Joan of Navarre, Queen of England

Joan of Navarre
Duchess consort of Brittany
Tenure	2 October 1386 – 1 November 1399
Queen consort of England
Consort	7 February 1403 – 20 March 1413
Coronation	26 February 1403
Born	c. 1370 Pamplona, Navarre
Died	10 June 1437 (aged c. 66–67) Havering-atte-Bower, London
Burial	Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
Spouse	John IV, Duke of Brittany m. 1386; dec. 1399 Henry IV of England m. 1403; wid. 1413
Issue among others	John V, Duke of Brittany Marie, Duchess of Alençon Margaret, Viscountess of Rohan Arthur III, Duke of Brittany Gilles, Lord of Chantocé and Ingrande Richard, Count of Benon, Étampes and Marles Blanche, Countess of Armagnac
House	House of Évreux
Father	Charles II of Navarre
Mother	Joan of Valois

Joan of Navarre, also known as Joanna (c. 1370 – 10 June 1437) was a Duchess consort of Brittany and a Queen consort of England. She was the regent of Brittany from 1399 until 1403 during the minority of her son. She was a daughter of King Charles II of Navarre and Joan of France.^[1] She was the Duchess consort of Brittany through marriage with John IV, Duke of Brittany and later the Queen consort of England through marriage with King Henry IV of England.

First marriage: Duchess of Brittany

On 2 October 1386, Joan married her first husband, John IV, Duke of Brittany (known in traditional English sources as John V).^[2] She was his third wife and the only one to bear him children. They had nine children:

• Jeanne of Brittany (Nantes, 12 August 1387 – 7 December 1388).
• Isabelle of Brittany (October 1388 – December 1388).
• John V, Duke of Brittany (Château de l'Hermine, near Vannes, Morbihan, 24 December 1389 – manoir de La Touche, near Nantes 29 August 1442).
• Marie of Brittany (Nantes, 18 February 1391 – 18 December 1446), Lady of La Guerche, married at the Château de l'Hermine on 26 June 1398 John I of Alençon.
• Marguerite of Brittany (1392 – 13 April 1428), Lady of Guillac, married on 26 June 1407, Alain IX, Viscount of Rohan and Count of Porhoët (d. 1462)
• Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (Château de Succinio, 24 August 1393 – Nantes, 26 December 1458).
• Gilles of Brittany (1394 – Cosne-sur-Loire, 19 July 1412), Lord of Chantocé and Ingrande.
• Richard of Brittany (1395 – Château de Clisson 2 June 1438), Count of Benon, Étampes, and Mantes, married at the Château de Blois, Loir-et-Cher on 29 August 1423 Margaret d'Orléans, Countess of Vertus, daughter of Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans.
• Blanche of Brittany (1397 – bef. 1419), married at Nantes on 26 June 1407 John IV, Count of Armagnac.

Second marriage: Queen of England

Joan of Navarre's arms as queen consort^[3]

Her first husband died on 1 November 1399. She remained a widow for four years and acted as a regent for her son John V during that time. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, affection developed between Joan and Henry Bolingbroke (the future King Henry IV) while he resided at the Breton court during his banishment from England. In 1403, Joan became the second wife of Henry IV at Winchester Cathedral. They had no children, but she is recorded as having had a good relationship with Henry's children from his first marriage, often taking the side of the future Henry V, "Prince Hal," in his quarrels with his father.

Nevertheless, during the reign of Henry V, she was accused of using witchcraft to try to poison him. She was convicted in 1419 and imprisoned for about four years in Pevensey Castle in Sussex, England. After that she lived quietly at Nottingham Castle, through Henry V's reign and into that of his son, Henry VI. She was buried in Canterbury Cathedral next to Henry IV.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Joan of Navarre, Queen of England

16. Philip III of France               8. Louis d'Évreux                       17. Maria of Brabant               4. Philip III of Navarre                             18. Philip of Artois               9. Margaret of Artois                       19. Blanche of Brittany               2. Charles II of Navarre                                   20. Philip IV of France               10. Louis X of France                       21. Joan I of Navarre               5. Joan II of Navarre                             22. Robert II, Duke of Burgundy               11. Margaret of Burgundy                       23. Agnes of France               1. Joan of Navarre                                         24. Charles of Valois               12. Philip VI of France                       25. Margaret, Countess of Anjou               6. John II of France                             26. Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (=22)               13. Joan the Lame                       27. Agnes of France (=23)               3. Joan of France                                   28. Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor               14. John of Bohemia                       29. Margaret of Brabant               7. Bonne of Luxembourg and Bohemia                             30. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia               15. Elisabeth of Bohemia                       31. Judith of Habsburg

Footnotes

References

1. Leese, Thelma Anna (2007). Blood Royal: Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England, 1066–1399. Heritage Books Inc. p. 219.
2. Jones, Michael (1988). The Creation of Brittany. London: Hambledon Press. p. 123. ISBN 090762880X.
3. Boutell, Charles (1863). A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular. London: Winsor & Newton. p. 276.

External links

• Joan of Navarre Britannica Online
• Ceremonial de la Coronación, Unción y Exequias de los Reyes de Inglaterra in Historia Medieval del Reyno de Navarra