User:JKhader/Joan I of Navarre

Joan I (14 January 1273 – 31 March/2 April 1305) (Basque: Joana) (French: Jeanne) was Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne from 1274 until 1305 and was the first in a line of five Navarrese Queens to rule in the region between 1274 and 1512. She was also Queen of France by marriage to King Philip IV. She was the daughter of King Henry I of Navarre and Blanche of Artois.

Early Life
Joan was born in Bar-sur-Seine, Champagne on 14 January 1273 as a princess of the House of Blois. The Fueros of Navarre allowed the succession of female born children to the throne so upon the death of her elder brother Theobald in 1273, Joan was elevated to be heir. Shortly after her birth and upon the death of her father on 22 July 1274, she became Countess of Champagne and Queen of Navarre. Due to her age, her mother, Blanche, was her guardian and regent in Navarre.

Various powers, both foreign and Navarrese, sought to take advantage of the minority of the heiress and the "weakness" of the female regent, which caused Joan and her mother to seek protection at the court of Philip III of France. Her mother arrived in France in 1274, and was pursued extensively at court to arrange marriage for Joan for her desirable inheritance. Blanche eventually agreed to pressure from Phillip III to certify the Treaty of Orléans in 1275 which ensured Joan was betrothed to one of Philip's sons (Louis or Philip). Blanche therefore placed her daughter and the government of Navarre under the protection of the King of France and would remain so for 44 years. It was Joan's union with the Philip IV that extended the royal demesne in Ile-de-France to include Champagne and Brie. The terms of the treaty encouraged Blanche and Phillip to "entreat" the betrothed couple to one another during their engagement. After the death of Louis, Joan was brought up with Philip which set a tone of amicable partnership that would carry over into their regency. It is uncertain whether she ever resided in Navarre during her childhood. After the death of Joan I and the end of the Capetian line of inheritance, Philip VI tried and failed to keep Navarre under French control due to the claim of Joan II of Navarre, descendant of Joan I.

Queen of France
At the age of 11, Joan married the future Philip IV of France on 16 August 1284, becoming queen consort of France in 1285 a year later. Their three surviving sons would all rule as kings of France and as the last monarchs of the Capetians, in turn. Their only surviving daughter, Isabella of France, became queen consort of England and would give the English a future claim to the French throne.

Joan was described as having been plump and plain, whereas her daughter Isabella reportedly resembled her father more in physical appearance. In regards to her character, Joan was bold, courageous, and enterprising.

Joan was described as a success in her role of Queen of France: by giving birth to three sons who lived to adulthood she secured the succession, she was an efficient mistress of the royal court, a dignified first lady and had a very good relationship with the King. Having grown up together, the couple evidently had a close relationship. Philip is reported to have loved and respected her deeply as demonstrated through his refusal to remarry after her death in 1305. His emotional dependence on her is suggested as a reason to why she never visited Navarre. In 1294, Philip appointed her regent of France in the case of his death and should his son succeed him being still a minor. This action would essentially raise Joan to the influence of Blanche of Castile. Philip expressed desired to break ancient Capetian tradition to have Joan's body laid to rest with him at Saint-Denis. However, he is not believed to have entrusted her with influence over the affairs of France, unless they involved her own domains Navarre and Champagne.

Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne
Joan was declared to be of legal majority upon her marriage in 1284, and did homage for Champagne and Brie to her father-in-law in Paris.

Joan never visited the Kingdom of Navarre, which was ruled by French governors appointed first by her father-in-law in her name, and then by her spouse. The French governors were extremely unpopular in Navarre and her absence from the country was resented, though rebellion against her was never sparked. It was the French who were blamed for her absence rather than her, and the loyalty to her was not questioned; rather, it was emphasized in Navarre that it was in fact she rather than the French who was their sovereign. From afar, edicts were issued in her name, coins struck in her image, and she gave her protection to chapels and convents. Joan left a legacy as a kind, but absent, figure admired within Navarre. She never came closer to Navarre than to Carcassonne in 1300, and her spouse was somewhat blamed for this.

Joan was much more directly active as countess of Champagne. While being a county rather than a kingdom, Champagne was much richer and more strategically important implying the trust placed in her ability to rule. Philip IV appointed her administrators, however, Joan visited Champagne regularly and is recorded to have participated in all duties of a ruling vassal and is not regarded to have been passive but an active independent ruler in this domain. In 1297, she raised and led an army against Count Henry III of Bar when he invaded Champagne. The extent of her military involvement in this defense is debated, but what is clear is her exercise of power that successfully organized her people. Philip took no part, and Joan brought the count to prison before joining her husband. She also acted in her process against Bishop Guichard of Troyes, whom she accused of having stolen funds from Champagne and her mother by fraud.

Death and Legacy
Queen Joan died in 1305 and was buried in the Franciscan church in Paris, despite the wish of her husband Philip to be buried together at Saint-Denis. The allegations of her death are mixed with some claiming she died in childbirth with others attributing her cause of death to a round of illness she suffered in 1304. However, Bishop Guichard of Troyes was arrested in 1308 and accused of killing her with witchcraft by sticking an image of her with a pin. He was released in 1313. Her personal physician was the inventor Guido da Vigevano. In her last will, Queen Joan founded the College of Navarre, in Paris in 1305. Her will was impressive in both detail and volume to address the financial and administrative facets of the institution, the campus layout, and the values and content curricula. She allotted funds for its establishment and her interest in the arts, theology, and philosophy in life manifested in the original departments of the school. Her role in the foundation of the College, which would operate until 1793 when it became known as the École Polytechnique, was an extension of the charity and patronage that defined her reign. The last testament of Queen Joan also expressed her wish for Philip IV to relinquish his claim of Champagne to their children. As the principle executor of her will, Philip IV did not oblige this wish, but he did fulfill her wish to establish the College and made a plethora of charitable donations in her legacy.

Children
With Philip IV of France:

The four children of Joan I that reached adulthood would ascend to the crowns of England and France respectively, with her sons ruling as kings of France and Isabella marrying into the crown of England and becoming queen consort.
 * 1) Margaret (1288 – c. 1294)
 * 2) Louis X of France, King Louis I of Navarre from 1305, France from 1314 (October 1289 – 5 June 1316)
 * 3) Blanche (1290 – c. 1294)
 * 4) Philip V of France and Navarre (as Philip II) (1292/1293 – 3 January 1322)
 * 5) Charles IV of France and Navarre (as Charles I) (c. 1294 – 1 February 1328)
 * 6) Isabella (c. 1295 – 23 August 1358), married Edward II of England and mother to Edward III of England.
 * 7) Robert (1297 – July 1308)