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[[Louis I of Hungary|Louis the Great]], Andrew's older brother, could take this opportunity to seek the annexation of the Kingdom of Naples. He launched a military expedition and the first troops made ​​their entrance to [[L'Aquila]] on 10 May 1347.<ref>Émile-G. Léonard: ''Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne'', t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 351.</ref>
[[Louis I of Hungary|Louis the Great]], Andrew's older brother, could take this opportunity to seek the annexation of the Kingdom of Naples. He launched a military expedition and the first troops made ​​their entrance to [[L'Aquila]] on 10 May 1347.<ref>Émile-G. Léonard: ''Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne'', t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 351.</ref>


On 11 January 1348 the Hungarian troops are at [[Benevento]] ready to invade the Kingdom of Naples.<ref>Émile-G. Léonard: ''Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne'', t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 359.</ref> Faced with this threat, Joanna, who had retired at Castel Nuovo and trusted to the loyalty of Marseille, prepared her escape from the vengeance of Louis. Without waiting for the return of her husband, she embarks on 15 January 1348 on two galleys property of the Marseille citizen Jacques de Gaubert to Provence,<ref>Paul Masson (dir.), Raoul Busquet et Victor Louis Bourrilly: ''Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches-du-Rhône'', vol. II: ''Antiquité et Moyen Âge'', Marseille, Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône,‎ 1924, 966 p., chap. XVII (« L'ère des troubles : la reine Jeanne (1343-1382), établissement de la seconde maison d'Anjou : Louis Ier (1382-1384) »), p. 391.</ref> taking with her the still devoted Enrico Caracciolo. Louis of Taranto arrived in Naples the next day and escape in another galley.<ref>Dominique Paladilhe: ''La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence'', Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 78</ref>
On 11 January 1348 the Hungarian troops are at [[Benevento]] ready to invade the Kingdom of Naples.<ref>Émile-G. Léonard: ''Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne'', t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 359.</ref> Faced with this threat, Joanna, who had retired at [[Castel Nuovo]] and trusted to the loyalty of Marseille, prepared her escape from the vengeance of Louis. Without waiting for the return of her husband, she embarks on 15 January 1348 on two galleys property of the Marseille citizen Jacques de Gaubert to Provence,<ref>Paul Masson (dir.), Raoul Busquet et Victor Louis Bourrilly: ''Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches-du-Rhône'', vol. II: ''Antiquité et Moyen Âge'', Marseille, Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône,‎ 1924, 966 p., chap. XVII (« L'ère des troubles : la reine Jeanne (1343-1382), établissement de la seconde maison d'Anjou : Louis Ier (1382-1384) »), p. 391.</ref> taking with her the still devoted Enrico Caracciolo. Louis of Taranto arrived in Naples the next day and escape in another galley.<ref>Dominique Paladilhe: ''La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence'', Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 78</ref>


After easily taken the city of Naples, Louis the Great ordened the execution of Charles of Durazzo, Joanna's cousin and brother-in-law: he was beheaded on 23 January 1348 in the same place where his brother Andrew was murdered. Joanna and Andrew's son, Charles Martel (betrothed to Charles of Durazzo's eldest daughter), who was left behind by his mother, was sent by his uncle to Visegrad in Hungary, where he died after 10 May 1348, aged 2.
After easily taken the city of Naples, Louis the Great ordened the execution of Charles of Durazzo, Joanna's cousin and brother-in-law: he was beheaded on 23 January 1348 in the same place where his brother Andrew was murdered. Joanna and Andrew's son, Charles Martel (betrothed to Charles of Durazzo's eldest daughter), who was left behind by his mother, was sent by his uncle to Visegrad in Hungary, where he died after 10 May 1348, aged 2.
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Louis of Taranto, who caught a cold while bathing, fell ill. His condition worsened during a month and he died on 25 May 1362.<ref>Raoul Busquet (préf. Émile Isnard): ''Histoire de Provence'', Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 195.</ref>
Louis of Taranto, who caught a cold while bathing, fell ill. His condition worsened during a month and he died on 25 May 1362.<ref>Raoul Busquet (préf. Émile Isnard): ''Histoire de Provence'', Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 195.</ref>


===Administration and her court===
===Personal Government===
====Third Marriage====
The death of Louis of Taranto, a brutal authoritarian husband, finally gave Joanna to take the power from which she had been relegated. During the next three years, the Queen would take a series of measures that made ​​her popular: she granted the pardon to Raymond des Baux on 20 March 1363, replaced Roger of San Severino by Fouques d'Agoult as Seneschal of Provence and promulged various edicts to prevent internal disorders.

On 14 December 1362, Joanna contracted by proxy her third marriage, with [[James IV of Majorca|James IV, titular King of Majorca and Prince of Achaea]], who was ten years her junior. The wedding in person took place five months later, in May 1363 at Castel Nuovo. Unfortunately, this marriage was also turubulent: her hew husband had been imprisoned for almost 14 years by his uncle King [[Peter IV of Aragon]] in an iron cage, an experience which left him mentally deranged.<ref>Raoul Busquet (préf. Èmile Isnard): ''Histoire de Provence'', Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 196.</ref> In addition to his poor mental state, another bone of contention betwenn the couple where James IV's claims to be associated in the government,<ref>Dominique Paladilhe: ''La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence'', Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 135.</ref> although he was excluded from any role in the government of Naples in his marriage contract. Without hope of being King of Naples, James IV left Naples for Spain by the end of January 1366 and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Mallorca. He was captured by King [[Henry II of Castile]], who transferred him to [[Bertrand du Guesclin]], who held him captive in [[Montpellier]], from where he was ransomed by Joanna in 1370 and returned with her briefly, only to departed again, this time for good. He failed in an attempt to recapture [[Roussillon]] and [[Cerdanya]] in 1375, and fled to Castile where he of illness or poison at [[Soria]] in February 1375.<ref>Dominique Paladilhe: ''La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence'', Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., pp. 138-139.</ref>

====Administration and her court====
[[Image:Jeanne de Naples.jpg|thumb|Miniature of Joanna.]]
[[Image:Jeanne de Naples.jpg|thumb|Miniature of Joanna.]]
By the [[Treaty of Villeneuve]] (1372), Joanna recognised as permanent the loss of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], suffered ninety years earlier in 1282. Joanna immersed herself fully in the running of her kingdom, and enjoyed every aspect of government. Although she was a fair and judicious ruler, no law or edict, however minor, was ever carried out without her personal approval and seal.
By the [[Treaty of Villeneuve]] (1372), Joanna recognised as permanent the loss of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], suffered ninety years earlier in 1282. Joanna immersed herself fully in the running of her kingdom, and enjoyed every aspect of government. Although she was a fair and judicious ruler, no law or edict, however minor, was ever carried out without her personal approval and seal.
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Extant images reveal her to have been blonde-haired and fair-skinned.
Extant images reveal her to have been blonde-haired and fair-skinned.


==Troubles with the Papacy==
====Troubles with the Papacy====
Joanna supported the [[Avignon Papacy]] during the [[Western Schism]] and allied herself with France, adopting [[Louis I of Anjou]], a younger son of [[John II of France]] as her heir. France and [[antipope]] Clement VII counted on Naples to give them a foothold in Italy, if it came to resolving the schism by force. However, Joanna’s support for Clement VII stemmed from Urban VI’s attempt to take Joanna’s crown away from her and to cede part of her Kingdom to his nephew, Francisco Prigano.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Steele|first1=Francesca|title=The Beautiful Queen, Joanna I of Naples|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924087981720/cu31924087981720_djvu.txt|website=www.archive.org|accessdate=31 October 2014}}</ref> In retaliation, in April 1380, [[Pope Urban VI]] declared her a heretic and her kingdom, a papal fief, to be forfeit and bestowed it upon [[Charles III of Naples|Charles of Durazzo]], her niece's husband and heir. She reacted by switching the inheritance to [[Louis I, Duke of Anjou]], brother of King [[Charles V of France]]. This move, however, favoured Charles of Durazzo, as Louis was forced to remain in France after his brother's death. Charles was recognised King of Naples by Urban VI on 1 June 1381 and, with Hungarian support, advanced on [[Naples]], where Joanna had entrusted her new husband [[Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen|Otto]] (whom she had married in 1376) with the few troops she could muster. After Otto's defeat at [[Anagni]], and bypassing the Neapolitan defences at Aversa, Charles entered Naples on 26 July and besieged Joanna in the [[Castel dell'Ovo]]. In late August, Otto again attempted to free his wife but was crushed and made prisoner. She was forced to surrender, and was imprisoned in the fortress of [[San Fele]], (near [[Muro Lucano]]).
Joanna supported the [[Avignon Papacy]] during the [[Western Schism]] and allied herself with France, adopting [[Louis I of Anjou]], a younger son of [[John II of France]] as her heir. France and [[antipope]] Clement VII counted on Naples to give them a foothold in Italy, if it came to resolving the schism by force. However, Joanna’s support for Clement VII stemmed from Urban VI’s attempt to take Joanna’s crown away from her and to cede part of her Kingdom to his nephew, Francisco Prigano.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Steele|first1=Francesca|title=The Beautiful Queen, Joanna I of Naples|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924087981720/cu31924087981720_djvu.txt|website=www.archive.org|accessdate=31 October 2014}}</ref> In retaliation, in April 1380, [[Pope Urban VI]] declared her a heretic and her kingdom, a papal fief, to be forfeit and bestowed it upon [[Charles III of Naples|Charles of Durazzo]], her niece's husband and heir. She reacted by switching the inheritance to [[Louis I, Duke of Anjou]], brother of King [[Charles V of France]]. This move, however, favoured Charles of Durazzo, as Louis was forced to remain in France after his brother's death. Charles was recognised King of Naples by Urban VI on 1 June 1381 and, with Hungarian support, advanced on [[Naples]], where Joanna had entrusted her new husband [[Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen|Otto]] (whom she had married in 1376) with the few troops she could muster. After Otto's defeat at [[Anagni]], and bypassing the Neapolitan defences at Aversa, Charles entered Naples on 26 July and besieged Joanna in the [[Castel dell'Ovo]]. In late August, Otto again attempted to free his wife but was crushed and made prisoner. She was forced to surrender, and was imprisoned in the fortress of [[San Fele]], (near [[Muro Lucano]]).



