

Unfortunately, Robert's second marriage was "incestuous," and the two, Robert and Bertha, had known about the problematic nature of their relationship, but they had married anyway--according to church rules about consanguinous marriages, Robert and Bertha were too closely related. Moreover, their "spiritual affinity," the bond that had been created with Robert's role in the baptism of Bertha's child, compounded their incestuous (by contemporary standards) union. 

In 998, because the couple refused to separate, Robert was sentenced to a period of penance by Pope Gregory V and threatened with excommunication if he failed to separate from Bertha. Under a new pope, Sylvester II, the sentence was confirmed. Robert and Bertha were finally compelled to separate in 1001--significantly, while Bertha had given her first husband a son and heir (and several spares), she had not given birth to a single child with Robert. So Bertha also had to go. 

Robert repudiated his second wife about the year 1003. None of this whole affair seemed to damage Robert's reputation. In his biography of the king, Robert's chaplain, Helgaud de Fleury, did mention the unfortunate nature of the king's marriage to Bertha, but rather than condemning the sin of incest, Helgaud regarded the whole affair as yet another reason to praise Robert "the Pious"--Helgaud compared the "virtuous" and "humble" King Robert to the biblical King David and then explained that Robert's sin had been "washed away" because he had recognized his fault and prayed for forgiveness.**

Which brings us, at last, to Constance of Arles, the daughter of the count of Provence and the politically capable and experienced Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou. Robert married Constance about the year 1004--when she was about eighteen and he was about thirty-two. Hmmmm. Nothing from contemporary chroniclers or more recent historians about a poor young woman in the freshness of youth being tied to an ancient, twice-divorced man . . .

A fourteenth-century image of
Constance of Arles--
too not right
(detail from a manuscript of
Grandes Chroniques de France,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 2813); 
in this image, Constance is
surrendering to her son, Henry

Robert of course would remain "the very good and very pious king of the French," whose "piety and goodness . . .  resounded throughout the world." Constance, by contrast, quickly became the target of hostility and animosity.

Fulbert, the bishop of Chartres, claimed he was "frightened" by Constance's "savagery." In his view, she was "quite trustworthy when she promises evil." In contrast to her patient, pious husband, Constance is always "inflamed with fury" or knocking some poor guy's eye out or otherwise acting in ways beyond her husband's control. 

She was, in the view of her critics, willful, haughty, and, obviously (and dangerously), foreign. She and her Provençal attendants were "strange" and "eccentric" in their clothing and behavior--even their horses' equipage was viewed with suspicion. One cleric claimed all these "novelties" showed "the mark of the devil."

Historian Penelope Adair notes the many difficulties Constance faced when she became queen: the kingdom's deteriorating finances, the king's declining authority, and ongoing tension with the son of the discarded Bertha, Odo II, count of Blois, among them. According to Adair, "The repudiated Bertha, her children, and allies would not have welcomed her successor as queen" and "may have worked to weaken Constance's marriage." 

According to contemporary sources, allies of Odo, including the king's favorite, "sowed the seeds of discord between the king and his spouse." Pfister writes that even after their separation, Bertha "found an ally in Robert's heart" (Berthe trouva dans le cœur de Robert un allié). In their recent history of Capetian France, Elizabeth Hallam and Judity Everard indicate that it was Constance who "polarised the court into two factions," one favoring her own family, the other supporting Bertha and her sons. But considering the circumstances in which she found herself, I'm not altogether sure why Constance should be blamed for developing allies among her family and friends. 

Whether or not Bertha remained in Robert's heart, Constance of Arles gave the French king what his previous two queens had not: children. Constance gave birth to a daughter, shortly after her marriage, and a son and heir in 1007. Despite this, Robert seems to have listened to his favorite, Hugh of Beauvais, and separated himself from his wife. In defense of Constance, a group of her supporters murdered Hugh. This bloody act--for which she was blamed, whether the deed had been performed at her request or not--lay behind Robert's trip to Rome in 1010 to see whether he could divorce her (and maybe remarry Bertha).

