Which French queen was Charles VII’s wife during Joan of Arc’s campaigns?

Marie of Anjou was Charles VII’s wife during Joan of Arc’s campaigns.

Marie married Charles, then heir to the French throne, in 1422. When Joan became prominent in 1429, Marie was queen consort of the Valois claimant Charles VII. Joan supported Charles’s cause and helped create the momentum that led to his coronation at Reims.

Marie is sometimes confused with other important women in the same political world. Isabeau of Bavaria was Charles VI’s queen and the mother of Charles VII, while Yolande of Aragon was Charles’s influential mother-in-law and a major supporter of the Valois court. Catherine of Valois was an English queen and Henry VI’s mother, not Charles VII’s wife.

Marie and Charles had numerous children, including the future king Louis XI. Marie’s role was primarily dynastic and courtly, whereas Joan’s public role was military and prophetic. Keeping those roles separate helps clarify the complicated royal relationships surrounding the Hundred Years’ War.