Revision as of 03:45, 31 December 2014

Joanna I
Queen Joanna I from the Bibles of Naples
Queen of Naples
Reign1343–1382
CoronationAugust 1344
PredecessorRobert
SuccessorCharles III
Born1328
Died27 July 1382 (aged 54)
San Fele
Burial
SpouseAndrew, Duke of Calabria
Louis, Prince of Taranto
James IV of Majorca
Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
IssueCharles Martel, Duke of Calabria
Catherine of Taranto
Françoise of Taranto
HouseHouse of Anjou
FatherCharles, Duke of Calabria
MotherMarie of Valois

Joanna I (Italian: Giovanna I; 1328 – 27 July 1382), was Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 until her death. She also reigned as Princess of Achaea and claimed the crowns of Jerusalem and Sicily.

Life

Birth and Early Years

Joanna was the fourth but eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Calabria (eldest son of King Robert the Wise of Naples), and Marie of Valois (a sister of King Philip VI of France). Her two older sisters: Eloisa (born January or February 1325 - died 27 December 1325) and Maria (born April 1326 - died 1328), and only brother: Charles Martel (born 13 April 1327 - died 21 Apr 1327) had predeceased her, so at birth she was the second in line to the throne after her father, who died on 9 November 1328,[1] leaving his wife pregnant with their fifth child, who was another daughter, Maria, born in May 1329. Two years later, on 23 October 1331, Marie of Valois also died after during a pilgrimage to Bari.[2]

With the death of his only surviving son (his second son Louis, was already dead in 1310), King Robert faced the serious problem of his succession: he had to chose between his eldest granddaughter or his nephews. Because his father Charles II the Lame already bypassed the rights of his eldest son Charles Martel, titular King of Hungary and Prince of Salerno and his descendants on Robert's favor, he decided to appointed Joanna as his successor. As heir of the throne of Naples, she received homage on 4 November 1330, and was proclaimed Duchess of Calabria in 1333 and Princess of Salerno on 26 June 1334.

In order to reconcile his bloodline with the descendants of his older brother, King Robert arranged the marriage of Joanna with her six-year-old second cousin Prince Andrew (Hungarian: Endre), a member of the Hungarian branch of the House of Anjou as the son of Charles I of Hungary (in turn son of Charles Martel) and younger brother of Louis I. Through his father he had a claim to Naples, which could be argued to be superior to that of Robert and consequently also to that of Joanna. The marriage contract between Joanna and Andrew was signed on 8 November 1332, and they where formally married at Santa Chiara Basilica on 26 September 1333, despite being both underage (Joanna was around five-years-old and Andrew six). Shortly after, Andrew was created Duke of Calabria and moved to Naples.

Coat of arms of the House of Anjou-Naples.

When King Robert of Naples died on 20 January 1343,[3] in his last will and testament, he formally bequeathed his kingdom to Joanna, and made no mention of Andrew, even as a consort, and tried to exclude him from rule. In the event of Joanna's death without children, the crown would fall to her younger sister Maria and not to him.[4]

Poorly prepared for her role, Joanna was placed (following her grandfather's will, who wanted to ended the Papal tutelage over Naples) under a Council of regency leaded by her stepgrandmother, Dowager Sancha of Majorca, the Vice-Chancellor Philippe de Cabassoles, Bishop of Cavaillon, and Fillipo di Sanginetto, Great Seneschal of Provence.[5] Faced with the ineffectiveness of the Council, the Pope, in his capacity as overlord, decided to impose his effective govenrment by sending a Legate, Cardinal Aimery de Châtelus.[6]

Accession to the Throne

Murder of Andrew of Hungary. Second Marriage

Almost inmediately, the court was involved in violent political struggles among the members of the Angevin house, especially the closest relatives of King Robert's three brothers:

The Durazzo branch took major importance with the marriage of Charles of Durazzo ith Maria, the Queen's sister, on 21 April 1343. Through this union, the Duke of Durazzo was placed first in line to the throne.

When Joanna reached her majority, it was necessary to proceed with her official coronation. In accordance with the will of her grandfather, she opposed the coronation of her husband, long pressed for his Hungarian relatives. Pope Clement VI, as overlord of the Kingdom of Naples, finally decided the matter.[7]

Joanna was crowned by the Pope as Queen of Naples in August 1344. Andrew was present in the ceremony and received the title of King, but was excluded him from the government. Angered with this, he began to claim a part in the government and the right to be crowned.

