Marie of Anjou

Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463) was Queen of France as the spouse of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. She served as regent and presided over the council of state several times during the absence of the king.

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.

Marie was betrothed to her second cousin Charles, fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, in 1413. The wedding took place in April 1422 at Bourges. The wedding made her Queen of France, but as far as it is known, she was never crowned.Her spouse'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.

Queen

Queen Marie presided over the Council of state several times in the absence of the king, during which she had power of attorney as regent and signed acts in the position of "lieutenant of the king" (April 1434).She made several pilgrimages, such as Puy with the king in 1424, and Mount St Michel by herself in 1447.

Marie and Charles had fourteen children, but her spouse's affection was primarily directed towards his mistress, Agnès Sorel, originally Marie's lady in waiting, who became official mistress to the king in 1444 and played a dominant role at court until her death in 1450, somewhat eclipsing the queen.

Robert Blondel composed the allegorical Treatise of the "Twelve Perils of Hell" for queen Marie in 1455.

Queen dowager

In 1461, Charles VII died and was succeeded by their son Louis XI, making Marie queen dowager. She was granted the Chateau of Amboise and the income from Brabant by her son.

During the winter of 1462-63, Marie of Anjou made a pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostela. It has been speculated that she had a mission in Spain as secret ambassador for her son, due to the political situation at the time and the fact that she made the pilgrimage during winter time, when the roads were so bad that such trips were normally avoided if possible. She died at the age of 59 on 29 November 1463 at the Cistercian Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou (Poitou-Charentes region) on her return. She is buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis alongside her spouse.

Marie was the mother of fourteen children: