Orphaned
by the age of five, Joanna was raised by her grandfather, Robert “the Wise”,
the King of Naples. She was his heir, and when he died in 1343, Joanna, at the
age of 17, became Queen of Naples. Her grandfather left her with a boatload of
trouble, however.
To
forestall conflict with the King of Hungary, who claimed the throne of Naples
because he was descended from Robert’s elder brother, Robert arranged for
Joanna’s marriage to her Hungarian cousin, Prince Andrew. Andrew, younger than
Joanna, unsophisticated, and unhappy that he was not to be a ruling king, was
not well-received in Naples. Joanna faced threats to her sovereignty from
various branches of her family who would take advantage of her youth, those who
didn’t want to be ruled by a girl. She needed a strong partner, and Andrew
didn’t qualify.
Rumors
that Joanna had taken various lovers were circulated by those wanting to
discredit her, and her marriage suffered for it, though nothing was proven.
When she became pregnant, the prospect of an heir strengthened Joanna’s
position—and Andrew’s—and provoked her cousins to the desperate act of
murdering Andrew.
The kingdom went from difficulty to chaos. Joanna was besieged by one cousin, demanding she marry him; by the church, investigating Andrew’s death; and by the Hungarians who were not satisfied that their claim to the throne would be settled through Andrew and Joanna’s son—whose birth in December of 1345 brought a male heir to the line.
Public
dissatisfaction with the lengthy murder investigation reached the level of
riots as a long list of Joanna’s trusted servants were accused. The queen
escaped to her most secure fortress, while those demanding justice tortured the
accused courtiers.
The kingdom was in shambles. The church sent a cardinal to sort out the criminal inquiry and return some stability to Naples. But in early 1347, Louis of Hungary formed an alliance and declared war on Joanna’s kingdom, seeking to avenge Andrew’s death and claim the throne.
In a
period of history when arranged marriages look suspiciously like bribes, Joanna
worked the system as she had been trained to do at the knee of her grandfather.
Negotiating with popes and barons, Joanna married her cousin Louis of Taranto,
an able defender of her kingdom who was put to the test when the Hungarians
attacked. She secured further support through arranged marriages for her son,
as well as a niece.
When the Hungarians, with an impressive army, defeated Benevento—just three days from Naples—several of the Neapolitan princes betrayed their queen and led the Hungarians into Naples. In the dark of a January night, Joanna fled for her life, setting sail for Provence and the papal court at Avignon. The victorious Hungarians in Naples sent demands to the pope that Joanna be arrested and executed. The pope heard her case, and declared her above suspicion.
The King
of Hungary terrorized Naples through the early months of 1348, making himself
very unpopular. And then, in April, the Black Death arrived. Within three
months, half the population of Joanna’s kingdom was dead. Before the end of
May, the King of Hungary slipped out of the country and headed home. Joanna and
her husband Louis of Taranto returned to Naples, preparing to vanquish the
remaining invaders and restore unity to the Kingdom.
The pace
of Joanna’s first five years of rule continued through four decades and four
husbands. Her three children all died in early childhood. She reigned for
nearly forty years over the Kingdom of Naples. Joanna was also Countess of
Provence, titular Queen of Jerusalem, and Princess of Achaia.
When the
western schism occurred in the late 1370s, Joanna supported Pope Clement in
Avignon over Pope Urban in Rome. Pope Urban excommunicated her, calling her
“the new Jezebel”, and bestowed her kingdom on Charles of Durazzo. She was
secretly assassinated in the castle of Muro Lucano in 1382, defending her
kingdom to the end.
You can
learn more about Joanna’s life in “The Lady Queen: The
Notorious Reign of Joanna I” by Nancy Goldstone, a biography I highly
recommend.