Fearing for his life, Andrew wrote to his mother Elizabeth that he would soon flee Naples. She intervened, and made a state visit; at that sme time, she bribed the Pope to revert his previous decision and permit Andrew's coronation. She also gave a ring to her son, which was supposed to protect him from death by blade or poison, and returned with a false sense of security to Hungary.

Joanna lost an important ally when her stepgrandmother withdrew into a monastery, but kept resisting more papal interference in the Kingdom. Due to her letters to the pope, he agreed that though Andrew would be crowned, only her coronation would be 'Blessed by God'.

When Joanna fell ill in the summer of 1344, Andrew caused great controversy when he released the Pipini brothers. They had been locked up by King Robert the Wise after having been convicted for murder, rape, pillage, treason and several other offences. Their possessions had been given to other nobles, which now became increasingly hostile to Andrew.

Hearing of the Pope's reversal, a group of noble conspirators (the involvement of Queen Joanna remaining unproved) determined to forestall Andrew's coronation. During a hunting trip at Aversa in 1345, Andrew left his room in the middle of the night from 18 to 19 September and was set upon by the conspirators. A treacherous servant barred the door behind him; and with Joanna in her own bedroom, a terrible struggle ensued, Andrew defending himself furiously and shrieking for aid. He was finally overpowered, strangled with a cord, and flung from a window with a rope tied to his genitals. Isolde, Andrew's Hungarian nurse, heard his cries, and with her own screams chased the murderers off. She took the Prince's corpse to the church of the monks, and remained with it until next morning in mourning. When the Hungarian knights arrived she told them everything in their mother tongue so no one else would learn about the truth, and soon they left Naples informing everything to the Hungarian King. Opinions are divided on the real involvement of the Queen in the assassination. For some, she would be the instigator of the murder, for others, as Émile-Guillaume Léonard, Joanna's involvement has not been demonstrated.[8]

Joanna informed the Papacy, as well as other states in Europe of the murder, expressing her disgust in letters, but her inner circle of friends were thought to be most suspect. On 25 December 1345, she gave birth to a son, Charles Martel, Andrew's posthumous child. The infant was proclamed Duke of Calabria and Prince of Salerno on 11 December 1346 as heir of the Kingdom of Naples.

When she made public her plans to marry one of her Taranto cousins and not Andrew's younger brother Stephen, the Hungarians openly accused her of the murder.

Louis of Taranto was a seasoned warrior, who understood Neapolitan politics from his lifetime experiences, raised at the court of Catherine of Valois, Joanna's aunt. After Joanna stated her intention to marry him, his brother Robert banded together with his cousin and erstwhile rival Charles of Durazzo against them. Some of Joanna's courtiers and servants were tortured and later executed including her Sicilian governess Philippa the Catanian and the latter's family. Louis was successful in driving his brother's forces back, but just as he reached Naples, it became known that the Hungarians planned to invade. Joanna made a pact with the Kingdom of Sicily, preventing them from invading at the same time and married Louis on 22 August 1347, without seeking the necessary Papal dispensation, because of their being closely related.

In anticipation of his marriage, Louis was made Joint-Protector and Defender of the Kingdom (1 May 1347), jointly with Charles of Durazzo. One month later (20 June), Louis was made Vicar-General of the Kingdom. The marriage caused that the Queen's popularity within her own Kingdom had fallen.[9]

The Hungarian Invasion

Louis the Great, Andrew's older brother, could take this opportunity to seek the annexation of the Kingdom of Naples. He launched a military expedition and the first troops made ​​their entrance to L'Aquila on 10 May 1347.[10]

On 11 January 1348 the Hungarian troops are at Benevento ready to invade the Kingdom of Naples.[11] Faced with this threat, Joanna, who had retired at Castel Nuovo and trusted to the loyalty of Marseille, prepared her escape from the vengeance of Louis. Without waiting for the return of her husband, she embarks on 15 January 1348 on two galleys property of the Marseille citizen Jacques de Gaubert to Provence,[12] taking with her the still devoted Enrico Caracciolo. Louis of Taranto arrived in Naples the next day and escape in another galley.[13]

After easily taken the city of Naples, Louis the Great ordened the execution of Charles of Durazzo, Joanna's cousin and brother-in-law: he was beheaded on 23 January 1348 in the same place where his brother Andrew was murdered. Joanna and Andrew's son, Charles Martel (betrothed to Charles of Durazzo's eldest daughter), who was left behind by his mother, was sent by his uncle to Visegrad in Hungary, where he died after 10 May 1348, aged 2.

