Joanna of Pfirt
Encyclopedia
Countess Joanna of Pfirt (1300 – 15 November 1351) was Duchess consort of Austria and a member of the House of Habsburg by marriage. She was the elder daughter of Ulrich III of Pfirt and his wife, Joanna of Burgundy
.
and his wife Guillemette de Neufchatel. Reginald was the son of Hugh III, Count of Burgundy
and his wife Adelaide, Countess Palatine of Burgundy
.
Adelaide was daughter of Otto I, Duke of Merania
and his wife Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy
.
Beatrice was a daughter of Otto I, Count of Burgundy
and his wife Margaret, Countess of Blois
.
Margaret was a daughter of Theobald V, Count of Blois
and Alix of France
.
Alix herself was the daughter of Louis VII of France
and his famous first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine
, who later married Henry II of England
and was mother to two Kings of England, Richard
and John
.
When Ulrich died in 1324, Joanna sold her domains (including Belfort) to Albert II, Duke of Austria
. Ulrich's surviving legacy was his two surviving daughters Joanna and Ursula.
Joanna's mother was however remarried to Rudolf of Baden and produced two more daughters Margaret and Adelaide.
When Albert's brother, Leopold I, Duke of Austria
found out that the late Count of Pfirt's daughter, Joanna was still unmarried and with the lands of Pfirt, Joanna was an attractive party. He had his brother, Albert who had taken away Joanna's inheritance, marry her.
, son of Albert I of Germany
and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol in Vienna
on 26 March 1324.
At first the marriage was not very good. Albert and Joanna's didn't have children for many years into the marriage and Johanna was not as young as she once was so they needed to have children quickly. The couple did have children earlier on in their marriage, but they were all short-lived, they are all buried in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. In total, Albert and Joanna had five short-lived children throughout their marriage. Then Albert had an accident and paralyzed his legs. It seemed impossible after that for Albert and Joanna to ever have surviving children. In 1339, however, when Johanna was in her late thirties, she gave birth to a son and continued to have children.
In total Albert and Joanna had six surviving children:
Joanna was described as wise and prudent . She was said to be politically talented and smart. In 1336, Joanna mediated the peace between the Habsburg
family and the House of Luxembourg
. The Habsburgs later gained possession of Adria
. Through Joanna, Albert and the Habsburgs gained more lands since she was an heiress. Even though there was peace, wars could break out if it promised benefits for Albert and the Habsburgs, whom were growing to be one of the most powerful royal families in Europe. After Albert purchased Carinthia
and Carniola
, he did not need allies anymore.
Joanna had children unusually late. When she was fifty-one, she gave-birth to her final child, a son, Leopold III, Duke of Austria
, and died soon after . She is buried in the Gaming Charterhouse
with her husband and daughter-in-law, Elisabeth of Bohemia
.
Joanna of Burgundy
Joanna of Burgundy was a daughter of Reginald of Burgundy and his wife Guillemette of Neufchatel.She married three times:* With Ulrich II of Pfirt . They had two daughters:** Joanna , married Albert II, Duke of Austria...
.
Family
Joanna's maternal grandparents were Reginald of BurgundyReginald of Burgundy
Reginald of Burgundy was count of Montbéliard from 1282 to 1321. He was a son of Hugh of Chalon , sire of Salins, and his wife Adelaide. He married Guillemette de Neufchatel and they had a daughter, Joanna, who married first Ulrich III, Count of Pfirt and second Rudolf of Baden...
and his wife Guillemette de Neufchatel. Reginald was the son of Hugh III, Count of Burgundy
Hugh III, Count of Burgundy
Hugh III of Chalon, Count of Burgundy , also known as Hugues de Bourgogne, was count of Burgundy by his marriage to countess Adelaide I of Burgundy when he was aged 16, on 1 November 1236. He was the son of John, Count of Chalon and his first wife Mahaud of Burgundy.He and Adelaide had the...
and his wife Adelaide, Countess Palatine of Burgundy
Adelaide, Countess Palatine of Burgundy
Adelaide was countess palatine of Burgundy from 1248 until her death. She was also Countess of Savoy and Bresse through her marriage in 1267 to Philip I, Count of Savoy....
.
Adelaide was daughter of Otto I, Duke of Merania
Otto I, Duke of Merania
Otto I was Duke of Andechs and Merania and was born, in 1180, to Berthold IV von Dießen, Duke of Andechs and Merania, and Agnes of Rochlitz. He was also Otto II, Count Palatine of Burgundy by his marriage to Beatrice II of Burgundy....
and his wife Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy
Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy
Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy was Countess of Burgundy and Duchess consort of Merania. She was a member of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty, the daughter of Count Otto I of Burgundy and Margaret of Blois, thereby a granddaughter of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.She was born in 1191, younger...
.
Beatrice was a daughter of Otto I, Count of Burgundy
Otto I, Count of Burgundy
Otto I was Count of Burgundy from 1190 to his death and briefly Count of Luxembourg from 1196 to 1197...
and his wife Margaret, Countess of Blois
Margaret, Countess of Blois
Margaret of Blois was countess of Blois from 1218 to 1230.She was daughter of Theobald V of Blois and Alix of France...
.
Margaret was a daughter of Theobald V, Count of Blois
Theobald V, Count of Blois
Theobald V of Blois , also known as Theobald the Good , was Count of Blois from 1151 to 1191. He was son of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthia...
