Joan II of Navarre

Joan II
Queen of Navarre
Reign 1 February 1328 – 6 October 1349
Coronation 5 March 1329 (Pamplona)
Predecessor Charles I
Successor Charles II
Born 28 January 1312
Died 6 October 1349(1349-10-06) (aged 37)
Navarre
Spouse Philip III, King of Navarre
Issue Maria, Queen of Aragon
Blanche, Queen of France
Charles II, King of Navarre
Agnes, Countess of Foix
Philip, Count of Longueville
Louis, Duke of Durazzo
House Capet
Father Louis I, King of Navarre
Mother Margaret of Burgundy

Joan II (28 January 1312 – 6 October 1349) was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death. She was the only child of Louis X of France, King of France and Navarre, and Margaret of Burgundy. Joan's paternity was dubious because her mother was involved in a scandal, but Louis X declared her his legitimate daughter before he died in 1316. However, the French lords were opposed to the idea of a female monarch and elected Louis X's brother, Philip V, king. The Navarrese noblemen also did homage to Philip. Joan's maternal grandmother, Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy, and uncle, Odo IV of Burgundy, made attempts to secure the counties of Champage and Brie (which had been the patrimony of Louis X's mother, Joan I of Navarre) to Joan, but the French royal troops defeated her supporters. After Philip V married his daughter to Odo and granted him two counties as her dowry, Odo renounced Joan's claim to Champagne and Brie in exchange for a compensation in March 1318. Joan married Philip of Évreux who was also a member of the French royal family.

Philip V was succeeded by his brother, Charles IV, in both France and Navarre in 1322, but most Navarrese lords refused to swear loyalty to him. After Charles IV died in 1328, the Navarrese expelled the French governor and declared Joan the rightful monarch of Navarre. In France, Philip of Valois was crowned king. He concluded an agreement with Joan and her husband who renounced Joan's claims to Champagne and Brie in exchange for three counties, while Philip acknowledged their right to Navarre. Joan and her husband were together crowned in Pamplona Cathedral on 5 March 1329.

The royal couple closely cooperated during their joint reign, but Philip of Évreux was more active. However, they mostly lived in their French domains, and Navarre was administered by governors during their absence.

Uncertain legitimacy

Joan was the daughter of Louis, King of Navarre, and his wife, Margaret of Burgundy.[1][2] Joan was born in 1312.[2] Her father was the oldest son of and heir to Philip IV of France, by his wife Joan I of Navarre.[3]

Joan's mother, Margaret, and Margaret's sisters-in-law, Joan and Blanche of Burgundy, were arrested, together with two knights, the brothers Philip and Walter of Aunay, in 1314.[4] After being tortured, one of the brothers confessed that they had been the lovers of Margaret and Blanche for three years.[4] The Aunay brothers were soon executed, and Margaret and Blanche were imprisoned.[4] Before long, Margaret died in her prison in Château Gaillard.[4] After the scandal, the legitimacy of Joan became dubious, because her mother was accused of having had an extramarital affair around the year of Joan's birth.[5]

Philip IV died on 26 November 1314, and Joan's father became Louis X of France.[6] Louis stated that Joan was his legitimate daughter on his deathbed.[5] He died on 5 June 1316.[2] His second wife, Clementia of Hungary, who was Joan's stepmother, was pregnant.[2] According to an agreement of the most powerful French lords, which was completed on 16 July, if Clementia gave birth to a son, the son was to be crowned King of France, but if a daughter was born, Joan and her infant half-sister could only inherit the Kingdom of Navarre and the counties of Champage and Brie (the three realms that Louis X had inherited from his mother, Joan I of Navarre).[7] It was also agreed that Joan was to be sent to her mother's relatives in Burgundy, but her marriage could not be decided without the consent of the members of the French royal family.[7]

Orphanhood

Joan's family tree, depicting her father, mother, stepmother, herself and her half-brother