Exile in Provence

After a stop-over in the Fort de Brégançon, Joanna arrived in Marseille on 20 January 1348, where she received a warm welcome.[14] She swore to observe the privileges of the city and received the oath of allegiance of its inhabitants. She signed the letters patents that united the upper and lower towns, ensuring the administrative unit. She then went to Aix-en-Provence, where her reception was very different: the Provence barons clearly demonstrating their hostility to her. She had to take an oath to do anything dispose of Provence and appointed only locals in the county posts.[15]

Joanna arrived to Avignon on 15 March, to had a personal meeting with the Pope, the true purpose of her trip. Louis of Taranto joined her in Aigues-Mortes, and the couple was received by Clement VI. Joanna's visit had a triple purpose: to obtain a dispensation for her marriage to Louis of Taranto, to receive the absolution or exoneration of Andrew's murder and to prepare the reconquest of her Kingdom. The Pope granted the couple the dispensation, appointed a commission to investigate the charges of involvement in the murder of Andrew and bought the city of Avignon for 80,000 florins, which became effectively separates from Provence.[16][17] Eventually. Joanna was exonerated for the crime by the Pope.[18] During her stay in Avignon, by the end of June, Joanna gave birth her second child and first-born from her marriage with Louis of Taranto, a daughter called Catherine.

Having learned that Louis the Great abandoned Naples after the outbreak of the Black Death, Joanna, with her husband and newborn daughter, left Avignon on 21 July and stays in Marseille during 24-28 July, then moved to Sanary-sur-Mer on 30 July, then to the Fort de Brégançon on 31 July and finally arrived in Naples on 17 August 1348.[19] One month after her arrival, she was broke her previous promises on 20 September by replaced Raymond d'Agoult from his post of Seneschal and appointed in his place the Neapolitan Giovanni Barrili. The public discontent forced Joanna to restore d'Agoult in his post.[20]

Over time, the Hungarians came to be viewed as barbarians by the Neapolitan people, including Giovanni Boccaccio (who described Louis the Great as “’rabid’ and ‘more vicious than a snake’”),[21] so was easy for the Queen and her husband to gained popularity after their return.

Reign of Louis of Taranto

From early 1349 onwards, all documents for the Kingdom were issued in the names of both husband and wife, and Louis was indisputably in control of military fortresses.[22] On coins issued during their joint reign, Louis' name always preceded Joanna's.[23] Although he was not officially recognised by Clement as king and co-ruler until 1352, it is likely that Neapolitans considered him their monarch from the moment he started acting as such.[22]

Louis took advantage of the turmoil caused by yet another Hungarian attack to wrest complete royal authority from his wife.[23] He purged the court of her supporters,[24] and struck down her favourite, Enrico Caracciolo, whom he accused of adultery in April 1349 and very likely had executed.[22] Two months later, on 8 June 1349, Catherine, Joanna and Louis' daughter, died aged 1.

After another Hungarian offensive which led to the walls of Naples in 1350, Pope Clement VI sent a Legate, Raymond Saquet, Bishop of Saint-Omer, with a fleet commanded by Hugues des Baux.[25] DLouis of Taranto promised to respect Joanna's independence. Shortly after Louis the Great, seriously injured, was returning to his country.

In October 1351, Joanna gave birth her second child with Louis, another daughter, called Françoise. Five months later, on 23 March 1352, Louis received Clement VI's formal recognition as his wife's co-ruler in all her realms, and two months later, on 27 May, was crowned with her by the Archbishop of Braga in the Hotel di Taranto in Naples.[26] Few days later, on 2 June, Françoise, by then the the couple's only surviving child, died 8 months; Joanna never conceived again.

In 1356 Louis and Joanna organized the reconquest of Sicily. After a victory at Messina, there was a serious naval defeat by the Catalans (29 June 1357).[27] In the meanwhile, the troops of mercenary Arnaud de Cervole (called the Archpriest), crossed the Durance on 13 July 1357 and plunder Provence.[28]

Philip II of Taranto, Louis' brother (and third husband of Joanna's sister Maria since April 1355), was sent in Provence as Vicar General to fight against different troops that ravaged Provence. He bought the support of the troops of the Count of Armagnac which also showed daunting for local people. Finally Pope Innocent VI obtain the discharge of these bands with payments. These dangers clearly showed the sub-administration of Provence from Naples.

Louis of Taranto, who caught a cold while bathing, fell ill. His condition worsened during a month and he died on 25 May 1362.[29]

Personal Government

Third Marriage

The death of Louis of Taranto, a brutal authoritarian husband, finally gave Joanna to take the power from which she had been relegated. During the next three years, the Queen would take a series of measures that made ​​her popular: she granted the pardon to Raymond des Baux on 20 March 1363, replaced Roger of San Severino by Fouques d'Agoult as Seneschal of Provence and promulged various edicts to prevent internal disorders.

