Hi my name is Jon and welcome to another edition of History Roadshow.
Joan achieved two firsts in her lifetime, the first was becoming a queen of England
after being widowed, and the second was she would be accused of witchcraft.
Joan was born in Spanish Navarre, but it's been noted
that she was mainly brought up by the French, who came to control the region over time.
Joan's father was Charles the Bad, and he was also partly French.
Her mother was the daughter of the French King John the Good.
At an early age, Joan was moved away to become the third and last wife of John
de Montfort; he was the ruling duke of Brittany.
The only problem was that John was old enough to be her grandfather,
so it inspires nothing in the way of romance between the two.
However, Joan had nine
children with him, and according to accounts, she was said to be fond of her husband.
So let's now delve a little deeper into this extraordinary life of Joan of Navarre.
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In 1398, Henry Bolingbroke, who Richard II had recently exiled, came calling.
Henry, just three years older than Joan, proved the perfect eye candy for him
and his thoughts and gestures were reciprocated later.
In 1399, Henry, now wanting to regain his old stomping grounds,
headed back home and would end up wearing the crown of England.
Later this same year, Joan's husband died, but apart from the act of mourning,
Joan was already raring to go, with only one man at the top of her list.
She would write to the pope asking for a dispensation to remarry,
although she provided no name.
Joan sent word to Henry saying come and get me, when it was approved.
Henry, who didn't need to be asked twice, married Joan by proxy.
The actual marriage would take place the following year.
Henry wanted to make this work,
not just because he truly loved Joan, but as usual, there were always strings attached.
The main one was gaining Brittany's duchy on his side
to thwart any potential invasion from his French enemies.
As for Joan, well, she obviously fell for the rich guy.
It was a double-sided coin
she tossed, England on both sides, and she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
But once news reached the Bretons, they wanted nothing to do with England and removed
Joan from the regency.
She had now no choice but to flee France with her followers.
The Bretons didn't take lightly to this and, in response,
travelled to the south coast of England and burnt down the coastal town of Plymouth.
Things again settled; Henry and Joan married at Winchester cathedral in 1403.
She was now 33, and he 36.
Although the couple were content, the people of England had the exact opposite attitude.
They didn't want another French queen.
But it ended when parliament decided that Joan's followers must leave English shores.
Henry had his hand forced as he sat upon his uneasy throne.
They left, but Joan stayed and continued to amass a small fortune.
Henry and Joan never really spent that much time together.
Joan was content to be free
and easy about her lifestyle, enjoying her wealth and by now having a reasonably relaxing time.
As for Henry, he was constantly struggling to keep at bay his rebellious subjects.
It didn't take him long to remove Richard II's family,
but by now, attention had turned to the new boy on the block Edmund Mortimer,
he was the official heir to the throne, but Henry kept him locked up,
although still a boy he would become a prisoner at Henry's court.
But times were hard, and rebellions were kicking off all over, firstly the northern barons,
but they were soon put to the sword after Henry fought them at Homildon hill in 1402, yet,
they came back for seconds in 1405, this time around Henry executed
the archbishop of York, a man called Scrope, this as you can imagine, didn't go down
well with the people, as for the church well they were decidedly unhappy.
Next up was the Welsh; they began a revolt quickly followed by the Scottish.
By 1408 another uprising in the north of England when the duke of Northumberland
took his opportunity.
Once again, Henry fought and won,
he was knocking them over like skittles, and he felt indestructible by this time.
In 1409 Henry finally overcame all and at last dominated his kingdom.
But the years of trouble had caused much hardship on Henry, and he was becoming ill.
Joan, who had until now sat in the stands
and cheered on her husband, would come to his aid, and she began nursing him.
She once again became the devoted wife and put everything else in her life on hold.
In December at Westminster abbey,
whilst praying at the shrine of Edward the confessor, Henry suddenly had a seizure.
Many thought he had died, but somehow he came around, and recovery seemed possible,
but Henry never fully recovered from this traumatic situation.
He was bedridden and dying.
On 20 March, Henry passed, leaving Joan a widow, with her stepson, and Henry V
would be the new King of England.
After Henry was buried at Canterbury cathedral, Joan
and her two daughters retired to one of her estates.
She hoped to live out the rest of her life in a sense of peace,
but this was not to be the case.
When the hundred years war renewed, this time under Henry V, he decided to remove
the last few followers of Joan; these Bretons were accused of giving information to the enemy.
But worse was to follow, when in 1419, both Joan and her confessor friar Randolph were charged
with bringing about the death of her husband through witchcraft.
The King had brought the charge on the back of ironically her husband's act of 1401
against heretics.
It was introduced to remove the first Protestant groups
within the Catholic Church, particularly against wealthy widows.
But Henry V didn't want to see his stepmother burned at the stake.
Instead, he decided to take her estates and use the money gained to help his expensive
ongoing campaign against France.
Joan was left with nothing; she was placed in Pevensey castle and left to mourn her losses.
Friar Randolph fled England to Guernsey but was recaptured and placed in the Tower of London.
King Henry was not concerned about Randolph, and he suffered no torture or questioning
to confirm his guilt. In 1422, things changed.
Now on his deathbed in the castle of Vincennes in France, Henry V was overcome by guilt.
He realised he had mistreated his stepmother.
He ordered her immediate release and a restoration of her dower.
From this point onward, Joan left the limelight altogether,
and she surrendered her somewhat glorious past for a more tranquil existence.
Watching from a distance, she saw the likes of her sons John, the Wise
duke of Brittany and Arthur III, who became Constable of France as the hundred-year
war wearily continued.
Joan would die in her manor Havering-Atte-Bower in Essex on 9 July 1437.
She was buried by her husband's side in Canterbury cathedral.
The fact that Joan of Navarre is referred to
as the "Invisible Queen" is the most surprising aspect of her story.
After all, this was a woman born in France and she was not a fan of England,
So there must be an explanation for the fact that she was largely unnoticed!
Joan, who was well-versed in the political climate of
the time, was probably aware that the accusations and property seizures were not personal.
When Henry finally freed her, they returned her fortune, and Joan lived a quiet,
private life at Nottingham Castle with her own court.
Many have wondered why Joan is so obscure, not even appearing in any of Shakespeare's
royal works under Henry V or his son Henry VI, who reigned during the time.
This is due to the fact that she had no children with Henry IV,
and because he recognised how important she was and relied on her work in the office tower,
she was seen only infrequently by members of the public.
Yet, Joan will be remembered
as the 15th-century lady that went on a personal rollercoaster of emotions,
with two marriages, one to a king, not to mention her charge of witchcraft.
Sadly she slipped into the historical archives.
Although cloaked in mystery for large parts, she wasn't a witch but she
certainly held magical powers, of tenacity.