Joanna I of Naples

Joanna I
Queen Joanna I from the Bibles of Naples.
Queen of Naples
Reign	20 January 1343 – 12 May 1382
Predecessor	Robert
Successor	Charles III
Coronation	28 August 1344 (alone) 27 May 1352 (with Louis I)
Born	March 1328 Naples
Died	27 July 1382 (aged 54) San Fele
Burial	Santa Chiara Church
Spouse	Andrew of Hungary m. 1333 – wid. 1345 Louis, Prince of Taranto m. 1347 – wid. 1362 James IV, titular King of Majorca m. 1363 – wid. 1375 Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen m. 1376 – her death
Issue	Charles Martel, Duke of Calabria Catherine of Taranto Françoise of Taranto
House	House of Anjou
Father	Charles, Duke of Calabria
Mother	Marie of Valois

Joanna I (Italian: Giovanna I; March 1328 – 27 July 1382) was Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 until her death. She also reigned as Princess of Achaea and claimed the crowns of Jerusalem and Sicily. During her long reign she was involved in numerous conflicts both internal and external. She was married four times.

Most sources indicate that she was born in March 1328, although some indicate 1326 as the year of her birth. Joanna was the fourth but eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Calabria (eldest son of King Robert the Wise of Naples), and Marie of Valois (sister of King Philip VI of France). Her two older sisters: Eloisa (January or February 1325 – 27 December 1325) and Maria (April 1326 – 1328), and only brother: Charles Martel (13 April 1327 – 21 April 1327) had predeceased her, so at birth Joanna was the second in line to the throne after her father, who died on 9 November 1328, leaving his wife pregnant with their fifth child, a daughter named Maria, who was born in May 1329. Two years later, on 23 October 1331, Marie of Valois died during a pilgrimage to Bari.

With the death of the Duke of Calabria, King Robert faced the serious problem of his succession (his second son Louis, was already dead in 1310): he had to choose between his eldest granddaughter or his nephews. Because the descendants of his older brother Charles had already been bypassed in favour of himself, Robert appointed Joanna as his successor. As heir presumptive to the throne of Naples, she received homage on 4 November 1330, and was proclaimed Duchess of Calabria on 26 September 1333 and Princess of Salerno on 26 June 1334.