Yolande of Aragon 1381-1442 ― Family and Power; the Reverse of the Tapestry

No extended scholarly study has ever been published to examine the extent and detail of Yolande of Aragon's agency and reach set against the context of her time and place(s). She is implicated in multiple undertakings (viz. the second house of Anjou's battle for sovereignty over the insular kingdom of Naples-Sicily; the guardianship of her children upon the death of her influential husband; the struggle to assert her son-in-law Charles VII's authority over the throne of France; the protection of her lands against the threats of English and Aragonese invasion; the pacification and government of Provence-Forcalquier; the expansion of Angevin influence in the east of the kingdom; the succession to her natal throne of Aragon; and the end the Hundred Years War) and contexts (Aragon, France, the Empire and the western Mediterranean). This book is a long-anticipated and much-needed scholarly assessment of an incredibly powerful and influential figure of fifteenth century history who just happened to be a queen.

Zita Eva Rohr is a Research Associate and Tutor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney, Australia.