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.
From October 1340 through at least 1343, negotiations and treaties were made for Joanna to marry Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy.[2] The goal was to bring Savoy more closely into French influence.[2] Following this, she was betrothed to Humbert, Dauphin of Viennois, which also fell through.[3]
Queen
On 8 April 1350, Joanna married her cousin, the future Charles V of France, at Tain-l'Hermitage.[1] Since they were first cousins once removed, their marriage required a papal dispensation.[1] Born thirteen days apart, they both were 12 years old. When Charles ascended the throne in 1364, Joanna became queen 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 1373, she suffered a complete mental breakdown.[4] This deeply worried Charles V, who made a pilgrimage and offered many prayers for her recovery.[4] 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.[4]
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.[1]Froissart[5] recorded that Joanna took a 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 St Denis. The rest of her remains were then placed at Saint-Denis.
Issue
Joanna and Charles had eight[1] or nine[6] children. Two of them reached adulthood:
^News of "l’accouchement madame la duchesse de Normandie" was brought to her husband on 30 September 1357.[7]
^An epitaph at Saint-Antoine-des-Champs records the death at the Abbey on 21 October 1360 of "madame Jehanne aisnée fille de Monsieur Charles, aisné filz du roy de France régent le Royaume..."[8]
^An epitaph at Saint-Antoine-des-Champs records the death "au palais" on 7 November 1360 of "madame Bonne seconde fille de Monsieur Charles, aisné filz du roy de France régent le Royaume...".[9]
^The Chronique des règnes de Jean II et de Charles V records the burial on 12 November 1360 of "les deux filles du duc de Normandie" at "Saint-Anthoine près de Paris".[10]
^The Chronique des règnes de Jean II et de Charles V records that 7 June 1366 "la royne de France...Jehanne fille du duc de Bourbon" gave birth to "une fille au Bois de Vincennes...Jehanne".[11]
^The Chronique des règnes de Jean II et de Charles V records the death on 21 December 1366 of "madame Jehanne fille du...roy de France Charles...en l’ostel de la Conciergerie de l’ostel du Roy...près de Saint-Pol" and her burial "en l’eglise Saint-Denis en France".[12]
^Le Laboureur records that Charles V had "trois fils, dont le dernier nommé Jean estant mort en enfance", adding that "il n’en est fait aucune mention dans les histoires" but without noting his own source on which he bases the information.[6]
^J. A. Buchon, Collection des Chroniques nationales françaises écrites en langue vulgaire du treizième au seizième siècle, Chroniques de Froissart, Tome VII, Verdière, Libraire, Paris, 1824, p. 61