Monthly Archives: July 2022

Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

The Basilica of Santa Chiara with the green roof – the church is on the left and the monastery is on the right; Credit- By Miguel Hermoso Cuesta – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39940345

The Basilica of Santa Chiara located in Naples, Italy is a Roman Catholic church, named for Saint Clare of Assisi (Chiara in Italian), one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi and the founder of the women’s religious order the Poor Clares. The basilica is the burial site for some members of the House of Anjou-Naples (reigned the in Kingdom of Naples 1282 – 1435) and the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (reigned 1759 – 1861). Besides the basilica, the complex includes an adjoining monastery and an archaeological museum.

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1816, the two kingdoms were merged into the Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

Kings of Two Sicilies

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History of the Basilica of Santa Chiara

Construction began in 1310 during the reign of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples (1276 – 1343), founder of the Basilica and Monastery of Santa Chiara, who is interred in a tomb above the main altar. Naples architect Gagliardo Primario (link in Italian) designed the basilica in the Gotico Angioiano style, an early Gothic style in southern Italy named after the House of Anjou. The interior was decorated with the works of the most important artists of the time including sculptor Tino di Camaino and painter Giotto. Work on the basilica was mostly finished by 1328 but the consecration to Saint Clare of Assisi did not take place until 1340.

The interior with the 18th-century Baroque refurbishment; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1742 to 1762, the interior was refurbished in a Baroque style by a group of artists led by painter, sculptor, and architect Domenico Vaccaro. The stuccoed ceiling was replaced with frescoes by a team of artists including Francesco De Mura, Giuseppe Bonito, Sebastiano Conca, and Paolo de Maio. The floor was paved in marble with a design by Ferdinando Fuga.

The interior of the Basilica of Santa Chiara after the bombing of August 4, 1943; Credit – Wikipedia

During World War II, on August 4, 1943, American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft targeted the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) submarine base in Naples. The resulting fire that lasted two days severely damaged the Basilica of Santa Chiara and caused the loss of all the frescoes painted during 18th-century refurbishment and most of the Giotto’s 14th-century frescoes.


On the left, the interior with the 18th-century Baroque refurbishment; On the right, the interior today with the surviving original Gothic interior; Credit – Wikipedia

The restoration work started in 1944 and concentrated on the 14th-century architecture that remained intact, restoring the basilica to its original 14th-century appearance and removing the 18th-century refurbishments. The restoration work was completed in 1953 and the basilica was reopened to the public. Pillars, friezes, marble fragments, and sculptures that had been removed from the basilica were moved to a room in the monastery, that became the Marble Room, a part of the Museo dell’Opera di Santa Chiara (link in Italian). The goal of the museum is to reconstruct the history of the Basilica of Santa Chiara.

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The Exterior of the Basilica of Santa Chiara

The facade of the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – By Effems – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75281369

The exterior of the Basilica of Santa Chiara is quite simple. The entrance consists of a large 14th-century Gothic portal, with a porch and three arched openings. Over the entrance, the facade has a wide pinnacle in which an openwork rose window is set.

The 14th-century portal; Credit – Par Lalupa — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2865567

To the left of the church is the bell tower, a separate structure. It was started in 1338 but not completed due to a lack of funds after the death of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples in 1343. Work began again at the beginning of the 15th century but an earthquake in 1456 collapsed most of the bell tower, leaving only the marble base. The bell tower was finally completed in 1601 in the Baroque style.

The bell tower to the left of the basilica; Credit – By Marco Ober – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94584568

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The Interior of the Basilica of Santa Chiara

The nave of the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – By Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32072299

The interior has a single rectangular nave with no decoration and without a transept or choir. The transept is the part of the body of a church, usually crossing the nave, at right angles, at the entrance to the choir, forming a cross. The eighteenth-century marble floor by Ferdinando Fuga was part of the Baroque refurbishment that survived the bombings of World War II.

The Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi which survived the 1943 bombing; Credit – By IlSistemone – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30409940

There are ten side chapels on each side of the nave, for a total of twenty, with circular arches at each entrance. Each chapel is dedicated to a saint and many of them contain tombs of noble Neapolitan families from the14th through 17th centuries.

The Main Altar

The main altar; Credit – Wikipedia

The main altar is a plain, simple table. A large wooden crucifix from the 14th century, probably by an unknown Sienese artist, stands behind the altar.

Behind the altar, the marble tomb of the basilica’s founder Robert of Anjou, King of Naples towers over the altar. The tomb was sculpted by the Florentine sculptors, the brothers Giovanni and Pacio Bertini (links in Italian) between 1343 and 1345. The tomb contains sculptures of members of Robert’s family. Robert’s effigy is dressed in a Franciscan habit. At the top of the tomb, Robert sits on a throne.

The Bourbon Chapel

The Bourbon Chapel at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – Di IlSistemone – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38099754

The 18th-century Bourbon Chapel, which survived the World War II bombing, is directly to the right of the main altar. Carlo IV, King of Naples and King of Sicily (later Carlos III, King of Spain) had the chapel built beginning in 1742. It was to be a temporary burial place while the burial vault under the basilica was being built. However, it has remained the burial place of the four Kings of Two Sicilies and their wives, with one exception. Several children of Carlo IV, King of Naples and King of Sicily (reigned 1734 – 1759) who died before he became Carlos III, King of Spain in 1759 were also remain interred in the Bourbon Chapel.

Access to the royal crypt; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

On the floor of the Bourbon Chapel is the access to the royal crypt which is decorated with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

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January 25, 2014 – The Beatification of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies

Maria Cristina at prayer; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies (1812 – 1836) was the first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, and has been venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy since her beatification in 2014. She was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. After her marriage to Ferdinando II, she found herself living in a court with a lifestyle that was very far from her sensitivity. This caused her to never feel quite comfortable. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. She was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. Maria Cristina endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility. On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, the future Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications and was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara.

In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. On July 10, 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and on May 6, 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint.

Guests at the Beatification of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/

On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, where Maria Cristina is interred in the Bourbon Chapel, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including members of the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies led by Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria and Carlo, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro. Both branches claim to be Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and this event united them for the first time in fifty years. Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria, who died the following year, did not attend the beatification and was represented by his wife. Following the beatification ceremony, members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies paid their respects at the tomb of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy.

Tomb of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38973019

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Burials of the House of Anjou-Naples (reigned 1282 – 1435)

Credit – Di User:MatthiasKabel – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23301141; Credit – Di User:MatthiasKabel – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23301141

In the photo above, the tomb of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, is immediately behind the main altar. To the right of the altar is the tomb of Robert of Anjou’s son Charles, Duke of Calabria. To the left of the altar is the tomb of Maria of Calabria, daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria and granddaughter of Robert of Anjou, whose descendants inherited the crown of Naples following the death of her older sister Joanna I, Queen of Naples who had succeeded her paternal grandfather Robert of Anjou, King of Naples.

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Burials of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (reigned 1759 – 1861)

The Bourbon Chapel at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – Di IlSistemone – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38099754

The four Kings of the Two Sicilies and their wives, with one exception, were buried in the baroque-style Bourbon Chapel which was not damaged in the 1943 World War II bombing. The wife of Ferdinando I, Maria Carolina of Austria, was buried in her native Austria, at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the traditional burial site of her birth family, the House of Habsburg.

Buried in the Bourbon Chapel are:

The remains of Francesco II, the last King of the Two Sicilies, his wife Maria Sophia of Bavaria, and their daughter Maria Cristina who died in infancy were originally buried at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans in Rome. In 1984, their remains were transferred to the Bourbon Chapel. Several children of Carlo IV, King of Naples and Sicily (reigned 1734 – 1759) who died before he became Carlos III, King of Spain and abdicated the throne of Naples and Sicily in favor of his son Ferdinando in 1759, were also buried in the Bourbon Chapel. Other members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies were interred in the royal crypt which is reached by the entrance in the floor of the Bourbon Crypt. (Photo above in the Bourbon Chapel section.)

It will be noticed that many offspring of Ferdinand I died as children and some are listed as “of Naples and Sicily.” Ferdinando I reigned as King of Naples and Sicily from 1759 – 1816, and then as King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 – 1825. Ferdinando I and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria had seventeen children but ten died in childhood. Of those ten children, seven died from smallpox.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilika Santa Chiara (Neapel) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilika_Santa_Chiara_(Neapel)> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Santa Chiara, Naples – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Chiara,_Naples> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • Findagrave.com. 2022. Memorials in Chiesa Santa Chiara – Find a Grave. [online] Available at: <https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2138668/memorial-search?page=1#sr-119632076> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-cristina-of-savoy-queen-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilica di Santa Chiara (Napoli) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Chiara_(Napoli)> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Cappella dei Borbone – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappella_dei_Borbone> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Sepolcro di Roberto d’Angiò – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepolcro_di_Roberto_d%27Angi%C3%B2> [Accessed 19 May 2022].
  • Realcasadiborbone.it. 2014. Beatification of Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy – Real Casa di Borbone delle Due Sicilie. [online] Available at: <https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/> [Accessed 19 May 2022].

Count Pierre de Polignac, Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Count Pierre de Polignac; Credit – Wikipedia

Count Pierre de Polignac, after his marriage, Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois, was the husband of Princess Charlotte of Monaco, daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco. Pierre and Charlotte were the parents of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and the paternal grandparents of Albert II, the current Prince of Monaco. Count Pierre Marie Xavier Raphaël Antoine Melchior de Polignac was born on October 24, 1895, at the Château de Kerscamp in Hennebont, in the Britanny region of northwest France. He was the seventh of the eight children and the fourth of the five sons of Count Maxence de Polignac (1857 – 1936), from an old French noble family, and his Mexican-born wife Susana de la Torre y Mier (1858 – 1913). Pierre’s great-great-grandparents were Jules de Polignac, 1st Duke of Polignac and his wife Yolande de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (1749 – 1793), a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and the Governess to the Children of France from 1782 – 1789.

Pierre had seven siblings:

  • Countess Joséphine de Polignac (1882 – 1976), married Amaury de Jacquelot, Count du Boisrouvray, had two children
  • Countess Marie-Louise de Polignac (1884 – 1944), married Eon Charles Aimé Le Gouvello Du Timat, had seven children
  • Count Xavier de Polignac (1886 – 1941), married María de la Torre y Formento, had one child
  • Countess Anne de Polignac (1889 – 1970), became a nun, Sister Marie de St. Louis Bertrand
  • Count Bertrand de Polignac (1893 – 1910), died in his teens
  • Count Maxence de Polignac (1894 – 1963), married Laura de la Torre y Formento, had two children
  • Count Raymonde de Polignac (1900 – ?)

Meanwhile, in Monaco, there was a succession issue. Albert I, Prince of Monaco had only one child, a son, Louis, Hereditary Prince of Monaco (the future Louis II, Prince of Monaco). However, as Louis was unmarried and without an heir, the Monegasque throne was likely to pass to his first cousin once removed Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 2nd Duke of Urach, a German nobleman who was the son of his father’s aunt Princess Florestine of Monaco. However, Louis had an illegitimate daughter. While serving in Algeria for ten years with the French Foreign Legion, Louis met Marie Juliette Louvet, a cabaret singer. The couple was deeply in love, but Louis’ father would not grant permission to marry. A daughter, Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet, was born in 1898.

To avoid having Prince Wilhelm of Urach become the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, Louis’ father, Albert I, Prince of Monaco arranged to have a law passed recognizing Charlotte as Louis’ heir and a member of the Princely Family of Monaco. However, this law was later ruled invalid under earlier statutes. In October 1918, another law was passed allowing for the adoption of an heir with succession rights. On May 16, 1919, Louis legally adopted his illegitimate daughter Charlotte, giving her the Grimaldi surname. Her grandfather Albert I, Prince of Monaco created her Her Serene Highness Princess Charlotte of Monaco and Duchess of Valentinois. Upon the death of her grandfather and the accession of her father to the throne of Monaco, Charlotte would become the Hereditary Princess of Monaco.

Princess Charlotte of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte’s grandfather Albert I, Prince of Monaco made a list of eligible young Frenchmen who could be prospective husbands for his granddaughter. One of the most promising was Count Pierre de Polignac, from one of the oldest French aristocratic families. Pierre was a frequent visitor to Monaco as the houseguest of the many rich and titled people who had homes in the principality. Charlotte had met Pierre and thought him handsome. However, according to the treaty with France and Monaco’s Bill of Accession, a female Grimaldi could inherit the throne only if her husband was also a Grimaldi. A prenuptial agreement was drawn up specifying Pierre’s name change, limiting his power if Charlotte became Sovereign Princess of Monaco, and guaranteeing him a large personal income for life.

Pierre and Charlotte on their wedding day; Credit – Mad for Monaco

On March 18, 1920, Pierre became Pierre Grimaldi, Count of Polignac. The next day Pierre and Charlotte were married at the Cathedral of Monaco and Pierre became His Serene Highness Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois, taking the male version of Charlotte’s title Duchess of Valentinois. Nine months later, on December 28, 1920, in Paris, France, Charlotte gave birth to Princess Antoinette of Monaco. Pierre and Charlotte had fulfilled their duty. Monaco had an heir even if Charlotte and Pierre never had a son. On June 26, 1922, Charlotte’s grandfather Prince Louis II died, her father succeeded to the throne as Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlotte became the Hereditary Princess of Monaco. The next year, on May 31, 1923, Charlotte gave birth to the future Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.

Prince Pierre, Prince Rainier, Princess Charlotte, Princess Antoinette, and Louis II, Prince of Monaco on January 1, 1924

Pierre and Charlotte’s children:

Once Pierre had produced a male heir, he was no longer necessary. His father-in-law Prince Louis II disliked him and Charlotte became unhappy shortly after the marriage. In the mid-1920s, the couple unofficially separated. Pierre and Charlotte were legally separated by a French court on March 20, 1930. On February 18, 1933, they were divorced by the ordinance of Prince Louis II, and the divorce was confirmed by a French tribunal in December 1933. Pierre received an annual annuity of 500,000 francs. After the divorce, Pierre was styled His Serene Highness Prince Pierre of Monaco, losing the right to use the male counterpart of Charlotte’s title Duchess of Valentinois. The marriage was legally over but there was never an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church. Being born illegitimate, and now divorced, Charlotte knew that she would never be fully accepted by the very Catholic Monaco. She renounced her succession rights to the Monegasque throne in May 1944 in favor of her son Rainier. Five years later, Charlotte’s father died, and Rainier became Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Prince Pierre, circa 1960

During the reign of his son Prince Rainier III, Pierre lived in a villa near the Prince’s Palace in Monaco. In 1951, Pierre founded the Le Prix littéraire Prince Pierre de Monaco, an award to honor French-language writers with an exemplary body of work, and served as its president from 1951 until he died in 1964. In 1966, Pierre’s son Prince Rainier III expanded the original organization into The Prince Pierre Foundation in memory of his father, a great patron of the arts. The foundation awards annual prizes in literature, music, and contemporary art. Pierre’s granddaughter The Princess of Hanover (Princess Caroline of Monaco) serves as the President. In 1957, Prince Pierre became President of the Monaco National Commission of UNESCO and the Monaco Olympic Committee. The Princess Caroline Ludothèque, a library, still in existence, offering children direct access to books, toys, and games, was founded by Prince Pierre in 1960, and named after his granddaughter Princess Caroline.

