Joan II, Countess of Burgundy

Joan II, Countess of Burgundy (French: Jeanne de Bourgogne) (15 January 1292 – 21 January 1330), also known Joan II, Countess Palatine of Burgundy, was the eldest daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, and his wife Mahaut, Countess of Artois. She was married to Philip V of France, the second son of King Philip IV of France, in 1307. Joan bore him at least seven children (see below), of whom only four daughters survived.

Biography

In the beginning of 1314, Joan's sister Blanche and her sister-in-law Margaret were convicted of adultery with two knights, upon the testimony of their sister-in-law, Isabella - the Tour de Nesle Affair. Joan was thought to have known of the affairs, and was placed under house arrest at Dourdan as punishment. She continued to protest her innocence, as did her husband, who had refused to repudiate her, and by 1315 - through the influence of her mother and husband - her name had been cleared by the Paris Parlement, and she was allowed to return to court.^[1]

With the death of her nephew by marriage, King John I of France, her husband became King Philip V of France; Joan became queen consort. She was crowned with her husband at Reims on 9 January 1317.

After her acquittal and return to the royal court, Joan and Philip produced two more children; neither survived childhood.

Her father, the Count of Burgundy, died in 1302, and his titles were inherited by his only legitimate son, Robert. Upon Robert's death in 1315, the County of Burgundy was inherited by Joan. In 1329, she inherited her mother's County of Artois.

After her husband's death, Joan lived in her own domains. She died at Roye-en-Artois, on 21 January 1330, and was buried in Saint-Denis beside her husband. Her titles were inherited by her eldest daughter, Joan III, who had married Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy, in 1318. With Joan II's death, the County and Duchy of Burgundy became united through this marriage. The Counties of Burgundy and Artois were eventually inherited by her younger daughter Margaret in 1361.

Joan left provision in her will for the founding of a college in Paris; it was named Université de Bourgogne, "Burgundy University."

Issue

With Philip V of France:

1. Joan (1308–1349). Countess of Burgundy and Artois in her own right and consort of Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy. The County and Duchy of Burgundy were united due to their marriage.
2. Marguerite (1310–1382). Consort of Louis I of Flanders. Countess of Burgundy and Artois in her own right.
3. Isabelle (c. 1312 – April 1348). Consort to Guigues VIII de La Tour du Pin, Dauphin de Viennois.
4. Philip (1313 – March 1321).
5. Blanche (1314–1358), a nun.
6. Louis (1316 – 18 February 1317).
7. A daughter (b. and d. 1322).

Ancestry

See also

• Joan of Burgundy (disambiguation)

References