Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples

Joanna of Aragon (also Juana of Aragon; 16 June 1454 – 9 January 1517) was an infanta of the Kingdom of Aragon and second Queen consort of Ferdinand I of Naples.

A high definition picture of her portrait by Raphael is available on the website of the French Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France.

Family

She was born in Barcelona on 16 June 1454, the only daughter of King John II of Aragon and his second spouse, a noble, Juana Enríquez.

She was a younger paternal half-sister of Charles of Viana, Blanca of Navarre and Eleanor of Navarre. She was also a younger sister of Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Queen

On September 14, 1476, Joanna married her paternal first cousin Ferdinand I of Naples. The bride was twenty-two years old and the groom fifty-three.

Ferdinand I was an illegitimate son of Alfonso V of Aragon and his mistress Giraldona Carlino. Alfonso V and her own father John II of Aragon were brothers, both sons of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque.

Joanna and Ferdinand had two children: Joan of Naples (1478 – August 27, 1518), who was queen consort to her nephew Ferdinand II of Naples, and Charles of Naples (1480–1486).

Ferdinand I of Naples died on 25 January 1494 and was succeeded by Alfonso II of Naples, his son from a previous marriage to Isabella of Taranto. Joanna survived him by twenty-three years and continued to live in the court of Naples as a Queen Dowager. She died in Naples in 1517,

Ancestry