But the pope did not allow Robert to divorce Constance, and the two remained married. In fact, while he "separated" from his third wife and trying to divorce her, Constance gave birth to two more children during this period. (During her marriage to Robert, Constance had seven children, four sons and three daughters.)

Ultimately, after Robert and Constance were reconciled, the king gave her the authority to manage finances, to some extent, and Helgaud de Fleury's biography of the king is filled with anecdotes about the king's great generosity and Constance's efforts to restrain him. Rather than using these incidents as a way of demonstrating Constance's concern for the well-being of the treasury, the chaplain uses them to suggest that Constance was motivated by avarice. 

Constance's eldest son, Hugh Magnus, was recognized as Robert's heir in 1016, when he was about nine years old, but he rebelled against his father in 1025, earning his mother's disapproval. Although father and son were soon reconciled, Constance was blamed for Hugh's rebellion, because in consecrating Hugh as his heir, Robert had ignored "the great and more prudent men" and listened to his wife instead. Unfortunately Hugh Magnus died in September of that year, just eighteen years old. 

Which left the question of who should succeed Robert as king of France to be answered once more. Robert favored Henry (born in 1008), while Constance favored Robert (born in 1011), whom she thought better suited for kingship. After Henry was crowned as his Robert's heir in 1027, Constance encouraged her sons to rebel against their father, which they did, in 1030--evidently each son had a reason to be angry with what he got out of the arrangement, and they decided to join together to oppose their father. The two sons were ultimately reconciled with Robert before his death in 1031, with Henry succeding him as king of France and Robert confirmed as duke of Burgundy.*** 

Scarcely had Robert died when Constance turned on Henry, now king of France, gathering a number of important allies to oppose her son. Henry fled to Normandy. Gathering his own supporters, Henry returned to France and besieged Constance at Poissy, where she had retreated. She enlisted her son Robert, duke of Burgundy, in her opposition to Henry, though after a defeat in battle against Henry, Robert reconciled with his brother and recognized his title. 

For her part, Constance managed to escape, but she died on 28 July 1032, supposedly as a result of a fit of coughing. 

Constance is buried next to her husband, King Robert II of France, in Saint-Denis.

The tomb of Constance of Arles,
Basilica of Sant-Denis
(Paris, France)

*Rozala of Italy was the daughter of Berengar II, king of Italy, and Willa of Tuscany, countess of Ivrea. Although Rozala's exact date of birth is uncertain, she was probably born c. 960, making her about sixteen years old when she married Arnulf II, count of Flanders, in 976. Arnulf himself was born in 960/61, a date helping to clarify Rozala's own birth date. During her first marriage, Rozala gave birth to two children including a son and heir, Baldwin IV of Flanders. When Arnulf died in 987, Rozala became regent for her son, but she lost the regency when she married Robert of France. Although Rozala's name change is usually said to have taken place after her second marriage, that may not have been the case--at least one reference to her as Susanna occurs in a charter before her second marriage.

After she was repudiated and divorced by Robert, Rozala/Susanna returned to Flanders, where she acted as an advisor to her son and where several charters document her charitable donations to religious institutions. She died in 1003 or 1004 (accounts vary) and is buried in St. Peter's Abbey, Ghent, next to her first husband. For a brief overview of the speculation about the age difference between Rozala and Robert, see Penelope Ann Adair, "Constance of Arles: A Study in Duty and Frustration" in Kathleen Nolan, Capetian Women--click here and scroll to note. 7.

**Born in 964, Bertha of Burgundy was the daughter of Conrad I, king of Burgundy, and Matilda of France, daughter of King Louis IV. Bertha was married to Otto I, count of Blois, about the year 983 and gave birth to three sons and a daughter. Bertha's husband, Otto, died on 12 March 996, and Robert's father, Hugh Capet, died months later, in October--despite knowing the ecclesiastical objections to their marriage, the two still wed. For the best explanation of this "problem," see Constance B. Bouchard's "Consanguinity and Noble Marriage in Tenth and Eleventh Centuries," Speculum 56, no. 2 (1981): 268-87.

