Joanna of Aragon ( es, Juana, it, Giovanna; 16 June 1455 – 9 January 1517) was
Queen of Naples
The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501)
House of Anjou
In 1382, the Kin ...
as the second wife of
King Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabo ...
. She served as regent (General Lieuntenant) of Naples between the abdication and flight of king Alfonso II 22 February 1495 until the formal succession of
Ferdinand II of Naples
Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the branch of Naples, known to contemporaries especially with the name of Ferrandino (Naples, 26 June 1467 - Naples, 7 October 1496). Acclaimed "the first among all the Kings and Lords of the World" and univer ...
.
[GIOVANNA d'Aragona, regina di Napolidi Piero Doria - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 55 (2001)](_blank)
/ref>
Born in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Joanna was the second child of King John II of Aragon
John II ( Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and eu, Joanes II; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death ...
by his second wife, Juana Enríquez de Córdoba, and his youngest legitimate child.
Queenship
King Ferdinand I of Naples, an illegitimate son of her uncle Alfonso V of Aragon, asked Joanna's hand in marriage from John II and he accepted. After the wedding on 14 September the contract was signed in Navarre, on 5 October 1476 and the agreement was ratified
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...
on 25 November. John II gave his daughter a dowry of 100,000 gold florins
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
and Ferdinand gave his new wife many duchies and/or cities, such as Sorrento
Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...
, Theano
In Greek mythology, Theano (; Ancient Greek: Θεανώ) may refer to the following personages:
*Theano, wife of Metapontus, king of Icaria. Metapontus demanded that she bear him children, or leave the kingdom. She presented the children of Melan ...
, Isernia
Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia.
Geography
Situated on a rocky crest ...
, Teramo
Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo.
The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Itali ...
, Sulmona
Sulmona ( nap, label= Abruzzese, Sulmóne; la, Sulmo; grc, Σουλμῶν, Soulmôn) is a city and ''comune'' of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plain once occupied by a lake that disappeared in ...
, Francavilla and Nocera.
He also gave her more than 20,000 ducats annually. Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, eldest son of the king from his first marriage, sailed to Spain on 11 June 1477 in order to bring Joanna to Naples. She arrived on 1 September 1477. The formal wedding, with both the bride and groom present, took place on 14 September 1477 and was officiated by Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI. Their first child was born in 1479 and another child arrived in 1480.
Joanna showed a tendency to resolve political affairs. In August 1485, she started to randomly journey through Italy, probably to ensure loyalty to her husband in the wake of rebellions led by Baron Antonello Sanseverino and supported by Pope Innocent VIII and Cardinal Giulio della Rovere. A few years later, after the conspiracy was suppressed, Joanna returned to Abruzzo, accompanied by her daughter Joanna. They visited most of the monasteries in L'Aquila that year.
Queen Dowager
On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I died aged 71. He was succeeded by his eldest son Alfonso, and step-son of Joanna, who became queen dowager. From this point on, Joanna signed every letter with the phrase ''the sad queen'' (Old Italian
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
: ''la triste reyna''). Because of the grief, she did not even attend her step-son's coronation on 8 May 1494. In return, Alfonso gave his step-mother the position of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
of the Kingdom of Naples.
Meanwhile, King Charles VIII of France was about to conquer Naples. Doing the last desperate thing he could, Alfonso II abdicated in favour of his son, who became Ferdinand II of Naples
Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the branch of Naples, known to contemporaries especially with the name of Ferrandino (Naples, 26 June 1467 - Naples, 7 October 1496). Acclaimed "the first among all the Kings and Lords of the World" and univer ...
. However, before he left, he advised his son to take the advice of the queen dowager in consideration and never do anything to upset her. She was formally appointed to the post of regent with the title general lieuntenant.
When Charles VIII was about to enter Sicily, Ferdinand II took Joanna and her daughter Joanna (who was also to be his wife) and left. After their return on 13 October 1495, Joanna arranged a marriage between her daughter Joanna and King Ferdinand II. They were married on 28 February 1496. However Ferdinand II died of malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
in October of the same year and Joanna was left a childless widow aged seventeen. By now, the young Joanna also signed every letter with ''the sad queen''.
Joanna tried to suggest her brother, King Ferdinand II of Aragon as the rightful King of Naples, but a younger step-son from Ferdinand I's first marriage, Prince Frederick, was chosen. Initially, the new king's relationship with Joanna was quite cold. In fact, when Frederick's reign began, Joanna resigned her position as lieutenant general and expressed her desire to move to Aversa. After a year of absence, she returned from Aversa and regained her position as lieutenant general. But, she once again found differences, this time with Isabella del Balzo, Frederick's wife. She did not attend Frederick's coronation.
After they were once again banished from the kingdom, Joanna and her daughter Joanna returned to Naples, where Joanna died following a short illness on 9 January 1517. Her daughter Joanna died the following year from the same illness.
Issue
With her husband, Joanna had two children, one of whom survived childhood:
* Joanna of Naples (20 April 147927 August 1518), who married her half-nephew, King Ferdinand II of Naples
Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the branch of Naples, known to contemporaries especially with the name of Ferrandino (Naples, 26 June 1467 - Naples, 7 October 1496). Acclaimed "the first among all the Kings and Lords of the World" and univer ...
but had no children.
* Charles of Naples ( it, Carlo, es, Carlos; 148026 October 1486), died aged six of typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
.
Ancestry
See also
References
Succession
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Joanna of Aragon
1455 births
1517 deaths
People from Barcelona
House of Trastámara
Crown of Aragon
Royal consorts of Naples
Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples
Joanna of Aragon ( es, Juana, it, Giovanna; 16 June 1455 – 9 January 1517) was Queen of Naples as the second wife of King Ferdinand I. She served as regent (General Lieuntenant) of Naples between the abdication and flight of king Alfonso II 2 ...
15th-century Spanish women
15th-century Spanish people
16th-century Spanish women
16th-century Spanish people
15th-century French women
15th-century French people
16th-century French women
16th-century French people
15th-century women rulers
Daughters of kings