On 14 December 1362, Joanna contracted by proxy her third marriage, with James IV, titular King of Majorca and Prince of Achaea, who was ten years her junior. The wedding in person took place five months later, in May 1363 at Castel Nuovo. Unfortunately, this marriage was also turubulent: her hew husband had been imprisoned for almost 14 years by his uncle King Peter IV of Aragon in an iron cage, an experience which left him mentally deranged.[30] In addition to his poor mental state, another bone of contention betwenn the couple where James IV's claims to be associated in the government,[31] although he was excluded from any role in the government of Naples in his marriage contract. Without hope of being King of Naples, James IV left Naples for Spain by the end of January 1366 and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Mallorca. He was captured by King Henry II of Castile, who transferred him to Bertrand du Guesclin, who held him captive in Montpellier, from where he was ransomed by Joanna in 1370 and returned with her briefly, only to departed again, this time for good. He failed in an attempt to recapture Roussillon and Cerdanya in 1375, and fled to Castile where he of illness or poison at Soria in February 1375.[32]

Administration and her court

Miniature of Joanna.

By the Treaty of Villeneuve (1372), Joanna recognised as permanent the loss of Sicily, suffered ninety years earlier in 1282. Joanna immersed herself fully in the running of her kingdom, and enjoyed every aspect of government. Although she was a fair and judicious ruler, no law or edict, however minor, was ever carried out without her personal approval and seal.

Joanna's reign was also marked by her support and protection of local businesses, the creation of new industry, and her refusal to debase the currency. Crime was greatly reduced and she was an ardent promoter of peace within her vast realm of which she expanded to briefly include Sicily and Piedmont.

Despite Joanna's deep spirituality and friendships with Catherine of Siena and Saint Bridget of Sweden, her court was notable for its extravagance with her collection of exotic animals and servants of various origins including Turkish, Saracen, and African.

The contemporary writer Giovanni Boccaccio has left us with the following description of Queen Joanna in his On Famous Women: "Joanna, queen of Sicily and Jerusalem, is more renowned than other woman of her time for lineage, power, and character".

Extant images reveal her to have been blonde-haired and fair-skinned.

Troubles with the Papacy

Joanna supported the Avignon Papacy during the Western Schism and allied herself with France, adopting Louis I of Anjou, a younger son of John II of France as her heir. France and antipope Clement VII counted on Naples to give them a foothold in Italy, if it came to resolving the schism by force. However, Joanna’s support for Clement VII stemmed from Urban VI’s attempt to take Joanna’s crown away from her and to cede part of her Kingdom to his nephew, Francisco Prigano.[33] In retaliation, in April 1380, Pope Urban VI declared her a heretic and her kingdom, a papal fief, to be forfeit and bestowed it upon Charles of Durazzo, her niece's husband and heir. She reacted by switching the inheritance to Louis I, Duke of Anjou, brother of King Charles V of France. This move, however, favoured Charles of Durazzo, as Louis was forced to remain in France after his brother's death. Charles was recognised King of Naples by Urban VI on 1 June 1381 and, with Hungarian support, advanced on Naples, where Joanna had entrusted her new husband Otto (whom she had married in 1376) with the few troops she could muster. After Otto's defeat at Anagni, and bypassing the Neapolitan defences at Aversa, Charles entered Naples on 26 July and besieged Joanna in the Castel dell'Ovo. In late August, Otto again attempted to free his wife but was crushed and made prisoner. She was forced to surrender, and was imprisoned in the fortress of San Fele, (near Muro Lucano).

For Joanna's support of the Avignon Papacy, Catherine of Siena portrayed Joanna as a demonically misguided ruler because of her support for the Avignon, Clement VII, over Pope Urban VI.[34] Her letter to Joanna, she stated that Joanna was led astray by demonic forces: “You who were a lady have made yourself a servant, and a slave of that which is not having submitted yourself to falsehood, and to the devil…” St. Catherine also Joanna’s advisors made her see “falsehood for truth” because of her support of Clement VII.[35] While St. Catherine expressed concern for Joanna’s spiritual well being, her letter to Joanna was also a politically motivated criticism because St. Catherine and Joanna found themselves on opposing sides regarding the Great Schism. While Catherine Benincasa was a Dominican tertiary and was associated with the Catholic Church, she was also a huge advocate in favor of returning the seat of the Papacy to Rome following the Pope’s relocation to Avignon. Despite the expression of concern for Joanna’s soul, St. Catherine was also acting as an agent of Catholic Church in order to gain Joanna’s support [36] Catherine Benincasa also branded Joanna as a traitor to the cause of the Catholic Church. In her letter to Joanna written in trance, Catherine told Joanna to consider her temporal position invalid by supporting the Pope in Avignon: “And if I consider your condition as to those temporal and transitory goods that pass like the wind – you yourself have deprived yourself of them by right.” [37] What St. Catherine was referring to was the legal position of Naples in relation to the Papacy. While Joanna I had been established as the legitimate ruler of the Neapolitan Kingdom, she was also under the rule of the Pope in Rome. The Neapolitan throne had been under legal oversight of the Papacy “since the mid-thirteenth century, and the kingdom was a valuable source of revenue, prestige, and soldiers for the Church.” [38] With Joanna’s decision to side with the Avignon Pope, Clement VII, she was essentially withdrawing her moral as well as material support from Pope Urban VI. St. Catherine, an associate of the Catholic Church, was essentially branding Joanna not just a heretic, but a traitor to their cause in the midst of the Great Schism.

