Joan, Duchess of Brittany

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Joanna of Penthievre or Joanna the Lame (in French Jeanne de Penthièvre, Jeanne la Boiteuse) (1319 – 1384) was Reigning Duchess of Brittany (in her own right) together with her consort Charles of Blois between 1341 and 1364. She was also Countess of Penthièvre in her own right.

She was one of the protagonists of the Breton War of Succession. Joanna was the only daughter of Guy of Brittany, count of Penthièvre, and thus niece and an heiress of duke John III.

In 1337, she married Charles of Blois in Paris and in 1341 on the death of John III, the couple assumed the rule of the duchy of Brittany, being supported by most of the local nobility and administration. However, John of Dreux, born from the second marriage of duke Arthur II to Yolande de Montfort, did not agree to let go of his own rights.

The result was the Breton War of Succession, which would end in 1364 with the death of Charles of Blois in battle and the victory of the Montfort branch. During the war, the military successes varied and both claimants held the rule of some parts of the country. Joanna's party was stronger at least about 1345, and possibly they held larger part of the duchy than the rival between the entire 1341-64 period.