Joan I
Queen of Naples; Princess of Achaea; Countess of Provence and Forcalquier; Queen consort of Majorca; Princess consort of Taranto; Duchess consort of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
Reign	1343–1382
Coronation	August 1344
Predecessor	Robert
Successor	Charles III
Spouse	Andrew, Duke of Calabria Louis, Prince of Taranto James IV of Majorca Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
Issue
Charles Martel of Naples Catherine of Naples Francesca of Naples
Father	Charles, Duke of Calabria
Mother	Marie of Valois (1309-1332)
Born	1328
Died	12 May 1382 (aged 54) San Fele

Joan I (1328 – 12 May 1382), born Joanna of Anjou, was Queen of Naples from 1343 until her death. She was also Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Queen consort of Majorca and titular Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily 1343–82, and Princess of Achaea 1373/5–81.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Issue 3 Role in literature 4 Ancestry 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Naples, Joan was the daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria (eldest son of King Robert of Naples) and Marie of Valois (a sister of King Philip VI of France). At the age of seven years (1334), she was betrothed to her six-year-old second cousin Prince Andrew (Hungarian: Endre) of the Hungarian branch of the House of Anjou, the son of Charles I of Hungary and younger brother of Louis I.

On the death in 1343 of her grandfather, Robert of Naples, his will provided that Andrew should be crowned King of Naples in his own right as well as Joan's, Robert having displaced Andrew's father, Charles Robert, from the Neapolitan throne. The 16-year-old Joan resisted this provision of the will with the support of the Neapolitan nobility, and the resulting turmoil resulted in the intervention of Pope Clement VI, as the feudal overlord of the Kingdom. He sent Cardinal Americ of St. Martin to annul Robert's will and take temporary control of the Kingdom of Naples. The Cardinal crowned Joan alone as Queen of Naples at Santa Chiara in Rome in August 1344. After the assassination of Andrew in 1345 (remaining unclear if under her own orders or not), Joan married three more times: with Louis of Taranto, with James IV of Majorca and Prince of Achaea and with Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen.

Her one son by Andrew died at a young age, and her two daughters by Louis also died young.

Her reign was marked by violent political struggles among the members of the Angevin house. The assassination of Andrew brought about the enmity of King Louis I of Hungary and his invasion of Naples. Joan was forced for a period to flee to Avignon and to pay for her return to her kingdom by selling her rights over that city to Pope Clement VI; after several reverses of fortune, both Joan and Louis agreed to the papal request for a truce. The matter was to be solved by a new trial over Andrew's assassination, to be held in Avignon. Joan was acquitted of all charges, and she could return.

Her second husband, Louis of Taranto, was crowned as co-king in 1353, the only one of her husbands to whom she willingly accorded that status. In 1373, her cousin and former brother-in-law Philip II of Taranto resigned to her his rights to the Principality of Achaea. Her third husband, James, also left to her, at his death in 1375, his own claim to the Principality. On 8 August 1347 she had opened a large brothel on the property in Avignon which was to be used by the wealthy and nobility of Europe. The brothel remained in activity until she sold the city to the Papal States.

In addition, Joan 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. In retaliation, in April 1380, Pope Urban VI declared she was a heretic and her kingdom (a papal fief) to be forfeit and bestowed it upon Charles of Durazzo, her niece's husband and the heir-male. She reacted by switching the inheritance to Louis I 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 recognized King of Naples by Urban VI on 1 June 1381 and, with Hungarian support, advanced on Naples, where Joan 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 Joan in the Castel dell'Ovo.

In late August Otto attempted to free his wife but was crushed and made prisoner. Joan was forced to surrender, and imprisoned in the fortress of San Fele (near Muro Lucano). Preoccupied by Louis' incoronation by the hands of Urban VI and by its military power, Charles had her strangled on 12 May 1382. The Neapolitan kingdom was left to decades of recurring succession wars.

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.

[edit] Issue

In total, Joan had three children from her first two marriages:

From her first marriage to Andrew, Duke of Calabria, Joan had one pothomous son:

• Charles Martel of Naples (Naples, 25 December 1345 – Hungary aft. 10 May 1348)

From her second marriage to Louis, Prince of Taranto, Joan had two daughters:

• Catherine of Naples (1347–aft. 1362)
• Francesca of Naples (1349–1352)

All three of her children died during childhood though her daughter Catherine was fifteen at the time of her death. Joan's final two marriages were childless.

[edit] Role in literature

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. Biographer Nancy Goldstone has published "The Lady Queen," a biography of Joan of Naples.

[edit] Ancestry

v • d • e Ancestors of Joan I of Naples

16. Charles I of Naples               8. Charles II of Naples                       17. Beatrice of Provence               4. Robert of Naples                             18. Stephen V of Hungary               9. Maria of Hungary                       19. Elizabeth the Cuman               2. Charles, Duke of Calabria                                   20. James I of Aragon               10. Peter III of Aragon                       21. Violant of Hungary               5. Yolanda of Aragon                             22. Manfred of Sicily               11. Constantia of Sicily                       23. Beatrice of Savoy               1. Joan I of Naples                                         24. Louis IX of France               12. Philip III of France                       25. Marguerite of Provence               6. Charles of Valois                             26. James I of Aragon (= 20)               13. Isabella of Aragon                       27. Violant of Hungary (= 21)               3. Marie of Valois                                   28. Guy III, Count of Saint-Pol               14. Guy IV, Count of Saint-Pol                       29. Matilda of Brabant               7. Mahaut of Chatillon                             30. John II, Duke of Brittany               15. Marie of Brittany                       31. Beatrice of England

[edit] References

• Vittorio Zaccaria's translation of Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, second edition (Milan) 1970, biography number 106
• Virginia Brown's translation of Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, Harvard University Press, 2001; ISBN 0-674-01130-9
• Guido Guarino's translation of Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women, Rutgers University, (New Brunswick), 1963

[edit] External links

• A. Dumas, Joan of Naples: e-text
• (French) Coat of arms of the House of Anjou-Sicily
• (French) House of Anjou-Sicily

Regnal titles
Preceded by Robert	Queen of Naples 1343–1382	Succeeded by Charles III
Preceded by Philip III	Princess of Achaea 1373–1381	Succeeded by James