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Birth:          1218 Dreux, France
Death:          10 Oct 1272 Chateau de Bouteville, Charente
Burial:         Notre Dame Abbey, Villeneuve-lez-Nantes, France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolande_of_Brittany
Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet (late 1218 – 10 October 
1272) was a Breton noblewoman and a suo jure Breton countess within the sovereign 
Duchy of Brittany. Yolande had been betrothed to King Henry III of England in 1226 at 
the age of seven years.[1] but married Hugh XI of Lusignan, the eldest uterine half-
brother of Henry III. Through Hugh, she became Countess of La Marche and of 
Angoulême. She was the mother of seven children. From 1250 to 1256, she acted as 
Regent of La Marche and Angoulême for her son, Hugh XII of Lusignan.[2]
Family[edit]

Yolande was born in Dreux, France at the end of 1218,[3] the only daughter of Pierre 
de Dreux and Alix, Duchess of Brittany. She had two brothers, John I, Duke of Brittany 
and Arthur of Brittany (1220–1224). By her father's second marriage to Nicole, she had 
a half-brother, Olivier de Braine (1231–1279). Her mother, Alix, had died on 21 October 
1221, when Yolande was not quite three years old. Yolande's paternal grandparents 
were Robert II, Count of Dreux and Yolande de Coucy, and her maternal grandparents 
were Guy de Thouars and Constance, Duchess of Brittany.

As her dowry, In 1236 Yolande received the titles of Countess of Penthièvre, Dame de 
la Fère-en-Tardenois, de Chailly, and de Longjumeau which she held suo jure from her 
brother John I, Duke of Brittany and her father, Pierre Mauclerc, acting as his Regent. 
Her brother also granted her the title of suo jure Countess of Porhoet.[3]

Betrothals, marriage and issue[edit]

Sometime before 19 October 1226, when she was seven years old, Yolande was 
betrothed to King Henry III of England. [a] The marriage never took place. [b] 
Blanche, regent of France, wanted to prevent Henry from gaining land or influence in 
France, and so forced Yolande's father to change her betrothal. Under this influence, 
Yolande's second betrothal occurred in March 1227 to John of France, Count of 
Anjou, the son of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche. The engagement was ended 
when John died aged thirteen in 1232.[4]

Yolande was affianced a third time in 1231 to Theobald IV, Count of Champagne. As 
in the case with King Henry and John of France, this betrothal to Theobald also did 
not result in marriage. [c]

Yolande was more fortunate in her fourth betrothal, and in January 1236 she married 
Hugh XI of Lusignan. Hugh XI succeeded his father in 1249 as Count of La Marche 
and Count of Angoulême. His uterine half-brother was King Henry III of England to 
whom Yolande had been betrothed in 1226.

Together Hugh and Yolande had seven children:
Hugh XII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême (died after 25 
August 1270), married 29 January 1254 Jeanne de Fougères, Dame de Fougères by 
whom he had six children. He died while on crusade.
Guy of Lusignan, (died 1288/89), Seigneur de Cognac, d'Archiac, and de Couhé; 
Seigneur de la Fère-en-Tardenois.
Geoffroy of Lusignan (died 1264)
Alice of Lusignan (died May 1290), married in 1253 as his first wife, Gilbert de Clare, 
6th Earl of Gloucester, by whom she had two daughters.
Marie of Lusignan (1242- after 11 July 1266), married Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of 
Derby. She died childless.
Isabelle of Lusignan, Dame de Belleville (1248–1304), married Maurice de Belleville
Yolande of Lusignan (died 10 November 1305), married Pierre I, Sire de Preaux

Yolande's husband Hugh XI was killed at the Battle of Fariskur in Egypt on 6 April 
1250. [d] Yolande acted as Regent of La Marche and Angoulême for her eldest son 
Hugh from 1250 to 1256.

Death[edit]

Yolande died at the Chateau de Bouteville, Charente on 10 October 1272. She was 
buried at the Notre Dame Abbey in Villeneuve-lez-Nantes.

Upon her death, her Breton enoblements returned to the House of Dreux when the 
titles of Count of Penthievre and Porhoet were seized by her brother, John I, Duke of 
Brittany.

Parents
DE DREUX Pierre (ABT 1187 - 26 May 1250)
____ Alix (1200 - 21 Oct 1221)

Siblings
OF BRITTANY Yolande (1218 - 10 Oct 1272)

Marriage To DE LUSIGNAN Hugh XI (1221 - 6 Apr 1250)
    m. Jan 1236 

Notes

Parents
DE LUSIGNAN Hugh (Hugues) X (ABT 1195 - ABT 5 Jun 1249)
DE TAILLEFER OF ANGOULEME Isabella (1188 - 31 May 1246)

Children by DE LUSIGNAN Hugh XI 1221 - 6 Apr 1250
DE LUSIGNAN Hugh XII (ABT 1240 - AFT 25 Aug 1270)

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