Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne III | |
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Henry III | |
Co-rulers | See
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Born | 16 November 1528[1] Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Kingdom of France |
Died | 9 June 1572 Paris, Kingdom of France | (aged 43)
Burial | Ducal Church of collégiale Saint-Georges, Vendôme |
Spouses | Antoine, King of Navarre (m. 1548; died 1562) |
Issue more... |
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Roman Catholic | |
Signature |
Jeanne d'Albret (
Jeanne was the daughter of
When her father died in 1555, Jeanne and Antoine ascended the Navarrese throne. They reigned as joint rulers until Antoine died from battle wounds in 1562. Jeanne was the acknowledged spiritual and political leader of the
Jeanne was the last active ruler of Navarre. Her son inherited her kingdom, but as he was constantly leading the Huguenot forces, he entrusted the government of Béarn to his sister, Catherine, who held the regency for more than two decades. In 1620, Jeanne's grandson Louis XIII annexed Navarre to the French crown.
Early years and first marriage
Jeanne was born in the
Jeanne's birth was officially announced the following 7 January when King Francis gave his permission for the addition of a new master in all cities where there were incorporated guilds "in honour of the birth of Jeanne de Navarre, the king's niece".
Described as a "frivolous and high-spirited princess", she also, at an early age, displayed a tendency to be both stubborn and unyielding. Before her wedding, Jeanne signed two documents which she had officers of her household sign, declaring: "I, Jeanne de Navarre, persisting in the protestations I have already made, do hereby again affirm and protest by these present, that the marriage which it is desired to contract between the duke of Cleves and myself, is against my will; that I have never consented to it, nor will consent..."
Four years later, after the duke signed an agreement with Charles V to end his alliance with France in return for the duchy of Guelders, the marriage was annulled on the grounds that it had not been consummated and that Jeanne had to be forcibly married against her will. She remained at the royal court.
Second marriage
After the death of Francis in 1547 and the accession of
on 20 October 1548. The marriage was intended to consolidate territorial possessions in the north and south of France.Jeanne's marriage to Antoine was described by author Mark Strage as having been a "romantic match".[7] A contemporary of Jeanne said of her that she had
no pleasure or occupation except in talking about or writing to [her husband]. She does it in company and in private… the waters cannot quench the flame of her love".[7]
Antoine was a notorious philanderer.
The couple had five children, of whom only two,
On 25 May 1555, Henry II of Navarre died, at which time Jeanne and her husband became joint rulers of Navarre. On accession to the throne, she inherited a conflict over Navarre and an independent territorial hold on Lower Navarre, Soule, and the principality of Béarn, as well as other dependencies under the suzerainty of the crown of France.
On 18 August 1555 at Pau, Jeanne and Antoine were crowned in a joint ceremony according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. The previous month, a coronation coin commemorating the new reign had been minted. It was inscribed in Latin with the following words: Antonius et Johanna Dei gratia reges Navarrae Domini Bearni (Antoine and Jeanne, by the grace of God, monarchs of Navarre and lords of Béarn).[13] Antoine's frequent absences left Jeanne in Béarn to rule alone, and in complete charge of a household which she managed with a firm and resolute hand.
Jeanne was influenced by her mother, who died in 1549, with leanings toward religious reform,
Following the imposition of Calvinism in her kingdom, priests and nuns were banished, Catholic churches destroyed, and Catholic ritual prohibited.
She was described as "small of stature, frail but erect", her face was narrow, her eyes light-coloured, cold and unmoving, and her lips thin. She was highly intelligent, but austere and self-righteous. Her speech was sharply sarcastic and vehement. Agrippa d'Aubigné, the Huguenot chronicler, described Jeanne as having "a mind powerful enough to guide the highest affairs".[16]
In addition to her religious reforms, Jeanne worked on reorganising her kingdom; making long-lasting reforms to the economic and judicial systems of her domains.[18]
In 1561,
French Wars of Religion
The power struggle between Catholics and Huguenots for control of the French court and France as a whole, led to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562. Jeanne and Antoine were at court, when the latter made the decision to support the Catholic faction, which was headed by the House of Guise; and in consequence, threatened to repudiate Jeanne when she refused to attend Mass. Catherine de' Medici, in an attempt to steer a middle course between the two warring factions, also pleaded with Jeanne to obey her husband for the sake of peace but to no avail. Jeanne stood her ground and staunchly refused to abandon the Calvinist religion, and continued to have Protestant services conducted in her apartments.[10]
When many of the other nobles also joined the Catholic camp, Catherine had no choice but to support the Catholic faction. Fearing the anger of both her husband and Catherine, Jeanne left Paris in March 1562 and made her way south to seek refuge in Béarn.
