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Yolanda (or Violant) of France or Valois (), more commonly known as Duchess Yolanda, (September 23, 1434- Chambéry, August 23, 1478) was Duchess consort of Savoy and then regent of Savoy (1472-1478) on behalf of his son Filiberto I.

She was the daughter of King Charles VII of France, "the Victorious," and Mary of Anjou. He married the Duke Amadeo IX of Savoy in 1452. He was named after his grandmother, Yolanda of Aragon.

Like his brother, Carlos, he was an ally of Carlos the Temerary, against his own brother, Louis XI of France. After the humiliation of Burgundy in the Battle of Grandson in 1476, the Duke accused her of being in league with Louis and imprisoned her. After his release, he made peace with his brother Louis and remained in good terms with him until his death.

Biography

Youth age
Daughter of the French royalty and sister of the French defin and future King Louis XI of Valois, Princess Yolanda committed herself to Amadeo IX of Savoy (called the Blessed), at the request of the related families who gathered in the French court of Tours, when she was still a girl; Iolanda therefore grew up in the awareness that she would soon become Duchess of Savoy.

Marriage to Amadeo IX of Savoy

In 1452, the expected wedding was held with the young Amadeo IX, Duke of Savoy, Count of Aosta and Prince of Piedmont, who soon became fragile, undermined by epilepsy and characterized by the inability to rule. Yolanda immediately left Chambéry in search of a more favourable climate for her husband's health and moved with him to Bourg-en-Bresse. From there, far from the courtesan intrigues of the duchy capital, Yolanda lived his new role as Duchess of Savoy with an initial detachment but soon learned to rule instead of her husband, increasingly prostrated by disease and given to a growing mystique and charity.

The Regency

A woman of marked vitality and energy, Yolanda managed power with rare intelligence and diplomacy, until her husband, already sick, officially appointed her regent in 1469. This appointment unleashed the anger of his brother-in-law Filippo (known as the "Without Earth"), Giacomo di Romont-Vaud and Gianluigi Bishop of Geneva, who claimed their right to participate in the exercise of power. The main historians agree that the policy carried out by Duchess Yolanda contributed to a strong increase in the influence of the Valois in the affairs of the Duchy of Savoy; otherwise it would have been difficult, as she was a French princess. However, that consideration should not become a reproach or, worse yet, to attribute all responsibility to him in the internal riots and struggles in the duchy, which instead were the inevitable consequence of the greedy aspirations of his brother-in-law. Yolanda, in fact, was able to juggle skilfully, keeping his position firm, despite the many pregnancies,