Joan of Navarre (c. 1370 Pamplona – 10 June 1437 Havering-atte-Bower) (French: Jeanne de Navarre) was a daughter of Charles the Bad, King of Navarre and Joan of France. Her maternal grandparents were John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg. Through marriage she was the Duchess Consort of Brittany and later the Queen Consort of England when she wed King Henry IV of England.
First Marriage and Children
On October 2, 1386, Joanna married her first husband, John V, Duke of Brittany. They had nine children:
- Jeanne of Brittany (Nantes, August 12, 1387 – December 7, 1388).
- a daughter (1388).
- John VI, Duke of Brittany (1389–1442).
- Marie of Brittany (Nantes, February 18, 1391 – December 18, 1446), Lady of La Guerche, married at the Château de l'Hermine on June 26, 1398 John I of Alençon.
- Marguerite of Brittany (1392 – April 13, 1428), Lady of Guillac, married on June 26, 1407, Alain IX, Viscount of Rohan and Count of Porhoët (d. 1462).
- Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (Château de Succinio, August 24, 1393 – December 26, 1458, Château Nantes).
- Gilles of Brittany (1394 – July 19, 1412, Cosne-sur-Loire), Lord of Chantocé and Ingrande.
- Richard of Brittany (1395 – June 2, 1438, Château de Clisson), Count of Benon, Étampes, and Mantes, married in 1423 Margaret d'Orléans, Countess of Vertus, daughter of Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans.
- Blanche of Brittany (1397 – aft. 1419), married at Nantes on June 26, 1407 John IV, Count of Armagnac.
Second Marriage: Queen of England
Her first husband died on 1 November 1399. She remained a widow for four years and acted as a regent for her son John VI during that time. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, affection developed between Jeanne and Henry Bolingbroke (the future King Henry IV) while he resided at the Bretagne court during his banishment from England. In 1403, Joan became the second wife of Henry IV. 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 of England, "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, through Henry V's reign and into that of his son, Henry VI. She is buried in Canterbury Cathedral next to Henry IV.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Joanna of Navarre
External Links
Joan of Navarre Britannica Online
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