Joanna of Aragon, Queen consort of Naples
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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 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.GIOVANNA d'Aragona, regina di Napolidi Piero Doria - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 55 (2001)
/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 by his second wife, Juana Enríquez de Córdoba, and his youngest legitimate child.


Queenship

King
Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the Naples branch, universally known as Ferrante and also called by his contemporaries Don Ferrando and Don Ferrante (2 June 1424, in Valencia – 25 January 1494, in Kingdom of Naples, Naples), was the only so ...
, an illegitimate son of her uncle
Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...
, asked Joanna's hand in marriage from John II and he accepted. After the wedding on 14 September the contract was signed in
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, on 5 October 1476 and the agreement was ratified 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 rail ...
,
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 ri ...
,
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'Italia) ...
, Sulmona, Francavilla and Nocera. He also gave her more than 20,000
ducat The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...
s 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 Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
. 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 Pope Innocent VIII ( la, Innocentius VIII; it, Innocenzo VIII; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death in July 1492. Son of th ...
and Cardinal Giulio della Rovere. A few years later, after the conspiracy was suppressed, Joanna returned to
Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...
, accompanied by her daughter Joanna. They visited most of the monasteries in
L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...
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 A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...
. 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 The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
. Meanwhile, King
Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (Ne ...
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. 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 Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...
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 Aversa () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical bu ...
. 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 Isabella of Balzo (24 June 1465 – 1533) was a Queen consort of Naples. She was the second consort and only Queen consort of Frederick of Naples. Isabella was also suo jure Duchess of Andria and Venosa and Princess of Altamura. Biography I ...
, 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 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

, - {{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 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