Isabella, Countess of Vertus

Isabella
Countess of Vertus
Born	1 October 1348 Château de Bois de Vincennes, France
Died	11 September 1372 (aged 23) Pavia
Spouse	Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Issue	Gian Galeazzo Visconti Azzone Visconti Valentina, Duchess of Orléans Carlo Visconti
House	Valois
Father	John II of France
Mother	Bonne of Bohemia

Isabella of France (1 October 1348 – 11 September 1372) was a French princess and member of the House of Valois, as well as the wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, who after her death became Duke of Milan.

Life

Born in Bois de Vincennes, Isabella was the youngest daughter of King John II of France[1] by his first wife, Bonne of Bohemia.[2]

Count Amadeus VI of Savoy arranged her marriage with his nephew Gian Galeazzo Visconti. As her dowry, Isabella received the county of Sommières, exchanged later for the county of Vertus.[3] On 8 October 1360, Isabella and Gian Galeazzo were married in Milan, and six months later, in April 1361, she was declared sovereign Countess of Vertus.[4] Following her marriage, Isabella brought her collection of French books to Milan.[5] When her daughter, Valentina, traveled to France for her marriage, she brought twelve books of Italian origin.[5] The couple had four children:

• Gian Galeazzo, born 1366[6]
• Azzone, 1368–1380[6]
• Valentina (b. Pavia, 1371 – d. Château de Blois, Loir-et-Cher, 14 December 1408), married on 17 August 1389 to Louis I, Duke of Orléans[4]
• Carlo, born 1372.[6]

Only Valentina lived to adulthood;[6] Isabella died giving birth to Carlo in Pavia in 1372[2][4] and was buried in the church of San Francesco.[7]

Family tree of Isabella of Vertus

Ancestors of Isabella, Countess of Vertus
8. Charles of Valois 4. Philip VI of France 9. Marguerite of Anjou and Maine 2. John II of France 10. Robert II, Duke of Burgundy 5. Joan the Lame 11. Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy 1. Isabelle of Valois 12. Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor 6. John I of Bohemia 13. Margaret of Brabant 3. Bonne of Bohemia 14. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia 7. Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330) 15. Judith of Habsburg

References

1. Ward, Prothero & Leathes 1934, p. table 22.
2. Adams 2010, p. 255.
3. Hay 1977, p. 107.
4. D'Ancona 1990, p. 112.
5. Bell 1988, p. 176.
6. Andrea Gamberini (2000). Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duca di Milano (in Italian). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, volume 54. Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed May 2020.
7. Majocchi, Piero (January 2015). "Non iam capitanei, sed reges nominarentur: progetti regi e rivendicazioni politiche nei rituali funerari dei Visconti (XIV secolo)". Courts and Courtly Cultures in Early Modern Italy and Europe Models and Languages. Retrieved 2 August 2022.

Sources

• Adams, Tracy (2010). The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Bell, Susan Groag (1988). "Medieval Women Book Owners: Arbiters of Lay Piety and Ambassadors of Culture". In Erler, Mary; Kowaleski, Maryanne (eds.). Women and Power in the Middle Ages. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 149–187.
• D'Ancona, Mirella Levi (1990). "La Vergine Maria nell'Offiziolo Visconteo: Parte I: Il Ms. BR 397 della Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze". La Bibliofilía (in Italian). 92 (2 (maggio-agosto)). Casa Editrice Leo S. Olschki s.r.l.: 109–143.
• Hay, Denys (1977). The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley, eds. (1934). The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. XIII. Cambridge at the University Press.

Regnal titles
New title	Countess of Vertus April 1361 – 11 September 1372 with Gian Galeazzo	Succeeded by Valentina