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 :...
.
Alix herself was the daughter of Louis VII of France
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...
and his famous first wife, 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...
, who later married Henry II of England
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 was mother to two Kings of England, Richard
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...
and John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
.
Inheritance
When Renaud of Burgundy died in 1322, his daughter, Joanna (Joanna of Pfirt's mother) inherited her father's domains. Joanna and Ulrich had 4 daughters and no sons.When Ulrich died in 1324, Joanna sold her domains (including Belfort) to Albert II, Duke of Austria
Albert II, Duke of Austria
Albert II of Austria , known as the Wise or the Lame, was Duke of Austria.-Life:Albert II was born at Habsburg, the son of Albert I of Germany, Rex Romanorum, and Elisabeth of Tirol...
. Ulrich's surviving legacy was his two surviving daughters Joanna and Ursula.
Joanna's mother was however remarried to Rudolf of Baden and produced two more daughters Margaret and Adelaide.
When Albert's brother, Leopold I, Duke of Austria
Leopold I, Duke of Austria
Leopold I from the House of Habsburg was Duke of Austria and Styria – as co-ruler with his elder brother Frederick the Fair – from 1308 until his death...
found out that the late Count of Pfirt's daughter, Joanna was still unmarried and with the lands of Pfirt, Joanna was an attractive party. He had his brother, Albert who had taken away Joanna's inheritance, marry her.
Marriage
Joanna married Albert II, Duke of AustriaAlbert II, Duke of Austria
Albert II of Austria , known as the Wise or the Lame, was Duke of Austria.-Life:Albert II was born at Habsburg, the son of Albert I of Germany, Rex Romanorum, and Elisabeth of Tirol...
, son of Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...
and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 26 March 1324.
At first the marriage was not very good. Albert and Joanna's didn't have children for many years into the marriage and Johanna was not as young as she once was so they needed to have children quickly. The couple did have children earlier on in their marriage, but they were all short-lived, they are all buried in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. In total, Albert and Joanna had five short-lived children throughout their marriage. Then Albert had an accident and paralyzed his legs. It seemed impossible after that for Albert and Joanna to ever have surviving children. In 1339, however, when Johanna was in her late thirties, she gave birth to a son and continued to have children.
In total Albert and Joanna had six surviving children:
- Rudolf IV of Austria (November 1, 1339, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
– July 27, 1365, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
). Married but line extinct. - Catherine (1342, Vienna – 10 January 1381, Vienna), Abbess of St. Klara in Vienna.
- Margaret (1346, Vienna – 14 January 1366, BrnoBrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
), married:- in PassauPassauPassau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
4 September 1359 Count Meinhard III of Gorizia-TyrolMeinhard III of Gorizia-TyrolMeinhard III was Duke of Upper Bavaria and the last Count of Tyrol from the House of Wittelsbach.Meinhard was the son of Duke Louis V of Bavaria with Countess Margaret of Gorizia-Tyrol and as such also the last descendant of Meinhard I, Count of Gorizia .-Biography:Meinhard III was born in Landshut...
; - in Vienna 1364 Margrave Johann Heinrich of MoraviaJohn Henry, Margrave of MoraviaJohn Henry of Luxembourg, Czech: Jan Jindřich, German: Johann Heinrich , was Count of Tyrol from 1335 to 1341 and Margrave of Moravia from 1349 until his death....
.
- in Passau
- Frederick III of Austria (1347, Vienna – 1362, Vienna). Died unmarried.
- Albert III of Austria (September 9, 1349, Vienna – August 29, 1395, Castle LaxenburgLaxenburgLaxenburg is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, near Vienna.- History :The place is well-known for its castle, Schloss Laxenburg, which, beside Schönbrunn, was the most important summer seat of the Habsburg dynasty....
). - Leopold III (November 1, 1351, Vienna – July 9, 1386, SempachSempachSempach is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:It has retained some traces of its medieval appearance, especially the main gateway, beneath a watch tower, and reached by a bridge over the old moat.About half an hour distant to the north-east, on...
).
Joanna was described as wise and prudent . She was said to be politically talented and smart. In 1336, Joanna mediated the peace between the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
family and the House of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
. The Habsburgs later gained possession of Adria
Adria
Adria is a town and comune in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po....
. Through Joanna, Albert and the Habsburgs gained more lands since she was an heiress. Even though there was peace, wars could break out if it promised benefits for Albert and the Habsburgs, whom were growing to be one of the most powerful royal families in Europe. After Albert purchased Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
and Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
, he did not need allies anymore.
Joanna had children unusually late. When she was fifty-one, she gave-birth to her final child, a son, Leopold III, Duke of Austria
Leopold III, Duke of Austria
Duke Leopold III of Austria from the Habsburg family, was Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia in 1365–1386.-Life:...
, and died soon after . She is buried in the Gaming Charterhouse
Gaming Charterhouse
Gaming Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery in Gaming near Scheibbs in the Mostviertel of Lower Austria.The monastery was founded in 1330 by Albert II, Duke of Austria, who intended it as a dynastic burial place. He himself was buried there after his death in 1358, as was his wife Johanna...
with her husband and daughter-in-law, Elisabeth of Bohemia
Elisabeth of Bohemia (1358–1373)
Elisabeth of Bohemia was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Anne of Schweidnitz. She was named after her paternal grandmother Elisabeth of Bohemia ....
.