Joan of England, Queen of Sicily
Encyclopedia
Joan of England was the seventh child of Henry II of England
and his queen consort
, Eleanor of Aquitaine
.
Joan was a younger maternal half-sister of Marie de Champagne
and Alix of France
. She was a younger sister of William IX, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King
, Matilda, Duchess of Saxony, Richard I of England
, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
and Leonora of Aquitaine. She was also an older sister of John of England
.
in Anjou
, and spent her youth at her mother's courts at Winchester
and Poitiers
. In 1176, William II of Sicily
sent ambassadors to the English court to ask for Joan's hand in marriage. The betrothal was confirmed on 20 May and on 27 August Joan set sail for Sicily, escorted by John of Oxford
, the bishop of Norwich
and her uncle, Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. In Saint Gilles
, her entourage was met by representatives of the Kingdom of Sicily
: Alfano, Archbishop of Capua
, and Richard Palmer, Bishop of Syracuse.
After a hazardous voyage, Joan arrived safely, and on 13 February 1177, she married William II of Sicily
and was crowned Queen of Sicily
at Palermo Cathedral. They had one son, Bohemond
, born in 1181 and who died in infancy. Following William's death in 1189, she was kept a prisoner by the new king, Tancred of Sicily
.
arrived in Italy in 1190, on the way to the Holy Land. He demanded her return, along with every penny of her dowry. When Tancred balked at these demands, Richard seized a monastery and the castle of La Bagnara. He decided to spend the winter in Italy and attacked and subdued the city of Messina. Finally, Tancred agreed to the terms and sent Joan's dowry. In March 1191 Eleanor of Aquitaine
arrived in Messina with Richard's bride, Berengaria of Navarre
.
Eleanor returned to England, leaving Berengaria in Joan's care. Richard decided to postpone his wedding, put his sister and bride on a ship, and set sail. Two days later the fleet was hit by a fierce storm, destroying several ships and blowing Joan and Berengaria's ship off course. Richard landed safely in Crete
, but they were stranded near Cyprus
. The self-appointed despot of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus was about to capture them when Richard's fleet suddenly appeared. The princesses were saved, but the despot made off with Richard's treasure. Richard pursued and captured Isaac, threw him into a dungeon, and sent Joan and Berengaria on to Acre.
Joan was Richard's favourite sister, but he was not above using her as a bargaining chip in his political schemes. He even suggested marrying her to Saladin
's brother, Al-Adil
, and making them joint rulers of Jerusalem. This plan fell apart when Joan refused to marry a Muslim and Al-Adil refused to marry a Christian. King Philip II of France
also expressed some interest in marrying her, but this scheme, too, failed (possibly on grounds of affinity, since Philip's father Louis VII
had formerly been married to her mother).
, to Raymond VI of Toulouse
, with Quercy
and the Agenais
as her dowry. She was the mother of his successor Raymond VII of Toulouse
, and a daughter, Mary (or Wilhelmina) born in 1198, who married Berald of Elbine, Prince of Orange.
This new husband treated her none too gently, however, and Joan came to fear him and his knights. In 1199, while pregnant with a third child, Joan was left alone to face a rebellion in which the lords of Saint-Félix-de-Caraman
were prominent. She laid siege to their castle at les Cassès but was menaced by treachery. Escaping this threat, Joan travelled northwards, hoping for her brother's protection, but found him dead at Château de Chalus-Chabrol
. She then fled to her mother Queen Eleanor
's court at Rouen
, where she was offered refuge and care.
and was veiled a nun on her deathbed. Her son lived just long enough to be baptised (he was named Richard). Joan was thirty-three years old. She was buried at Fontevrault Abbey, and fifty years later her son Raymond VII would be interred next to her.
Joan's effigy was originally shown kneeling at the head of her father's tomb with her hands clasped and head bent in an attitude of devotion which was expressed on her face. Her son Raymond was buried beside her and his effigy knelt facing hers. Unfortunately both effigies were destroyed during the revolution.
wrote a fictionalized account of Joan's life, beginning with the death of her first husband, in the book My Lord Brother the Lionheart.
In the 1965 Doctor Who
serial The Crusade
, Joan is played by Jean Marsh
; the story includes Richard's attempt to marry Joan to Saladin
's brother Saphadin
.
Joan was portrayed by Joanne Stevens (as a girl) and Christina Greatrex (as an adult) in the 1978 BBC
TV series The Devil's Crown
, which dramatised the reigns of her father and brothers.
