Joan of France (1351–1371)

{{Infobox royalty

|name= Joan of France

|title=

|image= Trojice Saint Denis.jpg

|caption= Joan with her mother, Blanche of Navarre, and Saint Louis.

|spouse=

|house= Valois

|father= Philip VI of France

|mother= Blanche of Navarre

|birth_date= May 1351

|death_date= {{death date and age|1371|9|16|1351|5|df=y}}

|death_place= Béziers, France

|place of burial= Basilica of St Denis, Saint-Denis, France

}}

Joan of France (May 1351 – 16 September 1371), also known as Blanche, was the only child of Philip VI of France and his second wife Blanche of Navarre. Joan was born nine months after her father's death.

Life

Joan's maternal grandparents were Philip III of Navarre and Joan II of Navarre. Her paternal grandparents were Charles of Valois and Margaret of Naples.

Joan had two half-brothers from her father's first marriage to Joan the Lame: John II of France and Philip of Valois, Duke of Orléans. After the death of Philip, Blanche retired to Neaufles-Saint-Martin near Gisors in Normandy.

In 1370, Joan was betrothed to Infante John, Duke of Girona, son and heir of Peter IV of Aragon. The marriage contract was signed 16 July 1370. The following year Joan departed from France and set off to marry John in Aragon. However, Joan died on 16 September 1371 in Béziers,{{Cite book |last=Pastrnak |first=Patrik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKDEEAAAQBAJ&dq=Joan+of+France+%281351%E2%80%931371%29&pg=PT268 |title=Dynasty in Motion: Wedding Journeys in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe |date=2023-07-28 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-91707-9 |language=en}} whilst travelling to meet her future husband.{{Cite book |last1=Froissart |first1=Jean |title=Chroniques de Froissart: 1364-1370 |last2=Kervyn de Lettenhove |first2=Joseph Marie Bruno Constantin |publisher=Victor Devaux & Co |year=1869 |location=Brussels |pages=547 |language=fr}} He accused the midwife Bonanada of having caused her death by use of sorcery.[http://dbd.cat/fitxa_biografies.php?id=443 Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones: Bonanada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408190152/http://www.dbd.cat/fitxa_biografies.php?id=443|date=2019-04-08}}

Joan's mother died 5 October 1398, twenty-seven years after her daughter. They are buried together in the Basilica of St Denis,{{Cite book |last=Keane |first=Marguerite |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7stDAAAQBAJ&q=blanche&pg=PA258 |title=Material Culture and Queenship in 14th-century France: The Testament of Blanche of Navarre (1331-1398) |date=2016-05-18 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-31883-0 |pages=32 |language=en}} the necropolis of the Kings of France, north of Paris.