Assassination

Preoccupied by the coronation of Louis at the hands of Antipope Clement VII, and by Louis' military power, Charles of Durazzo had Joanna killed on 27 July 1382 at the age of 56, in revenge for the assassination of Prince Andrew of Hungary. In his official statement, Charles claimed Joanna died of natural causes however other documentary sources unanimously claim she was murdered. Because of the nature of the remote and clandestine act, the accounts of the manner in which Joanna was slain vary. The two most authentic sources: a) Thomas of Niem, secretary to Urban VI states Joanna was strangled with a silken chord whilst kneeling in prayer in the private chapel at Muro castle by Hungarian soldiers; b) Marie, wife of Louis of Anjou states Joanna was killed by four men, presumably Hungarian, her hands and feet tied and then smothered between two feather mattresses.Since there were no witnesses present at the time of her murder, it is impossible to say definitively which of the reports is accurate. Another account states she was smothered with pillows.[39]

Her body was brought to Naples where for several days it was put on display to the public as proof of her death. As Urban had excommunicated Joanna, the queen could not be consecrated in church property and was therefore tossed into a deep well on the grounds of Santa Chiara Church. The Neapolitan kingdom was left to decades of recurring wars of succession. Louis of Anjou was able to retain the mainland counties of Provence and Forcalquier. James of Baux, the nephew of Philip II of Taranto, claimed the Principality of Achaea after her deposition in 1381.

Role in literature

  • Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a biography of Joanna in his series of biographies known as On Famous Women. Boccaccio devoted part of his biography of Joanna to dispelling any idea that Joanna was not the rightful ruler of Naples, which Boccaccio did by proclaiming that Joanna was a descendent of noble bloodline. Boccaccio claimed that Joanna I’s bloodline could be traced all the way back to “Dardanus, the founder of Troy, whose father the ancients said was Jupiter." Boccaccio also definitively and unequivocally proclaimed Joanna to be the lawful ruler of Naples by discussing the manner in which she ascended the Neapolitan throne. Boccaccio mentioned in his biography of Joanna that she rightfully inherited the kingdom from her grandfather because Joanna’s father had died in his youth. In addition to demonstrating for his readers that Joanna was the rightful Queen of Naples, Boccaccio revealed his personal support for Joanna amongst the chaos of her reign and the controversy surrounding it. In Boccaccio’s view, the question of whether a woman could reign or if there were other nobles who were more fit to rule was irrelevant because of Joanna. Boccaccio also discussed her capabilities and the aspects of her reign that made her a great ruler in his eyes. When Boccaccio summarized all of the areas and provinces that Joanna ruled over, he described Naples as having remarkable towns, fruitful fields, great nobles, and great wealth, but he also emphasized that “Joanna’s spirit [was] equal to ruling it” Additionally, Boccaccio claimed that the reason why Naples was a prosperous Kingdom was because it was no longer inhabited by the Hungarian Royal Family and their supporters that he disliked. Boccaccio claimed that Joanna “bravely attacked and cleaned out the bands of wicked men” who had occupied Naples.[40]
  • Alexandre Dumas, père wrote a romance, Joan of Naples, part of his eight-volume series Celebrated Crimes (1839–40).
  • A fictionalised account of her life can also be found in the novel Queen of the Night by Alan Savage.
  • László Passuth wrote a novel Napolyi Johanna (Joanna of Naples, 1968) about her life.

Titles and styles

Joanna's full style as queen was: Joanna, by the Grace of God, Queen of Jerusalem and of Sicily, Duchess of Apulia, Princess of Capua, and Countess of Provence, Forqualquier, and Piedmont.[41]

