Joan of Navarre

Joan of Navarre, also known as Joanna ( – 10 June 1437) was Duchess of Brittany by marriage to Duke John IV and later Queen of England as the wife of King Henry IV. Joan was a daughter of Charles II of Navarre and Joan of France. She served as regent of Brittany from 1399 until 1403 during the minority of her eldest son, Duke John V. She also served as regent of England during the absence of her stepson King Henry V in 1415. Four years later Henry V imprisoned her and confiscated her money and land. Joan was released in 1422, shortly before Henry's death.

Duchess of Brittany On 2 October 1386, Joan married her first husband, John IV, Duke of Brittany (known in traditional English sources as John V). She was his third wife and the only one with whom he had children.

John IV died on 1 November 1399 and was succeeded by his and Joan's son, John V. Her son being still a minor, she was made his guardian and the regent of Brittany during his minority. Not long after, King Henry IV of England proposed to marry her. The marriage proposal was given out of mutual personal preference rather than a dynastic marriage. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, affection developed between Joan and Henry while he resided at the Breton court during his banishment from England. Joan gave a favourable reply to the proposal, but stated that she could not go through with it until she had set the affairs of Brittany in order and arranged for the security of the duchy and her children.

On 7 February 1403, Joan married Henry IV at Winchester Cathedral. On the 26th, she held her formal entry to London, where she was crowned queen of England. Queen Joan was described as beautiful, gracious and majestic, but also as greedy and stingy, and was accused of accepting bribes. Reportedly, she did not have a good impression of England, as a Breton ship was attacked outside the English coast just after her wedding. She preferred the company of her Breton entourage, which caused offence to such a degree that her Breton courtiers were exiled by order of Parliament, a ban the king did not think he could oppose given his sensitive relation to the Parliament at the time. She is recorded as having had a good relationship with Henry's children from his first marriage, often taking the side of the future Henry V in his quarrels with his father. Her daughters returned to Brittany three years after their arrival on the order of their brother, her son.

Queen dowager In 1413, her second spouse died, succeeded by her stepson Henry V. Joan had a very good relationship with Henry, who allowed her use of his royal castles of Windsor, Wallingford, Berkhamsted and Hertford during his absence in France in 1415.

Joan's funeral effigy in Canterbury Cathedral, beside that of her husband. After her release, her fortune was returned to her, and she lived the rest of her life quietly and comfortably with her own court at Nottingham Castle, through Henry V's reign and into that of his son, Henry VI. She died at Havering-atte-Bower in Essex and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral next to Henry IV.

John Foxholes, of Cheryton, in Hampshire is described as her "receiver general" in 1433.

Issue Her first marriage to John IV, Duke of Brittany produced 9 children: Joan of Brittany (Nantes, 12 August 1387 – 7 December 1388). Isabelle of Brittany (October 1388 – December 1388). Duke John V of Brittany (Château de l'Hermine, near Vannes, Morbihan, 24 December 1389 – manoir de La Touche, near Nantes 29 August 1442). Married Joan of France, daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, in 1396. Had issue. Marie of Brittany (Nantes, 18 February 1391 – 18 December 1446), Lady of La Guerche, married at the Château de l'Hermine (Vannes) on 26 June 1398 to John I, Count of Alençon and Perche, later Duke of Alençon. Margaret of Brittany (1392 – 13 April 1428), Lady of Guillac, married on 26 June 1407, Alain IX, Viscount of Rohan and Count of Porhoët (d. 1462) Duke Arthur III of Brittany (Château de Succinio, 24 August 1393 – Nantes, 26 December 1458). Married firstly Margaret of Burgundy (m. 1423; died 1442); secondly, Joan of Albret (m. 1442; died 1444); and thirdly, Catherine of Luxembourg (m. 1445). No issue. Gilles of Brittany (1394 – Cosne-sur-Loire, 19 July 1412), Lord of Chantocé and Ingrande. Richard of Brittany (1395 – Château de Clisson 2 June 1438), Count of Benon, Étampes, and Mantes, married at the Château de Blois, Loir-et-Cher on 29 August 1423 Margaret d'Orléans, Countess of Vertus, daughter of Louis I, Duke of Orléans. Had issue. Blanche of Brittany (1397 – bef. 1419), married at Nantes on 26 June 1407 Jean IV, Count of Armagnac.

Her second marriage to King Henry IV of England produced two infants who did not survive: Stillborn twins (1403)

Ancestry