Joan, often called Joan of Constantinople ( 1199 – 5 December 1244), ruled as Countess of Flanders and Hainaut from 1205 (at the age of six) until her death. She was the elder daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Marie of Champagne.

Orphaned during the Fourth Crusade, Joan was raised in Paris under the tutelage of King Philip II of France. He arranged her marriage to Infante Ferdinand of Portugal in 1212. Ferdinand quickly turned against Philip, starting a war that ended with the defeat of Bouvines and his imprisonment. Joan then ruled her counties alone from the age of 14.

In 1202, Joan's father, Baldwin IX, left his lands to participate in the Fourth Crusade. After the capture of Constantinople, he was proclaimed emperor by the crusaders on 9 May 1204. Her mother, Marie of Champagne, decided to join him shortly after his departure, leaving their daughters Joan and Margaret in the care of their paternal uncle, Philip I of Namur. Marie decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land before reuniting with her husband, but died after her arrival at Acre in August 1204. Ferdinand thus became Joan's co-ruler.

Youth

thumb|Joan's personal seal. She chose a round seal – as men had – and is represented on horseback, a hawk in hand, in an aristocratic pose.

While on their way to Flanders, the newlyweds were captured by Joan's first cousin Louis of France (the future Louis VIII), eldest son of King Philip II. The French prince intended to recover a large portion of the territory that he considered as belonging to his late mother's dowry, including the Artois that Joan's father had taken back by force after the death of Louis' mother in 1190.

Joan and Ferdinand only could obtain their release after signing the Treaty of Pont-à-Vendin (25 February 1212), under which they were forced to surrender the towns of Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer to France, recognizing the previous occupation of Prince Louis over those lands. After this event, Joan and Ferdinand decided to join in an alliance with the former allies of Baldwin IX, King John of England and Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor. They obtained the support of the powerful bourgeoisie of Ghent (who initially refused to recognize Ferdinand as Count) after Joan and Ferdinand agreed to the annual election of four prudhommes chosen among the aldermen of the city; the granting to the people of Ghent and Ypres of permission to fortify their cities; and the resignation of the castellans of Bruges and Ghent, deemed pro-French.

thumb|left|King Philip II bringing Ferdinand, Count of Flanders, and [[Renaud I, Count of Dammartin|Renaud, Count of Boulogne, as prisoners at the battle of Bouvines. Grandes Chroniques de France, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 14th century. MF 2813, f° 253 v°.]]

In retaliation for this alliance, King Philip II attacked Lille, which was burned (with the exception of the fortified castrum and churches) in 1213. During the twelve years that followed, while Ferdinand remained a prisoner of the French, Joan governed alone.

One of her first rulings was to exempt certain groups from taxes to encourage industry: an example is that of settlers in Kortrijk, who did not have to pay property tax, to promote woollen weaving in the town. Also she ordered the reconstruction of Lille's ramparts, but fearing a new French offensive, she eventually was forced to sign the Treaty of Paris (24 October 1214), under which major fortresses in southern Flanders were destroyed; property was restored to French partisans; and Flanders was in effect ruled from Paris.

In the meanwhile, the Countess began to petition the Pope for the annulment of her marriage, arguing that it had never been consummated. In 1221, she sought to marry Peter Mauclerc (Duke-Regent of Brittany and widower of Alix of Thouars) but King Philip II refused. The Chronique rimée of Philippe Mouskes reported at the same time that a mysterious stranger distributed large sums of money announcing the return of Baldwin.

The supposed Baudouin created knights, sealed acts and behaved like a real count.

In April 1226, the Treaty of Melun was signed between Joan and Louis VIII, under which Ferdinand's ransom was fixed at 50,000 livres parisis payable in two installments. The Treaty also stipulated that the cities of Lille, Douai and Lécluse would be surrendered to France as a pledge until full payment of this considerable amount was made. Joan was also forced to maintain her marital bond with Ferdinand. Both Joan and Ferdinand could be excommunicated if they betrayed the King, a deed which constituted perjury in feudal law. Finally, the knights and representatives of the main Flemish cities also had to swear allegiance to the King of France: at all, 27 cities and 350 nobles paid homage. Ferdinand died in Noyon from urinary stones, a disease that he had had since his capture at Bouvines. In June 1235 she was betrothed to Robert, Louis IX's brother. She died shortly after, leaving Joan childless.

Marriage with Thomas of Savoy, death

200px|thumb|right|Joan and her second husband Thomas of Savoy. Miniature from the Chroniques de Hainaut of [[Jean Wauquelin, ca. 1448–1468. Currently at the Royal Library of Belgium.]]

Following Blanche of Castile's suggestion, Joan agreed to marry Thomas of Savoy, Count of Maurienne and Lord of Piedmont, maternal uncle of Margaret of Provence, wife of Louis IX. They wed on 2 April 1237, although without Papal dispensation despite consanguinity within the prohibited degrees between them (both were descendants of Humbert II, Count of Savoy). For this marriage, Joan was forced to pay 30,000 livres to the King of France and renew her oath of loyalty. With her new husband, she gave support to Louis IX against the rebellion led by Hugh X of Lusignan. and was buried next to her first husband in the mausoleum that she had previously built for him. Without surviving issue, she was succeeded by her sister Margaret, while her widower Thomas returned to Savoy. however, further excavations in 2007 revealed that the Countess' remains weren't present in this tomb.

