Germaine of Foix
| Germaine of Foix | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Queen consort of Aragon, Naples, Sardinia and Sicily | |
| Tenure | 22 March 1505 – 23 January 1516 |
| Queen consort of Navarre | |
| Tenure | 24 August 1512 – 7 June 1515 |
| Born | c. 1488 Foix, France |
| Died | 18 October 1538 (aged 49) Llíria, Spain |
| Burial | Monasterio de San Miguel de los Reyes |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
John, Prince of Girona Isabel of Castile |
| House | House of Foix |
| Father | John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne |
| Mother | Marie of Orléans |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
John, Prince of Girona
Germaine of Foix (1488 – 18 October 1538) was queen consort of Aragon as the second wife of Ferdinand II of Aragon, whom he married in 1505 after the death of his first wife, Isabella I of Castile.
Germaine's father was John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne and son of Queen Eleanor of Navarre. Her mother, Marie of Orléans, was the sister of King Louis XII of France.
Following the death of his wife, Isabella I, Ferdinand had to yield the government of Castile to his son-in-law Phillip of Burgundy (1478–1506), who assumed power in the name of his wife Joanna (1479–1555), Isabella's heiress. Ferdinand objected to Philip's policies and to prevent Philip from gaining Aragon through Joanna, he sought to have a male heir with a new wife. A new male heir would displace Joanna (and by extension her husband) from the line of succession. He negotiated with King Louis XII of France for a marriage, hoping to gain accession to the throne of Navarre. At the Treaty of Blois, Louis agreed to have his niece Germaine of Foix marry Ferdinand; Germaine was Louis' niece (daughter of his sister) and Ferdinand's grandniece (granddaughter of his half-sister). Louis XII also ceded in the treaty his weak claim to the Kingdom of Naples (already controlled by Aragon) and Kingdom of Jerusalem (controlled by neither) to his niece, conditional on a male child being produced. The marriage, between Ferdinand (aged 54) and Germaine (aged 18), took place in March 1506. A short truce and brief alliance between the two kings resulted, despite several wars before and after the Treaty.
In 1506 Philip of Burgundy died and Ferdinand became regent of Castile for his mentally unstable daughter Joanna. Ferdinand and Germaine did have a son, John, Prince of Girona on 3 May 1509, but he died shortly after birth. Despite the use of love potions, they did not have another. If John had lived, then the Crown of Aragon would have split from the Crown of Castile once again (after being semi-unified by Ferdinand and Isabella's marriage). This included Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, and Catalonia in Spain, and the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia in the Italian peninsula and the Tyrrhenian Sea. With Juan's death, both Castile and Aragon would eventually go to Ferdinand and Isabella's daughter Joanna.
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