Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo

Life

Joanna's father died in 1348 and Joanna succeeded him, being the eldest surviving child. However, Joanna remained in Naples rather than going to Durazzo. It was here she was betrothed to her cousin Charles Martel, Duke of Calabria, son of Queen Joanna. Charles Martel was heir in Hungary due to a lack of male heirs. The boy was moved to Hungary, however the engagement was broken when the young boy died around 1348 in Hungary.

In 1365 aged twenty one, Joanna married her first husband Louis of Navarre, who became Duke of Durazzo in right of his wife. He was the son of Joan II of Navarre. In 1368 Durazzo was captured by the Albanian Topia dynasty under the leadership of Prince Karl Thopia. Joanna and her husband immediately began planning the reconquest of not only Durazzo, but all the lands of the former Angevin Kingdom of Albania. They were successful in rallying the support of Louis' brother Charles II the Bad and Charles V King of France in this undertaking.{{cite book| last = Rodd| first = Rennell| title = The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2| publisher = Forgotten Books| isbn = 978-0-6561-3237-9| page = 292| quote = ...when there is evidence that a supreme effort was made to re-establish his ascendency in Albania with the support of his brother the King of Navarre...

Around 1376 Joanna remarried to Robert, Count of Eu. This marriage was also childless. Robert was not Count of Eu for long, he and Joanna were not informed of his father's death in 1387. Joanna and Robert were staying at Castel dell'Ovo in Naples where they were both poisoned on July 20, 1387 on the orders of Joanna's sister Margaret, queen dowager and regent of Naples.

Joanna is buried in San Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples.

References

Sources

References

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4. Setton, Kenneth. "A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard". University of Wisconsin Press.
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14. Rodd, Rennell. "The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2". Forgotten Books.
15. J. M. Hussey. "The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours". University Press.
16. Woodacre, Elena. "Joan of Navarre: Infanta, Duchess, Queen, Witch? (Lives of Royal Women)". Taylor & Francis.
17. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine. "The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest". University of Michigan Press.
18. Baker, Julian. "Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200-1430". Brill.
19. Setton, Kenneth. "A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard". University of Wisconsin Press.
20. [http://www.mittelalter-genealogie.de/kapetinger_anjou_grafen_von/neapel_linie_durazzo/johanna_von_durazzo_graefin_von_beaumont_+_1387.html Joanna of Durazzo]