Joanna of Bourbon (Jeanne de Bourbon; 3 February 1338 – 6 February 1378) was Queen of France by marriage to King Charles V. She acted as his political adviser and was appointed potential regent in case of a minor regency.

Life

Early life

Born in the Château de Vincennes, Joanna was a daughter of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, and Isabella of Valois, a half-sister of King Philip VI of France.

From October 1340 through at least 1343, negotiations and treaties were made for Joanna to marry Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy. The goal was to bring Savoy more closely under French influence. Following this, her betrothal to Humbert II, Dauphin of Viennois, also fell through.

Queen

thumb|Arms of Joanna as Queen consort of France

On 8 April 1350, Joanna married her cousin, the future King Charles V of France, at Tain-l'Hermitage. Since they were first cousins once removed, their marriage required a papal dispensation. Born thirteen days apart, they both were 12 years old. When Charles ascended the throne in 1364, Joanna became Queen consort of France. Charles sometimes confided in Joanna on political and cultural issues and relied on her advice.

Joanna was described as mentally fragile, and after the birth of her son Louis in 1372, she suffered a complete mental breakdown. This deeply worried Charles V, who made a pilgrimage and offered many prayers for her recovery. When she did recover and regained her normal state of mind in 1373, Charles V appointed her legal guardian of the heir to the throne should he die when his son and heir was still a minor.

Death and burial

Joanna died at the royal residence Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris, on 6 February 1378 three days after her 40th birthday, and two days after the birth of her youngest child, Catherine. Historian Jean Froissart recorded that Joanna took a boiling bath against her physicians' advice. Soon after, she went into labour and died two days after giving birth. The king was devastated. Her heart was buried in the Cordeliers Convent and her entrails in the Couvent des Célestins. The Couvent des Célestins in Paris was the most important royal necropolis after the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The rest of her remains were then placed at the basilica.

Issue

Joanna and Charles had eight or nine children. Two of them reached adulthood:

  1. Joanna (end September 1357 – 21 October 1360, Saint Antoine-des-Champs Abbey, Paris), interred at Saint-Antoine-des-Champs Abbey.
  2. Bonne (1358 – 7 November 1360, Palais Royal, Paris), interred beside her older sister.
  3. Joanna (Château de Vincennes, 6 June 1366 – 21 December 1366, Hôtel de Saint-Pol, Paris), interred at Saint Denis Basilica.
  4. Charles VI (3 December 1368 – 22 October 1422), King of France from 1380 to 1422.
  5. Marie (Paris, 27 February 1370 – June 1377, Paris).
  6. Louis (13 March 1372 – 23 November 1407), Duke of Orléans, assassinated in 1407 by the Duke of Burgundy's hitmen.
  7. Isabella (Paris, 24 July 1373 – 23 February 1378, Paris).
  8. John (1374/76 – died young).
  9. Catherine (Paris, 4 February 1378 – November 1388, buried at Abbaye De Maubuisson, France), m. John of Valois, Count of Montpensier (son of John, Duke of Berry).

Ancestry

Notes

References

Sources

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