Get to know the Hungarian queen, who is celebrated in Spain up to this day
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Did you know that there is a Spanish city with a nine-day-long celebration every year that culminates with the locals laying a wreath on the statue of the onetime king of Aragon and his Hungarian wife?
According to the Kupakői Paprika Blog, this is a true story. The city of Castellón de la Plana can be found in Valencia Province in Spain. The founding of the city is celebrated every year between the 23rd of February and the 2nd of March. The nine-day celebration is called Magdalena. The highlight of the festivity is when locals lay a wreath on the statue of the founders of the city: James I and Violant of Hungary/Jolánta.
The truth is that not many Hungarians know about her. If mentioned, she’s probably referred to as Jolánta or Jolán. She was probably born between 1215 and 1219 as the daughter of King Andrew II and his second wife Courtenay Jolán (Yolande).
She grew up in the court according to the habits of the era, meaning that she learned Latin at an early age. Moreover, she was an excellent chess player. It is believed that playing board games was her favourite free time activity. But how did the Hungarian princess get to Aragon?
In that time, it was decided by Pope Gregory IX who Christian princesses had to marry.
Naturally, the choices were always based on political and dynastic interest. This is how the daughter of Andrew II ended up marrying James I the Conqueror.
It was quite a troubled time in Spanish history, not to mention that King James got divorced not long before. Divorces were quite rare back then, but it was said that his first wife decided to enter a convent. Finally, the pope broke up the marriage due to “close blood-relationship”. You might be wondering why this didn’t turn out earlier, but as we know, the habits were different at that time.
