Joan (1220 – 25 August 1271) was Countess of Toulouse from 1249 until her death. She was the only child of

Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse Raymond VII (July 1197 – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death. Family and marriages Raymond was born at the Château de Beaucaire, the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse ...

by his first wife Sancha of Aragon, Countess of Toulouse.

Biography

Joan was born at the Castle of Corneto near

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

. In 1225, aged five, Joan was betrothed to Hugh, eldest son and heir of

Hugh X of Lusignan Hugh X de Lusignan, Hugh V of La Marche or Hugh I of Angoulême (c. 1183 – c. 5 June 1249, Angoulême) was Seigneur de Lusignan and Count of La Marche in November 1219 and was Count of Angoulême by marriage. He was the son of Hugh IX ...

and

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

, Countess of Angoulême and Dowager Queen of England. However, the engagement was soon broken. One of the conditions of the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

, signed on 12 April 1229, stipulated that Joan was to be married to

Alphonse, Count of Poitiers Alphonse or Alfonso (11 November 122021 August 1271) was the count of Poitou from 1225 and count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence. Birth and early life Born at P ...

and brother of King Louis IX of France, and a Papal dispensation for their 4th degree of consanguinity is dated on 26 June of that year. After the confirmation of his betrothal, Joan was thereafter brought up at the French royal court. She was thereby not a part of the Occitanian culture, felt no sympathy for the Albigensians and did nothing to prevent the hunt of them issued by the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. The date of the formal marriage is not confirmed; both 1234 and 1241 have been suggested, but the former is considered more likely. The couple had no issue. Joan accompanied her spouse on both the Seventh Crusade in 1249 and the

Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see any ...

in 1270. In 1249, her father died, and she succeeded him as ruler of Toulouse with her spouse as co-ruler. Her mother-in-law installed a governor for them until their return to France. The couple took control over their lands in October 1250, and made their official entrance as Countess and Count of Toulouse in May 1251. After this, they confirmed the governor in his authority and left again. They seldom visited their lands. Joan (who died four days after Alphonse) had attempted to dispose of some of her inherited lands in her will. Joan was the only surviving child and heiress of Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne, and Marquis of Provence, so under Provençal and French law, the lands should have gone to her nearest male relative; however, in this case the closest relative was a female, Philippa de Lomagne (daughter of Marie d'Anduze, in turn eldest daughter of Pierre Bermond VI d'Anduze, eldest son of

Constance of Toulouse Constance of Toulouse was the daughter of Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse and his second wife Beatrice of Béziers. She first married Sancho VII of Navarre in 1195, but they were divorced in 1200. After the annulment she remarried to Peter Bermond ...

, eldest half-sister of Raymond VII). In her will dated 23 June 1270, Joan declared Philippa as her universal heiress. However, her will was invalidated by the Parlement in 1274.Elizabeth M. Hallam: ''Capetian France, 987-1328'', 1980, p. 158. One specific bequest in Alphonse's will, giving his wife's lands in the

Comtat Venaissin The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France. The entire region was an enclav ...

to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, was allowed, and it became a

Papal territory The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, a status that it retained until 1791.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joan Counts of Toulouse 1220 births 1271 deaths 13th-century women rulers Christians of the Seventh Crusade Christians of the Eighth Crusade