Political role

Economy

Countess Joan, in the early years of her personal reign (1214–1226), conducted a policy favorable to the development of Flemish cities. She provided legal and tax privileges to Dunkirk, Ghent, Lille, Mardyck, Seclin (1216), Biervliet and Ypres (1225).

Religion

200px|thumb|right|A Cistercian nun praying at the foot of the Cross. Manuscript of the 13th century that belonged to the Cistercian Abbey of [[Marquette-lez-Lille. Bibliothèque municipale de Cambrai, ms. 99.]]

On good relations with the Cistercians, Joan founded the Abbey of Marquette-lez-Lille, and confirmed, supported or helped the foundation of several other monasteries of Cistercian nuns. Until the 12th century, the abbeys of both Flanders and Hainaut were exclusively male; however, twenty female monasteries in Flanders (most notably the Abbey of La Byloke in Ghent), and five in Hainaut were founded during the 13th century. They were supported by Joan and her sister Margaret – for some of them, the role of foundresses was assigned a posteriori in modern times.

Joan also supported the foundation of the Mendicant orders in her counties. At Valenciennes, (to which a small community of Franciscans moved in 1217), she granted them the usufruct of the old Donjon of the city with for the foundation of a convent there; however, she had to face the resistance of the local Franciscan community. Finally, the two communities merged before 1241. In the case of the Franciscans of Lille, Joan sent her general contractor and carpenters to help build the church and convent.

The Countess also promoted and established several monasteries, abbeys and Béguinages in her domains:

280px|thumb|left|Rear view of the Hospice Comtesse on community building and the chapel. Nothing remains of the original buildings founded by Joan.

By the end of the 12th century, the religious Victorines were established in Flanders and Hainaut. A dozen monasteries were founded between 1217 and 1262. Joan encouraged this movement, and directly supported, in 1244 the creation of the Bethlehem Priory at Mesvin in the Diocese of Cambrai. These monasteries, which enjoyed considerable autonomy, had a charitable and urban land use. They responded well to the demands of the new women's spirituality of the 13th century. The second, dating from 1210 to 1220 is a copy of the Story of the Grail, kept at the British Library (Add. 36614). This second manuscript would have involved the Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes, which Joan would have added the Continuations and the Life of St. Mary of Egypt. Both come from a workshop of Champagne. However, was widely known that he dedicated his Life of St. Martha to the young Countess, around 1212. Despite his character hagiographic, this text appears to have been designed both as a book for the instruction and edification of his teenage dedicatee, but also as a wonderful story, near the chivalric romance, including the episode of the Tarasque. Martha is presented as a great speaker, able to defeat the insurgency cities where St. Front de Passais and St. George were unsuccessful. It contains the original episodes, which do not belong to the Romanesque release. His author, "Willem die Madocke maecte" was identified as the lay Cistercian Guillaume de Boudelo, who died in 1261. This talented clerk was recruited by Countess, who made the request to the Cistercian General Chapter in 1238. He was appointed as director of the Hospice Comtesse in Lille, after his foundation, from 1238 to 1244 and then to the convent of Marke, near Kortrijk.

Nevertheless, Joan's activity as literary patron seems to have been limited. It is possible that to succeed in a world dominated by men, she had to voluntarily dismiss this role usually assigned to women. In the same museum, an anonymous painting of 1632, called "Foundation of the Notre-Dame Hospital", shows Countesses Joan and Margaret, surrounded by the Virgin, St. Augustine and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, as well as monks and nuns of the Hospice Comtesse. The city of Wattrelos has created Géants du Nord for Joan and her two husbands. This is also the case of the city of Marquette-lez-Lille, where the Countess was buried.

In the autumn of 2009, an exhibition entitled Joan of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, was devoted to her. It was the opportunity of an artistic creation dedicated to both Countesses Joan and Margaret by photographer Laura Henno.

Notes

Sources

  • Abulafia, David: The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 1198-c. 1300, 1999.
  • Le Glay, Edward: Histoire de Jeanne de Constantinople, comtesse de Flandre et de Hainaut, Lille, Vanackere, 1841.
  • Luykx, Theo: Johanna van Constantinopel, gravin van Vlaanderen en Henegouwen, Leuven, 1947.
  • De Cant, Geneviève: Jeanne et Marguerite de Constantinople, Racine ed., Brussels, 1995.
  • Dessaux, Nicolas (ed.): Jeanne de Constantinople, comtesse de Flandre et de Hainaut, Somogy, 2009. [Catalog of the exposition of Lille, September–November 2009. 22 contributions of American, Belgian, French and Swiss authoris, with knowledge on the subject] – Review by Sabine Berger in Histara, November 2010.
  • Women's Biography: Joan of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders