Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine

Duchess of Lorraine

Yolande (2 November 1428, Nancy – 23 March 1483, Nancy) was Duchess of Lorraine (1473) and Bar (1480).She was the daughter of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, and René of Anjou (King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, Bar and Lorraine, Count of Provence).

Though she was nominally in control of major territories, she ceded her power and titles to her husband and her son.

In addition, her younger sister was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England.In the 19th century, a romanticised version of her early life was popularised by the play King René's Daughter by Henrik Hertz, in which she is portrayed as a beautiful blind princess living in an isolated garden paradise.

It was later adapted to Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta.There is no evidence that she was ever blind.