Ancestry

Family of Joanna I of Naples

Notes

  1. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 110.
  2. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 142
  3. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. «Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 337.
  4. ^ Ronald G. Musto, Medieval Naples: A Documentary History, 400-1400. A Documentary History of Naples. [1]. New York: Italica Press, 2012, pp. 234-98
  5. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. «Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 335.
  6. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. «Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 343.
  7. ^ Dominique Paladilhe: La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence, Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 48.
  8. ^ Émile-G Léonard: Les Angevins de Naples, Paris, Presses universitaires de France,‎ 1954, 575p., p. 347.
  9. ^ Casteen, Elizabeth (3 June 2011). "Sex and Politics in Naples: The Regnant Queenship of Johanna I". Journal of The Historical Society. 11 (2): 193. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00329.x. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  10. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 351.
  11. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. I, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 730 p., p. 359.
  12. ^ Paul Masson (dir.), Raoul Busquet et Victor Louis Bourrilly: Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches-du-Rhône, vol. II: Antiquité et Moyen Âge, Marseille, Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône,‎ 1924, 966 p., chap. XVII (« L'ère des troubles : la reine Jeanne (1343-1382), établissement de la seconde maison d'Anjou : Louis Ier (1382-1384) »), p. 391.
  13. ^ Dominique Paladilhe: La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence, Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 78
  14. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. II, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 600 p., p. 52.
  15. ^ Thierry Pécout: « Marseille et la reine Jeanne » dans Thierry Pécout (dir.), Martin Aurell, Marc Bouiron, Jean-Paul Boyer, Noël Coulet, Christian Maurel, Florian Mazel et Louis Stouff: Marseille au Moyen Âge, entre Provence et Méditerranée : Les horizons d'une ville portuaire, Méolans-Revel, Désiris,‎ 2009, 927 p., p. 216.
  16. ^ Dominique Paladilhe: La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence, Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., pp. 87-89
  17. ^ Casteen, Elizabeth (3 June 2011). "Sex and Politics in Naples: The Regnant Queenship of Johanna I". Journal of The Historical Society. 11 (2): 193. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00329.x. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  18. ^ Casteen, Elizabeth (3 June 2014). "Sex and Politics in Naples: The Regnant Queenship of Johanna I". Journal of The Historical Society. 11 (2): 193. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00329.x. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  19. ^ Émile-G. Léonard: Histoire de Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343-1382) : La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne, t. II, Paris et Monaco, Auguste Picard, coll. « Mémoires et documents historiques »,‎ 1932, 600 p., pp. 143-144.
  20. ^ Raoul Busquet: Histoire de Marseille, édition Robert Laffont, Paris, 1978, p. 128.
  21. ^ Casteen, Elizabeth (3 June 2011). "Sex and Politics in Naples: The Regnant Queenship of Johanna I". Journal of The Historical Society. 11 (2): 194. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00329.x. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  22. ^ a b c Samantha Kelly: The Cronaca Di Partenope: An Introduction to and Critical Edition of the First Vernacular History of Naples (c. 1350), 2005, p. 14.
  23. ^ a b Philip Grierson, Lucia Travaini: Medieval European Coinage: Volume 14, South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Volume 14, Part 3. Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 230, 511.
  24. ^ Michael Jones, Rosamond McKitterick: The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 6, C.1300-c.1415. Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 510.
  25. ^ Émile-G Léonard: Les Angevins de Naples, Paris, Presses universitaires de France,‎ 1954, 575 p., p. 362.
  26. ^ D'Arcy Boulton, Jonathan Dacre: The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325–1520, Boydell Press, 2000, p. 214.
  27. ^ Émile-G Léonard: Les Angevins de Naples, Paris, Presses universitaires de France,‎ 1954, 575 p., p. 380.
  28. ^ Raoul Busquet (préf. Émile Isnard): Histoire de Provence, Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 193.
  29. ^ Raoul Busquet (préf. Émile Isnard): Histoire de Provence, Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 195.
  30. ^ Raoul Busquet (préf. Èmile Isnard): Histoire de Provence, Imprimerie nationale de Monaco,‎ 30 novembre 1954 (réimpr. 1997), p. 196.
  31. ^ Dominique Paladilhe: La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence, Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., p. 135.
  32. ^ Dominique Paladilhe: La reine Jeanne : comtesse de Provence, Librairie Académique Perrin,‎ 1997, 192 p., pp. 138-139.
  33. ^ Steele, Francesca. "The Beautiful Queen, Joanna I of Naples". www.archive.org. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  34. ^ Benincasa, Catherine. "Letters of Catherine Benincasa". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  35. ^ Benincasa, Catherine. "Letters of Catherine Benincasa". ProjectGutenberg.org. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  36. ^ Benincasa, Catherine. "Letters of Catherine Benincasa". Projectgutenberg.org. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  37. ^ Benincasa, Catherine. "Letters of Catherine Benincasa". Projectgutenberg.org. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  38. ^ Casteen, Elizabeth (3 June 2011). "Sex and Politics in Naples: The Regnant Queenship of Johanna I". Journal of the Historical Society. 11 (2): 187. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00329.x. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  39. ^ "Joanna". Chestofbooks.com. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  40. ^ translated, Giovanni Boccaccio ;; introduction, with an; Guarino, notes, by Guido A. (2011). On famous women (2nd ed. ed.). New York: Italica Press. p. 248-249. ISBN 978-1-59910-266-5. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ Pearson's Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 1, Page 25

References

Regnal titles
Preceded by Queen of Naples
1343–1382
with Louis I (1352–1362)
Succeeded by
Countess of Provence and Forcalquier
1343–1382
with Louis I (1352–1362)
Succeeded by
Preceded by Princess of Achaea
1373–1381
Succeeded by

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