Joan II (Naples)
Joan II (* July 25, 1373 in Naples ; † February 2, 1435 ibid) was Queen of Naples and titular queen of Jerusalem and Hungary from the house of Anjou .
Life
Johanna was the daughter of King Charles III. of Naples and Margaret of Durazzo . She was in 1401 with Duke Wilhelm of Austria (1370-1406), the son of Leopold III. married from Austria . After the death of her brother Ladislaus in 1414, she succeeded him on the throne in Naples. She had always led a very revealing life, and after the death of Wilhelm she openly took the 26-year-old Pandolfo Alopo as her lover, whom she made the Seneschal of the Kingdom. He and the condottiere Muzio Attendolo Sforza ruled her completely, while the barons of the kingdom wanted her to have a husband at her side who should be strong enough to break the power of their favorites but who did not want to become king himself. The choice fell on James II of La Marche (1370–1438), the wedding was celebrated in 1415. However, Jacob made himself king, had Alopo killed, Sforza imprisoned and kept his wife almost in isolation, which in turn led to reactions from the barons, who forced Jacob to release Sforza, to renounce his kingship and finally to leave the country.
Shortly thereafter, Johanna sent Sforza to restore her power in Rome , where the Neapolitans had been driven out after Ladislaus' death. Sforza invaded the city and forced the condottiere Braccio da Montone , who was defending Rome on behalf of the Pope , to withdraw (1416). But when Oddo Colonna was elected Pope as Martin V in 1417 , he allied himself with Johanna, who in turn promised to give up Rome and bring Sforza back to Naples. The latter found himself now without influence with the queen, who was now completely dominated by her new lover Giovanni (Sergianni) Caracciolo . Hoping to restore his position and destroy Caracciolo, Sforza promoted the claims of Ludwig III. von Anjou , who wanted to be Joan's successor after her death, which was also approved by the Pope. Due to Caracciolo's influence, however, Johanna refused to adopt Ludwig, instead she called on Alfonso V of Aragon , whom she promised the inheritance for and adopted him in 1420. The result of this diplomacy was a war between Johanna and Alfons on the one hand and Ludwig and Sforza on the other. The latter had the support of the Pope. The hostilities ended in 1422 with the victory of the monarchs and a peace agreement. Disagreements between the Aragonese and Neapolitans then led to Caracciolo being arrested. Johanna, who feared for her safety, then asked Sforza for help. This brought her with difficulty to Aversa , where she adopted Ludwig von Anjou in 1423 in place of Alfons, who she thought was ungrateful. Sforza drowned shortly thereafter, and when Alfons returned to Spain, leaving only a small crew in Naples, Anjou managed to recapture the city with the help of a Genoese fleet.
Peace in the kingdom lasted for a few years until Caracciolo was murdered by his enemies in 1432 after a dispute with the queen. Internal unrest broke out, Gian Antonio Orsini , Prince of Taranto , revolted against Johanna in Apulia . Ludwig von Anjou died in 1434 during a campaign against the rebels. Johanna herself died on February 2, 1435 after she had named Ludwig's brother René as her successor. With this double succession arrangement, she was responsible for the bloody disputes that were waged over her inheritance after her death.
literature
- A. von Platen: Storia del reame di Napoli dal 1414 al 1423 . 1864.
- C. Cipolla: Storia della signoria Italiana : 1881, with the original sources
- Alan Ryder: Giovanna II d'Angiò. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 55: Ginammi – Giovanni da Crema. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000, pp. 477-486.
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Ladislaus |
Queen of Naples 1414–1435 |
René I. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Joan II |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Johanna of Anjou |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Queen of Naples and Titular Queen of Jerusalem |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 25, 1373 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Naples |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 2, 1435 |
| Place of death | Naples |