Joan of France (May 1351 – 16 September 1371), also known as Blanche, was the only child of

Philip VI of France Philip VI (; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (), the Catholic (''le Catholique'') and of Valois (''de Valois''), was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350. Philip's reign w ...

and his second wife Blanche of Navarre. Joan was born nine months after her father's death.

Life

Joan's maternal grandparents were

Philip III of Navarre Philip III (, , ; 27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble, the Wise, and of Évreux, was the king of Navarre with his wife Joan II from 1328 until his death in 1343. He was also the count of Évreux in France from 1319. Philip ...

and

Joan II of Navarre Joan II (, , ; 28 January 1312 – 6 October 1349) was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death in 1349. Joan was the only surviving child of Louis I of Navarre and Margaret of Burgundy. Her father ascended the French throne as Louis X in ...

. Her paternal grandparents were

Charles of Valois Charles, Count of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, which ruled over France from 1328. He was the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella o ...

and

Margaret of Naples Margaret (1272 – 31 December 1299) was Countess of Anjou and Maine in her own right and Countess of Valois, Alençon and Perche by marriage. Margaret's father was King Charles II of Naples, whilst her husband was Charles, Count of Valois (th ...

. Joan had two half-brothers from her father's first marriage to

Joan the Lame Joan the Lame may refer to: * Joan of Penthièvre, Duchess of Brittany * Joan of Burgundy, Queen of France * Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, Queen of France {{disambiguation, tndis ...

John II of France John II (; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: ''Jean le Bon''), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed between a thir ...

and

Philip of Valois, Duke of Orléans Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

. After the death of Philip, Blanche retired to

Neaufles-Saint-Martin Neaufles-Saint-Martin () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. History On the 5th of October 1398 Blanche of Navarre, Queen of France died in Neaufles-Saint-Martin after retiring there. Population See also ...

near

Gisors Gisors () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Eure, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, France. It is located northwest from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Gisors, together with the ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. In 1370, Joan was betrothed to Infante John, Duke of Girona, son and heir of

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV (Catalan: ''Pere IV d'Aragó;'' Aragonese; ''Pero IV d'Aragón;'' 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''El Cerimoniós''; Aragonese: ''el Ceremonioso''), was from 1336 until his death the king of ...

. The marriage contract was signed 16 July 1370. The following year Joan departed from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and set off to marry John in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. However, Joan died on 16 September 1371 in

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

, whilst travelling to meet her future husband. He accused the midwife Bonanada of having caused her death by use of sorcery. Joan's mother died 5 October 1398, twenty-seven years after her daughter. They are buried together in the

Basilica of St Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...

, the necropolis of the Kings of France, north of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joan Of Valois 1351 births 1371 deaths Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis House of Valois French princesses 14th-century French women 14th-century French people Daughters of kings