When Jeanne had stopped for a brief sojourn at her husband's ancestral chateau in
At the end of the year, Antoine was fatally wounded at the siege of Rouen and died before Jeanne could obtain the necessary permission to cross over enemy lines, in order to be at his bedside where she had wished to nurse him. His mistress instead was summoned to his deathbed. Jeanne henceforth ruled Navarre as the sole queen regnant; her sex being no impediment to her sovereignty. Her son Henry subsequently became "first prince of the blood". Jeanne often brought him along on her many progresses through her domains to oversee administrative affairs.[20] Jeanne refused an offer of matrimony issued by Philip II of Spain who had hoped to marry her to his son, on the condition that she return to the Catholic faith.
Jeanne's position in the conflicts remained relatively neutral in the beginning, being mainly preoccupied with military defences, given Navarre's geographic location beside Catholic Spain. Papal envoys arrived to coax or coerce her into returning to Catholicism and abolishing heresy within her kingdom. Her response was to reply that "the authority of the Pope's legate is not recognised in Béarn". At one stage there was a plot led by Pope Pius IV to have her kidnapped and turned over to the Spanish Inquisition, where she would be imprisoned in Madrid, and the rulers of France and Spain invited to annex Navarre to their crowns. Jeanne was summoned to Rome to be examined for heresy under the triple penalty of excommunication, the confiscation of her property, and a declaration that her kingdom was available to any ruler who wished to invade it.[21]
This last threat alarmed King Philip, and the blatant interference by the
Third war
When the third religious war broke out in 1568, however, she decided to actively support the Huguenot cause. Feeling that their lives were in danger from approaching French Catholic and Spanish troops, Jeanne and Henry sought refuge in the Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle.[a]
As Minister of Propaganda, Jeanne wrote manifestos and composed letters to sympathetic foreign rulers, requesting their assistance. She had visualised the province of Guyenne as a "Protestant homeland" and played a leading role in the military actions from 1569 to 1570 with the aim of seeing her dream come to fruition.
Whilst at La Rochelle, she assumed control of fortifications, finances, intelligence gathering, and the maintenance of discipline among the civilian populace. She used her own jewellery as security in a loan obtained from
Following the Huguenot defeat on 16 March 1569 at the
Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Jeanne was the principal mover in negotiating the
Taking her daughter Catherine along, Jeanne went to Chenonceaux on 14 February 1572 where the two powerful women from opposing factions met. Jeanne found the atmosphere at Chenonceaux corrupt and vicious, and wrote letters to her son advising him about the promiscuity of the young women at Catherine's court, whose forward and wanton behaviour with the courtiers scandalised Jeanne's puritanical nature. In one of her letters to Henry, she issued the following warning: "Not for anything on earth would I have you come to live here. Although I knew it was bad, I find it even worse than I feared. Here it is the women who make advances to the men, rather than the other way around. If you were here you would never escape without special intervention from God". Jeanne also complained to her son the Queen Mother mistreated and mocked her as they negotiated terms of the settlement, writing on 8 March, "she treats me so shamefully that you might say that the patience I manage to maintain surpasses that of Griselda herself".[26]
Death
The two women reached an agreement. Jeanne took leave of Catherine de' Medici following the signing of the marriage contract between Henry and Marguerite on 11 April. She set up residence in Paris where she went on daily shopping trips to prepare for the upcoming wedding. Anna d'Este described Jeanne during this period in a letter she wrote to a friend: "The Queen of Navarre is here, not in very good health but very courageous. She is wearing more pearls than ever".[27]
On 4 June 1572, two months before the wedding was due to take place, Jeanne returned home from one of her shopping excursions feeling ill. The next morning she woke up with a fever and complained of an ache in the upper right-hand side of her body. Five days later she died.