Joan's journey to Sicily to be married to William is depicted in the mystery "A Murderous Procession" by historical writer Ariana Franklin.
Joan appears in Sharon Penman's novel "Devil's Brood".
Joan is the subject of Susan Coventry's Young Adult novel, The Queen's Daughter, pub. 2010.
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and his queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
, Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
.
Joan was a younger maternal half-sister of Marie de Champagne
Marie de Champagne
Marie of France , Countess of Champagne was the elder daughter of Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Family :Marie's younger sister was Alix of France....
and Alix of France
Alix of France
Alix of France was the second daughter born to King Louis VII of France and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Childhood :...
. She was a younger sister of William IX, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King
Henry the Young King
Henry, known as the Young King was the second of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine but the first to survive infancy. He was officially King of England; Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine.-Early life:Little is known of the young prince Henry before the events...
, Matilda, Duchess of Saxony, Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage with the heiress Constance. Geoffrey was the fourth son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.-Family:He was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de...
and Leonora of Aquitaine. She was also an older sister of John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
.
Queen consort of Sicily
Joan was born at Château d'AngersChâteau d'Angers
The Château d'Angers is a fortress style château located in the Loire Valley that is home of the Apocalypse Tapestry.- Building description :...
in Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, and spent her youth at her mother's courts at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
and Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
. In 1176, William II of Sicily
William II of Sicily
William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
sent ambassadors to the English court to ask for Joan's hand in marriage. The betrothal was confirmed on 20 May and on 27 August Joan set sail for Sicily, escorted by John of Oxford
John of Oxford
John of Oxford was a medieval Bishop of Norwich.John's father was Henry of Oxford, sheriff of Oxford. He was a royal clerk and represented King Henry II at a diet held in May of 1165 at Würzburg that dealt with the issue of the Antipope Paschal III. Some reports held that John supported the...
, the bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
and her uncle, Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. In Saint Gilles
Saint-Gilles
Saint-Gilles is the name of several places, most of them named after Saint Giles.-Belgium:* Saint-Gilles is the French name for a municipality in the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region...
, her entourage was met by representatives of the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
: Alfano, Archbishop of Capua
Alfano, Archbishop of Capua
Alfanus of Camerota was the Archbishop of Capua from 1158 until his death around 1180. He was a very close friend to Pope Alexander III.In 1163, the Pope wrote Alfanus to inform him of a plot against King William I of Sicily...
, and Richard Palmer, Bishop of Syracuse.
After a hazardous voyage, Joan arrived safely, and on 13 February 1177, she married William II of Sicily
William II of Sicily
William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
and was crowned Queen of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
at Palermo Cathedral. They had one son, Bohemond
Bohemond, Duke of Apulia
Bohemond or Boamund is the only recorded son of William II of Sicily and his wife Joanna of England.According to Robert of Torigni, in Normandy, he was born in 1182 and created duke of Apulia...
, born in 1181 and who died in infancy. Following William's death in 1189, she was kept a prisoner by the new king, Tancred of Sicily
Tancred of Sicily
Tancred was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia, the eldest son of King Roger II, and of Emma, daughter of Achard II, Count of Lecce...
.
Third Crusade
Finally, her brother Richard I of EnglandRichard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
arrived in Italy in 1190, on the way to the Holy Land. He demanded her return, along with every penny of her dowry. When Tancred balked at these demands, Richard seized a monastery and the castle of La Bagnara. He decided to spend the winter in Italy and attacked and subdued the city of Messina. Finally, Tancred agreed to the terms and sent Joan's dowry. In March 1191 Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
arrived in Messina with Richard's bride, Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre was Queen of the English as the wife of King Richard I of England. She was the eldest daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. As is the case with many of the medieval queens consort of the Kingdom of England, relatively little is known of her life...
.
Eleanor returned to England, leaving Berengaria in Joan's care. Richard decided to postpone his wedding, put his sister and bride on a ship, and set sail. Two days later the fleet was hit by a fierce storm, destroying several ships and blowing Joan and Berengaria's ship off course. Richard landed safely in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, but they were stranded near Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The self-appointed despot of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus was about to capture them when Richard's fleet suddenly appeared. The princesses were saved, but the despot made off with Richard's treasure. Richard pursued and captured Isaac, threw him into a dungeon, and sent Joan and Berengaria on to Acre.
