Joan II of Navarre

Joan II of Navarre (January 28, 1311, Conflans, France - October 6, 1349, Bréval) was queen of Navarre between 1328 and 1349.

Early years of life

Juana was born in the castle of Conflans, France, on January 28, 1311, the daughter of King Louis I of Navarre and X of France, called The Obstinate, and his first wife, Burgundy Daisy. On the death of this and his half brother Juan I, she was excluded from the succession of both kingdoms, in favor of her uncle Felipe V of France, who assumed the crown of both kingdoms, due to the situation caused by her age (she was six years old).), and in doubts about his legitimacy due to the adultery committed by his mother. This accession to the throne was ratified in the States General of Paris in February 1317, in which the succession of the French crown to women was prohibited. However, she did not exclude her from reigning over Navarre, although her inheritance over the Pyrenean kingdom would take two reigns to be recognized.

Death in 1322 Felipe V of France and II of Navarre, he was succeeded by his other brother, also Juana's uncle, who would assume the kingdom as Carlos I of Navarre and IV of France. French succession was in dispute.

Access to the throne of Navarre

In Navarre, the situation was used to break away from the French crown. In March 1328, knights and representatives of the towns agreed in Puente la Reina not to act separately in the succession of the kingdom. They also dismissed the governor of King Carlos, Pedro Ramón de Rabastens and appointed two regents: Juan Corbarán de Lehet and Juan Martínez de Medrano; and they agreed to name Juana, daughter of Louis X, and her husband Felipe de Évreux to be kings of Navarre.

On the other hand, the Great Council of Saint-Germain-en-Laye presided over by Felipe VI of France, already king, agreed to recognize the rights of Juana and Felipe to the Navarrese throne. In Navarra, before this, the regents convened Cortes for May 1 in which Juana and Felipe were recognized as kings and summoned them to come to the kingdom to be sworn in. In July the couple reached an agreement with Felipe VI: he recognized them as kings of Navarre in exchange for their final resignation of the kingdom of France, and the counties of Champagne and Brie, in exchange for Angoulême and Mortain. Finally, in February 1329 they entered Navarre, took jurisdiction over the kingdom and were sworn in in Pamplona on March 5, thus becoming Juana II and Felipe III.

Characteristics of the reign

Juana and Felipe, with numerous possessions in France, left Navarre three months after being sworn in as kings, and Felipe, called the Nobleman, only returned in 1343 to lead the troops Navarrese who had to participate in the crusade against Algeciras in which he lost his life. His government, exercised from France and through French lieutenants, stood out for:

• the Amejoramiento del Fuero General Navarro, adding thirty-four chapters with legal precepts to correct the provisions, trying to consolidate the real power against the nobility. For this reform the king heard the advice of the main civil and religious dignity of the kingdom of Navarre, and the improvements were approved in the Courts of Larrasoaña.
• To the same end, they favored the urban bourgeoisie, including their delegates in the Courts.
• They sought various administrative improvements, updating the registers and making fiscality more efficient.
• Creation of some governing bodies, such as the Royal Council that collaborated with the king on legislative and judicial tasks, the Cort or higher court of justice.

Society of the time

Seal of Queen Joan preserved in the National Library of Paris.

• At this time the bourgeoisie begins to take strength, which makes the councils powerful, but at the same time puts them against outsiders, including in this group Jews, Moors, etc.
• It is a society open to France, both for the years united under the same crown and for the Camino de Santiago, which enters Spain along the Navarre border.
• Between the years 1339 and 1344 the Colegiata of Santa Maria de Roncesvalles, the first purely Gothic building on the peninsula, which had been consecrated in 1219.
• In 1349 the Black Peste that runs through Europe, especially affects the Navarre Jewish quarters causing countless victims.
• Crime in Navarre, between 1328-1349, was severely punished by justice. In those 20 years, and for a population of 53,000 inhabitants in 1350, 1636 offences were recorded, of which approximately 50 per cent were violent, such as homicide or assault, and with a particularity: the outstanding weight of theft.
• From this reign comes the first testimony about the ball game, corresponding to the construction of a boarding in the cloister of the Sundays of Pamplona so that the king could see the game “to the palm”.