After her funeral, a cortege bearing her body travelled through the streets of Vendôme. She was buried beside her husband at Ducal Church of collégiale Saint-Georges. The tombs were destroyed when the church was sacked in 1793 during the French Revolution. Her son Henry succeeded her, becoming King Henry III of Navarre. In 1589, he ascended the French throne as Henry IV, founding the Bourbon line of kings.[30]
Writings
Like her mother, Jeanne was a skilled author and enjoyed writing poetry. She also wrote her memoirs in which she justified her actions as leader of the Huguenots.[10]
Titles
By birth
- Queen of Navarre (1555–1572)
- Duchess of Albret (1555–1572)
- Countess of Limoges (1555–1572)
- Countess of Foix (1555–1572)
- Countess of Armagnac (1555–1572)
- Countess of Bigorre (1555–1572)
- Countess of Périgord (1555–1572)
- Co-Princess of Andorra(1555–1572)
By marriage
- Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1541–1545)
- Duchess of Vendôme (1550–1562)
- Duchess of Beaumont (1550–1562)
- Countess of Marle (1548–1562)
- Countess of La Fère (1548–1562)
- Countess of Soissons (1550–1562)
Marriages and children
In 1541 Jeanne married
On 20 October 1548, she married
- Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Beaumont (1551–1553)
- Henri de Bourbon (Henry III of Navarre and IV of France) (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610) married Margaret of Valois but had no children.[4] Remarried Marie de' Medici in 1600 and had issue.[4]
- Louis Charles de Bourbon, Count of Marle (1555–1557)
- Madeleine de Bourbon (1556-1556)[33]
- Catherine de Bourbon (7 February 1559 – 13 February 1604), also known as Catherine of Navarre, who married Henry, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine in 1599.[4]
Ancestry
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Notes
- ^ Departing on 23 August (Roelker 1968, p. 297) and arriving on 28 September. (Roelker 1968, p. 301).
References
- ^ Robin, Larsen & Levin 2007, p. 2.
- ^ Strage 1976, p. 148.
- ^ a b Roelker 1968, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d Roelker 1968, p. xiv.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 9.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e Strage 1976, p. 149.
- ^ Reid 2009, p. 502.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 53.
- ^ a b c Robin, Larsen & Levin 2007, p. 3.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 55.
- ^ Bergin 1996, p. 581.
- ^ Bryson 1999, p. 75.
- ^ Bryson 1999, p. 72.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 154.
- ^ a b c Strage 1976, p. 150.
- ^ Apalategi 2016, p. 409.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 210.
- ^ Bryson 1999, p. 29.
- ^ Strage 1976, p. 158.
- ^ Bainton 1973, p. 61.
- ^ Roelker 1968, pp. 301–312.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 325.
- ^ Thompson 1915, p. 376.
- ^ Thompson 1915, pp. 378–379.
- ^ Strage 1976, p. 153.
- ^ a b Strage 1976, p. 155.
- ^ Davis 2016.
- ^ Strage 1976, pp. 155–6.
- ^ Love 2005.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 66.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 73-75.
- ^ Vincent 2015, p. 448.
Sources
- Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "Wikidata Q115583595.
- Apalategi, Ur (2016). "The recent systemic repositioning of literature in the French Basque Country: Origins of a literary subfield". In Domínguez, César; González, Anxo Abuín; Sapega, Ellen (eds.). A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula. Vol. II. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 9789027266910.
- Bainton, Roland H. (1973). Women of the Reformation in France and England. Minneapolis: Ausburg Publishing House.
- Bergin, Joseph (1996). The Making of the French Episcopate, 1589–1661. St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd.
- Bryson, David (1999). Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land: Dynasty, Homeland, Religion, and Violence in Sixteenth-Century France.
- Davis, Julia (2016). "How Catherine de Medici Made Gloves Laced with Poison Fashionable". Atlas Obscura.
- Love, Ronald S. (2005). ""A Princelike Soldier and Soldierlike Prince": Contemporary Views of the Military Leadership of Henry IV". Journal of the Western Society for French History. 33.
- Reid, Jonathan (2009). King's Sister – Queen of Dissent: Marguerite of Navarre (1492-1549) and her Evangelical Network. Brill.
- Robin, Diana Maury; Larsen, Anne R.; Levin, Carole (2007). Encyclopedia of women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. ABC-CLIO, Inc.
- ISBN 0-674-74150-1.
- Strage, Mark (1976). Women of Power: The Life and Times of Catherine de' Medici. New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-198370-4.
- Vincent, Marylène (2015). Henri IV et les femmes. De l'amour à la mort (in French). Sud Ouest.
- Thompson, James Westfall (1915). The Wars of Religion in France, 1559-1576. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.
Further reading
- Babelon, Jean-Pierre (1982). Henri IV. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 2-213-01201-6.