Violante

In 1380, at the age of fifteen, the French countess Violante de Bar (also known as Yolande) married John I of Aragon, who became king of the Spanish kingdom in 1387. Her husband was often ill, and Violante wielded considerable administrative power on his behalf. She transformed the Aragonese court into a center of French culture, in particular cultivating the talents of Provençal troubadours (poet-musicians). After John’s death in 1395, she dedicated herself to the education of her only surviving child, a daughter also named Violante.