Joanna of Bavaria (c. 1362 – 31 December 1386), a member of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

, was

German queen German queen (german: Deutsche Königin) is the informal title used when referring to the wife of the king of the Kingdom of Germany. The official titles of the wives of German kings were Queen of the Germans and later Queen of the Romans ( la, ...

from 1376 and

Queen of Bohemia This is a list of the royal consorts of the rulers of Bohemia. The first Duchess of Bohemia (''česká kněžna'') was St. Ludmila, while the first Queen of Bohemia (''česká královna'') was Świętosława of Poland. Some of them were (like ...

from 1378 until her death, by her marriage with the

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

king Wenceslaus.

Life

Presumably born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Joanna was the second child of Duke Albert I of Bavaria (1336–1404), by his first wife

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

(1342–1386), a daughter of the Piast duke

Louis I of Brzeg Louis I the Fair, also known as the Wise or the Righteous ( pl, Ludwik I Sprawiedliwy, ''Roztropny'', or ''Prawy'') or Louis I of Brzeg (''Ludwik I brzeski''; – 6/23 December 1398), a member of the Silesian Piasts, was a Silesian duke of Leg ...

. Her siblings included Count William VI of Holland, Johanna Sophia of Bavaria and

Margaret of Bavaria Margaret of Bavaria (1363 – 23 January 1424, Dijon) was Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to John the Fearless. She was the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1404–1419 and the regent in French Burgundy d ...

. Her paternal grandparents were Emperor Louis IV and his consort Countess

Margaret II of Hainaut Margaret II of Avesnes (1311 – 23 June 1356) was Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland (as Margaret I) from 1345 to 1356. She was Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Germany by marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian. Lif ...

From August 1370 Joanna travelled to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where she was married on 29 September 1370 to Wenceslaus, son and heir of Emperor Charles IV by his third wife, Anna of Swidnica. At the time of the wedding, Johanna was eight years' old, and Wenceslaus was nine. The emperor had to obtain a papal dispense due to the close relatedness of the couple. The marriage was not consummated until 1376. The conjugal bond suited the Luxembourg ruler to strengthen ties with the Bavarian duke, who held extensive estates in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

; nevertheless, Joanna was not the first choice of a bride for Wenceslaus. Charles IV had initially planned for him to marry the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

princess Elisabeth of Nuremberg, but the marriage never took place, since Elisabeth married Rupert of the Palatinate instead. Charles had his son elected

King of the Romans King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

in 1376 and upon his death in 1378, Wenceslaus also inherited the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

. With Wenceslaus' accession, Joanna became Queen of both Bohemia and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She also became Electress of Brandenburg as successor to Wenceslaus' half-sister Catherine.

Death

The marriage lasted for sixteen years, however the couple had no children (it is said that Wenceslaus was infertile due to his

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

). Joanna died in 1386 at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four,

Czech Wikipedia The Czech Wikipedia ( cs, Česká Wikipedie) is the Czech language edition of Wikipedia. This Wikipedia contains articles, active users, and administrators. It was created on May 3, 2002 (Translation: "The Czech version of Wikipedia starte ...

allegedly from the consequences of an attack by Wenceslaus' hunting dogs. Wenceslaus gave Johanna a magnificent funeral, which took place at

Žebrák Žebrák () is a town in Beroun District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Administrative parts The village of Sedlec is an administrative part of Žebrák. Geography Žebrák is located about ...

castle. According to custom, Joanna's body was exposed for a few days in Prague churches and was later buried in Prague Castle. Wenceslaus later married Joanna's cousin,

Sofia of Bavaria Sophia of Bavaria (; ; 1376 – 4 November 1428In a Munich archive, letters of Sophia from the years 1422–1427 have been found. B. Kopičková, Mnichovský fascikl č. 543. Korespondence královny Žofie z období březen 1422 – prosinec 14 ...

, but this marriage also bore no issue. Wenceslaus was deposed from the throne of Germany in 1400 and was succeeded by Elisabeth of Nuremberg's husband, Rupert.

Ancestors

References and Sources

Translated article from Czech Wikipedia

Jeanne von Wittelsbach
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Joanna Of Bavaria 1362 births 1386 deaths German queens consort Bohemian queens consort Italian queens consort House of Wittelsbach Women of medieval Bavaria Duchesses of Luxembourg Electresses of Brandenburg 14th-century German women 14th-century German nobility Burials at St. Vitus Cathedral Daughters of monarchs