Joan was Richard's favourite sister, but he was not above using her as a bargaining chip in his political schemes. He even suggested marrying her to Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's brother, Al-Adil
Al-Adil I
Al-Adil I was an Ayyubid-Egyptian general and ruler of Kurdish descent. From his honorific "Sayf al-Din" he was sometimes known to the Frankish crusaders as "Saphadin".- Life :...
, and making them joint rulers of Jerusalem. This plan fell apart when Joan refused to marry a Muslim and Al-Adil refused to marry a Christian. King Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
also expressed some interest in marrying her, but this scheme, too, failed (possibly on grounds of affinity, since Philip's father Louis VII
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
had formerly been married to her mother).
Countess of Toulouse
Joan was married in October 1196, at RouenRouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, to Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI was count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.-Early life:...
, with Quercy
Quercy
Quercy is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne....
and the Agenais
Agenais
Agenais, or Agenois, was a province of France located in southwest France south of Périgord.In ancient Gaul the region was the country of the Nitiobroges with Aginnum for their capital, which in the fourth century was the Civitas Agennensium, which was a part of Aquitania Secunda and which formed...
as her dowry. She was the mother of his successor Raymond VII of Toulouse
Raymond VII of Toulouse
Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death. He was the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Joan of England...
, and a daughter, Mary (or Wilhelmina) born in 1198, who married Berald of Elbine, Prince of Orange.
This new husband treated her none too gently, however, and Joan came to fear him and his knights. In 1199, while pregnant with a third child, Joan was left alone to face a rebellion in which the lords of Saint-Félix-de-Caraman
Saint-Félix-Lauragais
Saint-Félix-Lauragais is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-History:The village was previously called Saint-Félix-de-Caraman or Carmaing...
were prominent. She laid siege to their castle at les Cassès but was menaced by treachery. Escaping this threat, Joan travelled northwards, hoping for her brother's protection, but found him dead at Château de Chalus-Chabrol
Château de Chalus-Chabrol
The Château de Chalus-Chabrol is a castle in the commune of Châlus in the département of Haute-Vienne, France.The castle dominates the town of Châlus...
. She then fled to her mother Queen Eleanor
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
's court at Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, where she was offered refuge and care.
Death and Burial
Joan asked to be admitted to Fontevrault Abbey, an unusual request for a married, pregnant woman, but this request was granted. She died in childbirthChildbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
and was veiled a nun on her deathbed. Her son lived just long enough to be baptised (he was named Richard). Joan was thirty-three years old. She was buried at Fontevrault Abbey, and fifty years later her son Raymond VII would be interred next to her.
Joan's effigy was originally shown kneeling at the head of her father's tomb with her hands clasped and head bent in an attitude of devotion which was expressed on her face. Her son Raymond was buried beside her and his effigy knelt facing hers. Unfortunately both effigies were destroyed during the revolution.
Depictions in fiction
The Plantagenet romance novelist Molly Costain HaycraftMolly Costain Haycraft
Molly Costain Haycraft is a Canadian author. She was born in Toronto, Canada, and spent her childhood in Philadelphia, where her father, the well-known novelist Thomas B. Costain, was an editor for The Saturday Evening Post. She is the author of several novels about women in English royal history...
wrote a fictionalized account of Joan's life, beginning with the death of her first husband, in the book My Lord Brother the Lionheart.
In the 1965 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial The Crusade
The Crusade (Doctor Who)
The Crusade is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from March 27 to April 17, 1965. The story is set in Palestine, near Jerusalem, during the Third Crusade.-Plot:...
, Joan is played by Jean Marsh
Jean Marsh
Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
; the story includes Richard's attempt to marry Joan to Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's brother Saphadin
Al-Adil I
Al-Adil I was an Ayyubid-Egyptian general and ruler of Kurdish descent. From his honorific "Sayf al-Din" he was sometimes known to the Frankish crusaders as "Saphadin".- Life :...
.
Joan was portrayed by Joanne Stevens (as a girl) and Christina Greatrex (as an adult) in the 1978 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV series The Devil's Crown
The Devil's Crown
The Devil's Crown was a BBC television series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard I and John....
, which dramatised the reigns of her father and brothers.
Joan's journey to Sicily to be married to William is depicted in the mystery "A Murderous Procession" by historical writer Ariana Franklin.
Joan appears in Sharon Penman's novel "Devil's Brood".
Joan is the subject of Susan Coventry's Young Adult novel, The Queen's Daughter, pub. 2010.