Jeanne de France was to be the only
surviving child of her parents, Louis of France and Margaret of
Burgundy. Louis had become King of Navarre on the death of his mother in
1305 and was married to Margaret later in the same year, when Louis was
16 years old and Margaret was about 15.
Louis was Dauphin of France, the eldest
of 3 surviving sons of Philip IV le Bel, king of France and Navarre, and
of Jeanne I, queen of France and de jure queen of Navarre. Louis’
sister, Isabella, married Edward II of England. His brothers, Philip and
Charles, were married to 2 sisters, Blanche and Joan of Burgundy, who
were also cousins to Margaret, being the daughters of her uncle Otto IV,
Count of Burgundy.
In 1314 a scandal rocked the French
monarchy to its very core, leaving a question mark over Jeanne’s
legitimacy that is still there today. The
Tour de Neslé Affair
saw 2-year-old Jeanne’s mother, Margaret, convicted of adultery, and
imprisoned in the Chateau-Gaillard for the rest of her life. Margaret’s
cousin and sister-in-law, Blanche, was convicted alongside her. Although
Blanche’s sister, Joan, with the support of her husband Philip, was
cleared of the charges, she was held under house arrest for a short time
as it was believed she knew of the adulterous liaisons of her
sisters-in-law.
The 2 knights in question, the D’Aunay
brothers, were tortured and castrated before being brutally executed by
being ‘broken on the wheel’ and decapitated. How much Jeanne would have known of these
events is uncertain. Hopefully she was shielded from events in the
royal nursery, but it is not inconceivable that she was treated
differently after the discovery of her mother’s adultery. Margaret’s
betrayal meant Jeanne’s legitimacy was now in question.
However, events were to change again
within in months. In November, 1314, Jeanne’s grandfather Philip IV died
and her father succeeded to the French throne as King Louis X. Louis
was now desperate to produce a male heir and with the papacy dragging
its heels on his divorce from Jeanne’s mother, it’s possible he took
matters into his own hands. Whether it was from natural causes after her
rough treatment – or, more likely, strangulation on Louis’ orders –
Margaret died shortly after Louis’ accession.
Louis then married Clementia of Hungary
and the couple were crowned jointly at Reims in August 1315. Nothing is
recorded of the relationship between Jeanne and her stepmother, or of
how Jeanne’s status changed as the daughter of the King. However, doubts
over Jeanne’s legitimacy must still have been at the forefront of
people’s minds as Louis X, on his deathbed in June 1316, made a point
of stating that Jeanne was his legitimate daughter. Clementia was
pregnant at the time of Louis’ death, after a particularly strenuous
game of tennis; their son John the Posthumous was born 5 months later
and died just 5 days after that, causing a succession crisis. (Read more.)
3 comments:
Married at 6 ... St Thomas argues marriage can only take place validly at puberty, stylised as 14/12 line.
Sure the ceremony when she was six was not canonically speaking an engagement, an espousal? THAT could take place at 7 (either sex), with consent of parents.
The marriage was in name only and could be annulled at any time before the bride reached puberty and the marriage was consummated.
Thank you!
I thought as much.
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