Clementia gave birth to a son, John the Posthumous, on 13 November 1316, but he died five days later.[8] Joan's maternal uncle, Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy, who was in Paris, entered into negotiations with Philip IV's second son, Philip the Long, to protect Joan's interests, but Philip did not respond to Odo's demands.[7] Instead, he made arrangements for his own coronation, which took place in Reims on 9 January 1317.[8][7] An assembly of the French lords strengthened Philip's position on 2 February, declaring that a woman could not inherit the French crown.[9] The Navarrese noblemen sent a delegation to Paris to swore fidelity to Philip.[10] Philip also denied to give Champagne and Brie to Joan.[11]

Joan's maternal grandmother, Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy, sent letters to the leading French lords, protesting against his coronation, but Philip V mounted the throne without real opposition.[8][9] Letters were also written to the lords of Champagne in Joan's name, urging them to refrain from paying homage to Philip and to protect Joan's rights to Champagne.[12] In an other letter, Odo IV argued that the disinheritance of Joan by Philip V went against "the divine right of law, by custom, in the usage kept in similar cases in empires, kingdoms, fiefs, in baronies in such a length of time that there is no memory of the contrary".[12] However, Philip V's uncle, Charles of Valois, defeated Joan's supporters.[8]

Philip and Odo concluded an agreement on 27 March 1318.[8][12] Philip gave his eldest daughter (who was also named Joan) in marriage to Odo, recognizing them as heirs to the counties of Burgundy and Artois, while Joan was to marry her cousin, Philip of Évreux, with a dowry of 15,000 livres tournois in rents and the right to inherit Champagne and Brie if Philip V died leaving no sons.[12] The men also agreed that Joan was to renounce her claims to France and Navarre at the age of twelve.[13] There is no evidence that the renunciation ever took place.[14] The marriage of Joan and Philip was celebrated on 18 June 1318.[15] Thereafter Joan lived with her husband's grandmother, Marie of Brabant.[16]

Extinction of the main Capet line

Philip V died without leaving a surviving son in early 1322.[15] His brother, Charles the Fair, who was Philip IV's last surviving son, succeeded him in both France and Navarre.[15] Most Navarrese refused to do homage to Charles, and he did not confirm the Fueros (or liberties) of Navarre.[17][18] Charles died on 1 February 1328.[15][19] Since Charles's widow, Jeanne d'Évreux, was pregnant, the peers of France and other influential French lords assembled in Paris to elect a regent.[19] The majority of the French lords concluded that Philip of Valois had the strongest claim to the office, because he was the closest patrilinear relative of the deceased king.[20] The representatives of the Estates of the realm in Navarre, who assembled at Puente La Reina on 13 March,[21] replaced the French governor with two local lords.[22]

Jeanne gave birth to a daughter, Blanche, on 1 April.[15][23] Her birth made it clear that the direct male line of the royal Capetian dynasty of France had become extinct with Charles the Fair's death.[15] Joan and her husband could claim the French throne, because they both were descended from French monarchs, but there were at least five other claimants, including Philip of Valois.[15] The claimants' representatives met at Saint-Germain-en-Laye to reach a compromise.[15] The general assembly of Navarre passed a resolution in May, requesting Joan to visit Navarre and to take control of its government, because the crown belonged "by right of succession and inheritance" to her.[22][21]

Philip of Valois was crowned king of France in Reims on 29 May.[23] He had no claim to Navarre, Champagne and Brie, because he was not descended from Joan I of Navarre.[24] To strengthen his position in France, in July Philip acknowledged the right of Joan and her husband to rule Navarre.[22][23] He also persuaded them to renounce Champagne and Brie in exchange for the counties of Longueville, Mortain and Angouleme, because he wanted to preserve the strategically important Champagne and Brie for the French crown.[23][25]

Accession and coronation

After the decision of the general assembly of Navarre in May 1328, Joan was regarded the lawful monarch of Navarre.[21] This decision put an end to the personal union of Navarre and France, formed through the marriage of Joan I of Navarre and Philip IV of France.[11] During the following months, Joan and her husband conducted lengthy negotiations with the Estates of the realm, especially about the role of Philip of Évreux in the administration of the kingdom.[26] Although the Navarrese had only acknowledged Joan's hereditary right to rule, her husband adopted the title of King of Navarre in July 1328.[22] During the absence of the new monarchs, pogroms against the Jews occurred in the towns of Navarre.[27]