Persecution of the Jews

It began after the death of Carlos I, before the arrival of the kings from Paris. It was a reflection of the existing persecutions in France, and they were carefully orchestrated by a league of various councils. Given the rumors, the aljamas prepared to defend themselves: Estella, Tudela, Pamplona and Sangüesa reinforced the garrison, but these precautions did not prevent the outbreak of the revolt, spurred on by Fray Pedro de Ollogoyen, and from March 1, 1328 the Jews de Artajona, Ribaforada, Buñuel, Cortes... denounced the persecution that some were suffering. In Estella, Viana, Villafranca, Puente la Reina, Funes and San Adrián numerous Jews were murdered, many others fleeing to Aragon where King Alfonso IV protected them.

The governor tried to contain the revolt and the regents themselves came with servants and other men-at-arms in defense of the Tudelano Jews, who were being massacred.

In April 1329, the kings, already in Pamplona, appointed a special court made up of Marshal Juan de Rame, the knight Guiralt Doignon and Canon Vast, to discover and punish the perpetrators of the assaults. The court demonstrated that the perpetrators of the massacres had not been the shepherds, accused by some, but "people of the kingdom." Towns and villages and individuals were ordered to return everything stolen from the Jews, and sixty people of various social classes and professions were imprisoned, although they were soon released without bail. Fray Pedro de Ollogoyen, accused of having promoted the persecution, was arrested in Estella and handed over to the Bishop of Pamplona, who locked him up in the episcopal jail. The surviving Jews were not compensated, the amount of the fines went to the state, and the queen inherited the Jews who had died without heirs.

In 1336, the Jews of Navarrería in Pamplona were forced to live in a walled-up aljama.

Wars

• In 1334, a war broke out with Alfonso XI of Castile, which ended with the peace of Fraces in 1335, in which the possession of the monastery of Fitero and that of the castle of Tudejen was recognized.
• After the defeat of the Benimerines in the Battle of the Salado, Felipe III participated in one of the wars against the king of Granada, which led to the taking of Algeciras, dying in Jerez during the fence of this city in 1343.

Death

Sepulchre of Queen John in the Basilica of Saint-Denis

Although she left for France after being sworn in as queen in 1329 and never returned to Navarre, Juana II continued to be queen after her husband's death and continued to attentively attend to the affairs of Navarre by correspondence. Joan finally died of the black plague that ravaged Europe in the castle of Bréval, near Paris, in 1349. At the time of her death, her son Charles II, who was already 17 years old, was declared of legal age..

Offspring

The marriage of Juana and Felipe had occurred when they were six and twelve years old, respectively, and the following had been born:

• Juana de Évreux (1325-1387), religious in the Abbey of Longchamps. On 1329, her parents engaged her in marriage with Pedro IV of Aragon in order to establish an alliance that would ensure peace with Aragon. When he entered as a religious, he renounced all his dynastic rights, and the commitment to Peter passed on January 6, 1336 to his sister Mary.
• Mary of Evreux (1330-1347), married in 1338 to Peter IV of Aragon, when her older sister renounced her rights and commitment to Peter.
• Blanca de Évreux (1331-1398), married in 1349 with Felipe VI of France.
• Charles de Évreux (1332-1387), king of Navarre as Charles II.
• Ines de Évreux (1334-1396), married to Gaston III Febus, Count of Foix and Viscount of Bearne.
• Felipe de Évreux (1336-1363), Count of Longueville.
• Juana de Évreux (1339-1403), also known as Juana the young woman, since her older sister was also called Juana; married to Juan I, Vizconde de Rohan.
• Luis de Évreux (1341-1372). It was Count of Beaumont-le-Roger.

Ancestors