Yolande II, Countess of Nevers

Who was Yolande II, Countess of Nevers?

Yolande II or Yolande of Nevers, was the daughter of Odo of Burgundy, and Matilda II, Countess of Nevers.

On the death of her mother in 1262, Yolande, became the titular countess of Nevers, which included the counties of Tonnerre and Auxerre. However, in 1273 the arbitrators at the Parlement de Paris decided that the inheritance would be split among the sisters: Yolande got Nevers, Marguerite, inherited Tonnerre and Alix, Auxerre. Their aunt Agnes received the Bourbon fiefs. Upon the death of her paternal grandfather, Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, in 1272, Yolande and her influential husband, Robert of Flanders claimed the Duchy of Burgundy on the basis of primogeniture, being the first-born child of Hugh's deceased eldest son. Hugh IV, however, in his will named his third son, Robert, as heir to the Duchy while giving other fiefs to his granddaughters. King Philip III of France, one of the arbitrators, decided in favor of her uncle, who thus became Duke Robert II, on the basis of proximity of blood.

Her first marriage was to John Tristan, Count of Valois, son of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, in June 1265; they had no children, and he died of dysentery in 1270 at Tunis while on the Eighth Crusade.