After years of ignoring and resisting condemnations of their marriage, the two were "forced to separate," although "Robert repeatedly attempted--perhaps even after he remarried--to rejoin Bertha" (Bouchard 276). There is some evidence that, as late as 1010, when Robert visited Rome, he was trying to divorce his third wife, Constance of Arles, in order to reunite with Bertha. According to historian Penelope Ann Adair, Bertha "followed Robert to Rome hoping for permission to remarry him." 

I haven't been able to trace Bertha after she was separated from Robert, and her death is generally dated to this year, based on a reference in the records of the cathedral of Chartres recording the death on "XVII Kal Feb" 1010 of "Berta mater Odonis comitis" ("Bertha, mother of count Odo"), but some sources indicate (without documentation) Bertha may have died years later. Writing about Bertha, the nineteenth-century historian Chrétien Pfister notes a "legend" that the repudiated Bertha sought refuge in Montreuil, just outside Paris, and built a number of churches. Here and there I've also run across speculation that Bertha of Burgundy may be the Bertha who married Arduin of Ivrea, who became king of Italy in 1002, just a year or so before Bertha was separated from Robert of France. I'd like to think she was the Bertha who married Arduin of Ivrea, became his queen, had three sons with him, and lived happily ever after for some number of years. That's probably not the case, but, still, it would be a nice ending for her. (I'm not at all a Hemingway fan, but I'll steal a line from The Sun Also Rises: "Isn't it pretty to think so?")

***As for the other children of Constance of Arles: 

Advisa (or Hedwig), who seems to have been the eldest child (born c. 1003), was married to Renaud, count of Nevrs, in 1016 and gave birth to several children. Her husband died in 1028, fighting against his wife's brother at the battle of Seignelay.

Fourteenth-century
depiction of Baldwin V,
count of Flancers,
 and Adela of France,
sequence of 28 portraits
of counts of Flanders by
Jan van der Asselt,
Gravenkapel (Count's
Chapel), in the Belgian 
city of Courtrai

Adela, the couple's second daughter (born in 1009), was married first to Richard III, duke of Normandy, in January 1027, but after his death just months later, she married Baldwin V, count of Flanders, early in 1028. She gave birth to several children, including a daughter, Matilda, who would marry William of Normandy, William "the Conqueror," and become queen of England. After the death of Baldwin in 1067, Adela became a Benedictine nun and was sainted, now recognized as "Adela the Holy."

Poor Odo, or Eudes, was Constance and Robert's fourth son (born in 1013)--he lived until 1055, but he died without title or lands or marriage or anything . . . The nineteenth-century historian Chrétien Pfister claims that Odo, having received nothing from his father, knew that he would have to succeed on his own (il fallait, lui aussi, se soulever). And so in 1037 he joined Odo II, count of Blois (yes, that Odo, Bertha of Burgundy's son) and went to war against his brother, King Henry. He was defeated and imprisoned in Orléans. When he was freed, he still had nothing, so he wound up fighting once more, this time with Henry, when the king invaded Normandy, but once again he wound up on the losing side when Henry was defeated in 1054 at the battle of Mortemer. Pfister ends his brief summary of Odo's life by an account of his sacking and pillaging of some small villages. Odo supposedly took the food stores he found to a church, ordering that a banquet be prepared for him. But, Pfister claims, St. Benedict had his revenge--the night after he stuffed himself full of stolen food, Odo died. Yikes.

Constance's youngest child, Constance (born c. 1014?), was married to Manasses, count of Dammartin (in central France). The couple had several children. Manasses died in Burgundy when it was invaded by Odo II, count of Blois--yeah, that guy . . . Manasses was succeeded by his (and Constance's) eldest son, named, hmmm, Odo! There is some question among some historians, though, about whether this Constance is the daughter of Robert and Constance or whether she was a daughter-in-law, an illegitimate child of Robert's, or a goddaughter.