Joan of Anjou

Joan of Anjou
Queen consort of Armenia
Spouse	Oshin, King of Armenia Oshin of Korikos
Issue
George of Armenia Maria, Queen of Armenia
House	Capetian House of Anjou
Father	Philip I, Prince of Taranto
Mother	Thamar Angelina Komnene
Died	March 1323

Joan of Anjou (died March 1323) was a daughter of Philip I, Prince of Taranto and his first wife Thamar Angelina Komnene. She was Queen consort of Armenia by her first marriage. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou.

Contents 1 Early life and family 2 Life 3 Ancestry 4 References

Early life and family

Joan was possibly born in about 1297, and was the eldest daughter of five children, having had two older brothers: Charles, Prince of Achaea and Philip, Despot of Romania, and two younger sisters: Margaret, who married Walter VI of Brienne and Blanche, who married Ramon Berenguer of Aragon.

Joan's parents did not have a good relationship, Philip suspected Thamar of acting in her family's interests over his during the two-year conflict that raged between the Angevins and Epirus, despite the fact that she had pawned the remainder of her jewellery to help him pay for the military effort. Distrustful of Thamar, Philip decided to divorce her and in 1309 accused her of having committed adultery. She was forced into confessing that she had had sexual relationships with at least forty of the lords of his court, and that she had formed a particular relationship with Bartolomeo Siginulfo, the Grand Chamberlain of Taranto. Thamar became an outcast, probably never seeing her children again, she either became a nun or was imprisoned by Philip. In either case she died not long afterwards in 1311.

Shortly following her mother's death, Jan acquired a stepmother in Catherine of Valois, who Philip married in July 1313. From this marriage Joan acquired five half-siblings, including Philip II, Prince of Taranto.

Life

In February 1316, Joan married her first husband, Oshin, King of Armenia. Joan was Oshin's third wife, from his first marriage he had had a son Leo. From this marriage she adopted the name Eirene.^[1] The couple were only married for four years, in that time they had one child, a son:

• George (1317-after 1323), died young

On his death on July 20, 1320, Oshin was succeeded by his minor son Leo (sometimes referred to as Leo V). It was believed that Oshin was poisoned ^[2]

Soon after Oshin's death, his cousin Oshin of Korikos became regent. He wished to make himself and his family more secure in Armenia. Steps were taken to make this happen; Oshin married Joan, who was forced into the marriage. Oshin married his daughter Alice off to Joan's stepson Leo. Oshin was also probably responsible for the deaths of King Oshin's sister Princess Isabella of Armenia and two of her sons, in order to remove rival claimants.

Oshin and Joan had one daughter:

• Maria who consecutively married two Armenian Kings of Cilicia, Constantine V and Constantine VI. She had issue.

Joan died in March 1323, she was outlived by her ill-fated second husband.

Six years after Joan's death, Leo reached majority, he took revenge on his regent. Joan's husband and brother-in-law Constantine, Constable of Armenia and Lord of Lampron, and Leo's wife Alice were all murdered on the king's orders, the head of Oshin being sent to the Ilkhan and of Constantine to Al-Nasr Muhammad.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Joan of Anjou

16. Louis VIII of France               8. Charles I of Naples                       17. Blanche of Castile               4. Charles II of Naples                             18. Raymond Berenguer IV of Provence               9. Beatrice of Provence                       19. Beatrice of Savoy               2. Philip I, Prince of Taranto                                   20. Béla IV of Hungary               10. Stephen V of Hungary                       21. Maria Laskarina               5. Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples                             22. Köten               11. Elisabeth the Cuman                       23. Mstislawna               1. Joan of Anjou                                         24. Michael I Komnenos Doukas               12. Michael II Komnenos Doukas                       6. Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas                             26. John Petraliphas               13. Theodora Petraliphaina                       27. Helena               3. Thamar Angelina Komnene                                   28. Andronikos Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos               14. Ioannes Kantakouzenos                       29. Theodora Angelina Palaiologina               7. Anna Kantakouzene                             30. Andronikos Dukas Komnenos Palaiologos               15. Eirene Komnene Palaiologina                       31. Theodora Palaiologina

References

Joan of Anjou Capetian House of Anjou Born: circa. 1297 Died: March 1323
Royal titles
Vacant Title last held by Isabelle of Lusignan	Queen consort of Armenia 1316–1320	Vacant Title next held by Alice of Korikos

Persondata
Name	Joan Of Anjou
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1323
Place of death