Joan and Philip of Évreux sent two French lords, Henry of Sully and Philip of Melun, to Navarre to represent them during the negotiations.[26] The Navarrese were initially reluctant to confirm Philip's right to share the queen's rule.[28] The delegates of the general assembly first declared that Philip would be allowed to take part in the administration of Navarre in a meeting in Roncesvalles in November 1328.[29] However, they also stated that all traditional elements of the coronation (including the new monarch's elevation on a shield and the throwing of money to spectators) would only be carried out in connection with Joan.[30][29] To emphasize Philip's claim to reign in his wife's realm, Henry of Sully referred to Paul the Apostle who had stated that "the head of woman is man" in his First Epistle to the Corinthians.[29] Sully also emphasized that Joan had approved and consented to strengthen her husband's position.[29]

Joan and Philip came to Navarre in early 1329.[31] They were crowned in the Pamplona Cathedral on 5 March.[29] Both were raised on a shield and both threw money during the ceremony.[31] They signed a coronation oath, establishing their royal prerogatives.[29] The charter underlined that Joan was the "true and natural heir" of Navarre, but also declared that "all of the kingdom of Navarre would obey her consort".[32] However, the Navarrese also specified that both Joan and Philip were to renounce the crown as soon as their heir reached twenty-one, or they were obliged to pay a fine of 100,000 livres.[33] Joan granted 100,000 livres tournois to her husband to compensate him for his expenses connected to the acquisition of Navarre.[29]

Reign

Joan as depicted in her book of hours

Joan II and Philip III of Navarre closely cooperated during their joint reign.[27] Out of the eighty-five royal decrees preserved from the period of their joint rule, forty-one documents were issued in both names.[34] However, the sources suggest that Philip was more active in several fields of government, especially legislation.[27] He signed thirty-eight decrees alone, without referring to his wife.[35] Only six documents were issued exclusively in Joan's name.[35]

After the coronation, the royal couple ordered the punishment of the perpetrators of the Anti-Jewish riots and the paying of compensation to the victims.[36] The royal fortresses were repaired and a new castle was built at Castelrenault during their reign.[27] Irrigation system of the arid fields around Tudela was also constructed with the royal couple's financial support.[27] They also wanted to maintain peaceful relationship with the neighboring states.[37] They opened negotiations about the betrothal of their firstborn daughter, Joan, to Peter, the heir of Aragon already in 1329.[38] A peace treaty with Castille was signed at Salamance on 15 March 1330.[39]

However, their French territories also needed their attention and they left for France in September 1331.[31][40] During their absence, a border dispute over the ownership of the Monastery of Fitero developed into a war with Castille in 1335.[37] Peter IV of Aragon supported the Navarrese and a new peace treaty with Castille was signed on 28 February 1336.[37] Joan and Philip returned to Navarre in April 1336.[31][40] Their second visit lasted till October 1337.[31][40] Philip twice returned to the realm, but Joan did not accompany him.[40] During the monarchs' absence, French governors administered Navarre on their behalf.[31]

Philip III died in September 1343.[41] Joan decided to again visit Navarre, but she never returned, most probably because of the possibility of an invasion of her family's domains in France during the Hundred Years War.[41] She replaced Philip of Melun, who had administered Navarre in the royal couple's name, with William of Brahe.[42] Before long, she also dismissed William of Brahe, replacing him with Jean de Conflans.[42]

Joan established the convent of San Francisco in Olite in 1345.[27] In her last will, he bequested her son to finance a chapel in Santa Maria of Olite.[27] She was buried in the Basilica of St Denis, though her heart was buried at the now-demolished church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris alongside that of her husband's.[43]

