Jeanne of France, Queen of France, Saint Joan of Valois

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Jeanne of France, Queen of France, Saint Joan of Valois; Credit – Wikipedia

Born April 23, 1464, in Nogent-le-Roi, County of Dreux, now in France, Jeanne of France, Queen of France, known in the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Joan of Valois, was the first of the three wives of King Louis XII of France. She was the third of the three daughters and the fourth of the eight children of King Louis XI of France and his second wife Charlotte of Savoy. Jeanne’s father Louis XI decided to play her marriage card early. On May 19, 1464, shortly after Jeanne’s baptism, she was betrothed to her second cousin, two-year-old Louis of Orléans (the future King Louis XII of France), son of Charles, Duke of Orléans and Maria of Cleves.

Jeanne had seven siblings but her elder sister Anne and her younger brother Charles were her only siblings to survive childhood:

Jeanne’s sister Anne; Credit – Wikipedia

For the first five years of her life, Jeanne lived at the Chateau d’Amboise in Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France, on the Loire River. She was often ill and probably had a spinal curvature as she had a hump on her back, and walked with a limp. In 1469, Jeanne and her sister Anne were placed in the home of François de Linières, a distant cousin of their father, and his wife Anne de Culan. The couple did not have children and became adoptive parents of the two sisters. In the home of François and his wife Anne, Jeanne and her sister learned reading, writing and mathematics, drawing and painting, embroidery tapestry, and lute playing.

François and his wife Anne were devout Catholics and instilled a deep and solid faith in the two sisters. In 1471, King Louis XI ordered the saying of the prayer Ave Maria (Hail Mary) for peace. Jeanne deeply appreciated this prayer and developed a special affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary. She would later write that during her childhood she received a prophecy from the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Before your death, you will found a religious order in my honor. In doing so, you will give me great pleasure and you will do me a service.”

King Louis XII of France, previously Duke of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 8, 1476, twelve-year-old Jeanne married her betrothed, fourteen-year-old Louis, now Duke of Orléans, having succeeded his father in 1465. This marriage became quite political because it could secure the French succession due to the ill health of King Louis XI’s only son and heir, the future King Charles VIII of France. Although his descent from the French ruling line was somewhat distant, Louis was aware of his proximity to the throne should the main Valois line become extinct. Louis, Duke of Orléans was not pleased about marrying his second cousin, whom he considered deformed  The marriage was unhappy, the couple lived apart, and there were no children.

Jeanne’s brother King Charles VIII of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Louis XI died in 1483, leaving his 13-year-old son to succeed him as King Charles VIII of France. Louis of Orléans was eager to annul his marriage with Jeanne as it now lacked dynastic importance due to the presumption that King Charles VIII would provide his own heirs. Louis’ request to annul his marriage to Jeanne and marry Anne of Brittany, the heiress of the Duchy of Brittany, was declined by the pope. Nevertheless, Louis of Orléans unsuccessfully attempted to join Charles VIII’s sister Anne as one of Charles’ regents in 1484, ending in Anne’s arrest of Louis. During Louis’ captivity, Charles VIII married Anne, Duchess of Brittany, by force. Louis was pardoned by Charles VIII in 1491 and joined the king on his failed Italian campaigns.

King Charles VIII died unexpectedly in 1498. Although he and Anne of Brittany had had several children, none survived him, allowing Louis of Orléans’ succession as King Louis XII of France. Eager to gain control of Anne of Brittany’s funds and territories, Louis again attempted to annul his marriage to Jeanne. Unable to prove with any documented evidence his close relation to Jeanne (they were second cousins) or his young age at the time of their marriage, Louis XII claimed that the marriage was unconsummated due to witchcraft and a deformity on Jeanne’s part. Although Jeanne fought admirably to save her reputation, on December 15, 1498, Pope Alexander VI granted the annulment based on Louis and Jeanne having been forced into the marriage by Jeanne’s father. Louis XII married Anne of Brittany and although Anne had nine pregnancies, only two children survived childbirth. After Anne of Brittany’s death, Louis XII married Mary Tudor, the sister of King Henry VIII of England but Louis died three months later.

Annunciation (c. 1472–1475) is thought to be Leonardo da Vinci’s earliest complete work; Credit – Wikipedia

After the annulment ended her marriage, Jeanne was made Duchess of Berry and retired to Bourges, the capital of the Duchy of Berry, saying she would pray for her former husband. Soon, Jeanne confided to her confessor her call to the religious life. She began to make plans for the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a new enclosed religious order of contemplative nuns in honor of the Annunciation – the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive a child and become the mother of Jesus.

Jeanne succeeded in founding a new religious order in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rule of Life she wrote for her new community is entitled The Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin, the imitation of which she proposed as the goal for the members of the order. The Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was confirmed by Pope Alexander VI. On October 8, 1502, the first five members of the order received the veil. Jeanne took her solemn vows on June 4, 1503, receiving the name Sister Gabriela Maria.

Chapel in the former Convent of the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bourges, France that holds the empty sarcophagus of Saint Joan of Valois; Credit – http://www.anuncjatki.pl/eng/history.php

Jeanne, aged 40, died on February 4, 1505, in Bourges, Duchy of Berry, now in France, and was buried in the chapel of the convent she founded in Bourges. On May 27, 1562, during the sack of Bourges by the Huguenots, Jeanne’s tomb was desecrated and her remains were burned.  Soon after her death, miracles and healings attributed to her were said to have occurred. The cause for her canonization was begun in 1631 and Pope Benedict XIV beatified her on April 21, 1742. Jeanne was canonized as a saint on May 28, 1950, by Pope Pius XII. Her feast day is February 4. The nuns of the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary still maintain their way of life in four convents in France and convents in Belgium, Costa Rica, and Poland.

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