Giovanna Anjou

NAME GIOVANNA ( JOAN )

LINEAGE ANJOU

NICKNAME THE SAD QUEEN

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Fair hair and dark eyes, nice features, short of stature.

TIME XIII century

PLACES Naples and Avignon

THE FACTS She was born in Naples in 1326 and at the age of 17 she was crowned Queen of Naples by her Grandfather, Roberto d’Anjou. She was considered a loose and dissolute woman. She inherited a flourishing kingdom, however tormented by dynastic troubles. In 1342 Giovanna married Andrea, the brother of Luigi King of Hungary, who died two years later in consequence of a conspiracy, to which perhaps the Queen herself participated in. Her brother in law took his revenge invading Naples. In 1346 she had married her cousin Luigi d’Anjou of Taranto. Because of the invasion she flew to Avignon, a town in south France that she possessed, in 1347 and she sold it to Pope Clemente VI who supported her as an exchange to hold back the Hungarian expansion in Italy. Luigi of Hungary had to leave Naples, called back to Hungary by political riots. So Giovanna could triumphantly go back to her city in 1348. After the death of her second husband, Giovanna got married with James of Aragon. He was perhaps the only man she really loved, but he died very soon in consequence of an illness. Then in the same year she married a skilfull captain, Ottone of Brunswick, to better defend her Reign. She didn’t have any heir and this caused succession problems. Pope Urbano VI excommunicated her because she had backed up the Anti-Pope Clemente VII. Her cousin, Carlo of Durazzo of Taranto, who had been offered the Neapolitan Crown by the Pope, invaded her Reign also because she had appointed as her successor Luigi I d’Anjou, brother of the King of France. Giovanna fell prisoner and Carlo imprisoned her in Muro Lucano, a small town in Southern Italy, and got her strangled in 1382.

THE LEGEND Four husbands, all of them dead in strange circumstances, have hung heavily over her reputation. Was she a victim or a protagonist of medieval history? According to the legend she was an unquenchable and lascivious lover, she used her bed and lovers not only as political arms but above all to satisfy her needs. Some years later the same accuses were directed to her niece Giovanna II , in fact they are often mistakenly confused.
Is it realistic that all the women with a crown were lascivious and cruel? ( It’s up to us to decide ).

PROVERB ‘ To be like Queen Giovanna ‘
This is not a compliment for a woman, the meaning is : ‘loose and dissolute woman ‘.

NAME	GIOVANNA ( JOAN )
LINEAGE	ANJOU
NICKNAME	THE SAD QUEEN
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION	Fair hair and dark eyes, nice features, short of stature.
TIME	XIII century
PLACES	Naples and Avignon
THE FACTS	She was born in Naples in 1326 and at the age of 17 she was crowned Queen of Naples by her Grandfather, Roberto d’Anjou. She was considered a loose and dissolute woman. She inherited a flourishing kingdom, however tormented by dynastic troubles. In 1342 Giovanna married Andrea, the brother of Luigi King of Hungary, who died two years later in consequence of a conspiracy, to which perhaps the Queen herself participated in. Her brother in law took his revenge invading Naples. In 1346 she had married her cousin Luigi d’Anjou of Taranto. Because of the invasion she flew to Avignon, a town in south France that she possessed, in 1347 and she sold it to Pope Clemente VI who supported her as an exchange to hold back the Hungarian expansion in Italy. Luigi of Hungary had to leave Naples, called back to Hungary by political riots. So Giovanna could triumphantly go back to her city in 1348. After the death of her second husband, Giovanna got married with James of Aragon. He was perhaps the only man she really loved, but he died very soon in consequence of an illness. Then in the same year she married a skilfull captain, Ottone of Brunswick, to better defend her Reign. She didn’t have any heir and this caused succession problems. Pope Urbano VI excommunicated her because she had backed up the Anti-Pope Clemente VII. Her cousin, Carlo of Durazzo of Taranto, who had been offered the Neapolitan Crown by the Pope, invaded her Reign also because she had appointed as her successor Luigi I d’Anjou, brother of the King of France. Giovanna fell prisoner and Carlo imprisoned her in Muro Lucano, a small town in Southern Italy, and got her strangled in 1382.
THE LEGEND	Four husbands, all of them dead in strange circumstances, have hung heavily over her reputation. Was she a victim or a protagonist of medieval history? According to the legend she was an unquenchable and lascivious lover, she used her bed and lovers not only as political arms but above all to satisfy her needs. Some years later the same accuses were directed to her niece Giovanna II , in fact they are often mistakenly confused. Is it realistic that all the women with a crown were lascivious and cruel? ( It’s up to us to decide ).
PROVERB	‘ To be like Queen Giovanna ‘ This is not a compliment for a woman, the meaning is : ‘loose and dissolute woman ‘.