Family

Joan's husband, Philip of Évreux, was a grandson of Philip III of France.[11] When they married, Philip was seventeen, but Joan only seven.[44] The marriage was consummated only in 1324.[44] Their first child, Joan, was proposed to the future Peter IV of Aragon, but she joined the Franciscan convent at Longchamp.[45] Their second daughter, Maria, became the first wife of Peter IV of Aragon.[45] The first son of Joan and Philip, Louis, died young.[45] Blanche, the third daughter of the royal couple, married Philip VI of France six months after Joan's death.[46] Joan was succeeded in Navarre by her second son, Charles the Bad.[47] The third son of Joan and Philip of Évreux, Philip was a staunch supporter of Charles the Bad during the latter's conflicts with France in the 1350s.[48][49] The fourth son, Louis, married Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo.[46] Joan's and Philip's fourth daughter, Agnes, became the wife of Gaston III, Count of Foix, but their marriage broke down, primarily because of conflicts in connection with the payment of her dowry.[50][51] The youngest child of the royal couple, Joan, married John II, Vicount of Rohan.[48]

References

  1. ↑ Bradbury 2007, p. 278.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Woodacre 2013, p. 51.
  3. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. xix, 51.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bradbury 2007, p. 277.
  5. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 52.
  6. ↑ Bradbury 2007, pp. 276, 278.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Woodacre 2013, p. 53.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Bradbury 2007, p. 281.
  9. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 54.
  10. ↑ Monter 2012, p. 56.
  11. 1 2 3 O'Callaghan 1975, p. 409.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Woodacre 2013, p. 55.
  13. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 55-56.
  14. ↑ Woodacre 2013, p. 56.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Woodacre 2013, p. 57.
  16. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 56, 71.
  17. ↑ Woodacre 2013, p. 60.
  18. ↑ Monter 2012, p. 57.
  19. 1 2 Knecht 2007, p. 1.
  20. ↑ Knecht 2007, pp. 1-2.
  21. 1 2 3 Woodacre 2013, p. 61.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Monter 2012, p. 58.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Knecht 2007, p. 2.
  24. ↑ Woodacre 2013, p. 59.
  25. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 59-60.
  26. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 62.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Woodacre 2013, p. 66.
  28. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 62-63.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Woodacre 2013, p. 63.
  30. ↑ Monter 2012, pp. 58-59.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Monter 2012, p. 59.
  32. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 63-64.
  33. ↑ Woodacre 2013, p. 64.
  34. ↑ Monter 2012, pp. 59-60.
  35. 1 2 Monter 2012, p. 60.
  36. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 66-67.
  37. 1 2 3 Woodacre 2013, p. 69.
  38. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 68-69.
  39. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. 69, 198.
  40. 1 2 3 4 Woodacre 2013, p. 65.
  41. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 72.
  42. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 73.
  43. ↑ Les Grandes Chroniques de France, vol. 9, Jules Viard, ed. (Paris: Librairie Ancienne Honoré Champion, 1927): 241.
  44. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. 71.
  45. 1 2 3 Woodacre 2013, pp. xx, 68.
  46. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, pp. xx, 70.
  47. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. xx, 74.
  48. 1 2 Woodacre 2013, p. xx.
  49. ↑ Tuchman 1978, p. 133.
  50. ↑ Woodacre 2013, pp. xx, 83-84.
  51. ↑ Tuchman 1978, p. 344.

Sources

  • Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France, 987-1328. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-85285-528-4. 
  • Knecht, Robert (2007). The Valois: Kings of France, 1328-1589. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 1-85285-522-3. 
  • Monter, William (2012). The Rise of Female Kings in Europe, 1300-1800. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-17327-7. 
  • O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (1975). A History of Medieval Spain. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9264-5. 
  • Tuchman, Barbara W. (1978). A Distant Mirror: The Calamitious 14th Century. The Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 0-345-34957-1. 
  • Woodacre, Elena (2013). The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnership, 1274-1512. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-33914-0. 
Joan II of Navarre
Born: 28 January 1312 Died: 6 October 1349
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Charles I		 Queen of Navarre
1328–1349
with Philip III (1328-1343) 		Succeeded by
Charles II
Vacant
Title last held by
Guy		 Countess of Angoulême
1328–1349 		Vacant
Title next held by
Charles de la Cerda
Vacant
Title last held by
Joan I		 Countess of Mortain
1328–1349 		Vacant
Title next held by
Peter
Vacant Countess of Longueville
1328–1349 		Succeeded by
Philip
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