Marie of Anjou

Marie of Anjou
Queen consort of France
Tenure	1422–1461
Born	14 October 1404 Angers
Died	29 November 1463 (aged 59) Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou
Burial	Saint-Denis Basilica
Spouse	Charles VII of France
House	Valois-Anjou
Father	Louis II of Anjou
Mother	Yolande of Aragon
Religion	Roman Catholic

Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463) was Queen of France as the wife of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. Marie was the eldest daughter of Louis II of Anjou, titular King of Naples, titular King of Sicily, and Yolande of Aragon, titular Queen of Aragon.^[1]

Marriage

In 1413 Marie was betrothed to Charles,^[1] fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. By April 1422, she married Charles, her second cousin, at Bourges and subsequently became Queen of France. Her husband's victory in the Hundred Years War owed a great deal to the support he received from Marie's family, notably from her mother Yolande of Aragon. Although Marie and Charles had fourteen children, her husband's affection was primarily directed towards his mistress, Agnès Sorel.

In the drawing seen at right, her court chaplain, Robert Blondel, presents her with the allegorical Treatise of the "Twelve Perils of Hell," which he composed for her in 1455. Facsimile of a miniature from this work. Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Paris.

Marie of Anjou died on 29 November 1463 at the Cistercian Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou (Poitou-Charentes region), returning from a pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostela. She was 59 years old. She died two years after her husband Charles VII. She is buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis alongside her husband.

Issue

Marie was the mother of fourteen children with her husband Charles:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Louis	3 July 1423	30 August 1483	King of France. Married firstly, Margaret of Scotland, no issue. Married secondly, Charlotte of Savoy, had issue.
John	19 September 1426		Lived for a few hours.
Radegonde	after 29 August 1428	19 March 1444	Betrothed to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria on 22 July 1430.
Catherine	after 29 August 1428	13 July 1446	Married Charles the Bold, no issue.
James	1432	2 March 1437	Died aged five.
Yolande	23 September 1434	23/29 August 1478	Married Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy, had issue.
Joan	4 May 1435	4 May 1482	Married John II, Duke of Bourbon, no issue.
Philip	4 February 1436	11 June 1436	Died in infancy.
Margaret	May 1437	24 July 1438	Died aged one.
Joanna	7 September 1438	26 December 1446	Twin of Marie, died aged eight.
Marie	7 September 1438	14 February 1439	Twin of Joanna, died in infancy.
Marie	1441	Died young.
Magdalena	1 December 1443	21 January 1495	Married Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana, had issue.
Charles	12 December 1446	24 May 1472	Died without legitimate issue.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Marie of Anjou

References

1. David Green, The Hundred Years War: A People's History, (Yale University Press, 2014), 190.