Chapelle de la Paix (Chapel of Peace) in Monaco. photo: www.structurae.info

On November 10, 1964, Prince Pierre, aged 69, died of cancer at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, France. He was buried at the Chapelle de la Paix in Monaco where his former wife Princess Charlotte, his daughter Princess Antoinette and her deceased children have also been buried.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Pierre,_Duke_of_Valentinois> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
  • Fondationprincepierre.mc. 2022. Prince Pierre | Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.fondationprincepierre.mc/en/prince-pierre-40> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Pierre de Polignac — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Polignac> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2013. Princess Charlotte of Monaco, Duchess of Valentinois. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/september-30-1898-birth-of-princess-charlotte-of-monaco-duchess-of-valentinois/> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
  • Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1964. Prince Pierre, 69, of Monaco Is Dead. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/11/11/97432520.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0> [Accessed 7 May 2022].

Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Joan Beaufort; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Joan Beaufort was the only daughter and the youngest of the four children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396. Joan was born circa 1379, possibly at Kettlethorpe Hall in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, a property that had belonged to the first husband of Joan’s mother, Sir Hugh Swynford who had died in 1371.

Joan’s mother Katherine Swynford; Credit – http://kettlethorpechurch.co.uk/katherine-swynford/

Joan Beaufort’s paternal grandparents were King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England. Her maternal grandmother is unknown but her maternal grandfather was Paon de Roet, a knight from the County of Hainault (now part of Belgium and France) who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England.

Joan’s father John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

All British monarchs since King Henry IV are descended from John of Gaunt. In fact, most European monarchies are descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from John of Gaunt’s children:

During the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English throne pitted the House of Lancaster and the House of York against each other. Note in the lists of descendants below, the several family members who were killed in battle or executed during the Wars of the Roses.

Joan had three elder brothers:

Joan had three half-siblings from her mother’s first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt:

  • Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), died in childhood
  • Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
  • Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

King Henry IV of England, Joan’s half-brother from her father’s first marriage to Blanche of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

Joan had seven half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to the wealthy heiress Blanche of Lancaster:

The effigy of Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile, Joan’s half-sister from her father’s second marriage to Constance of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Joan had two half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile:

  • Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile (1372 – 1418), married King Enrique III of Castile and León, had three children. Through their son Juan II of Castile, Catherine and Enrique III are the grandparents of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and great-grandparents of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England.
  • John of Lancaster (1374 – 1375), died in infancy

Joan and her siblings likely spent their early years at Kettlethorpe Hall in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, a property that had belonged to the first husband of John’s mother, Sir Hugh Swynford who had died in 1371. Kettlethorpe was a small, quiet village, close to the city of Lincoln but 150 miles from London. It would have been a perfect place for John of Gaunt to carry on a discreet affair and have his illegitimate children raised as he had made a second marriage in 1371 and Katherine was a recent widow.

Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John of Gaunt married his mistress Katherine Swynford, Joan Beaufort’s mother, on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, and became King Henry IV, he inserted the Latin phrase excepta regali dignitate (except royal status) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

John of Gaunt treated his Beaufort children as cherished members of the family but he was careful that the provisions he made for them would not interfere with the Lancaster inheritance reserved for his legitimate children. Instead, he found other forms of income for them through marriages and for his second son Henry, through the church. Because of John of Gaunt’s cautions, his Beaufort children were held in great affection by their half-siblings.

When Joan was seven-years-old, she was betrothed to 13-year-old Robert Ferrers of Wem (circa 1373 – 1396), the heir of his mother Elizabeth Boteler, 4th Baroness Boteler of Wem. Joan and Robert were married in 1391 or 1392, and the couple remained in the household of John of Gaunt. Robert predeceased his mother, dying sometime between May 1395 and November 1396.

Joan and Robert had two daughters:

  • Elizabeth Ferrers (1393 – 1474), married John de Greystoke, 4th Baron Greystoke, had twelve children
  • Mary Ferrers (1394 – 1458), married her stepbrother Sir Ralph Neville, had two children

Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland with twelve of his twenty-two children, from the Neville Book of Hours, circa 1427-1432; Credit – Wikipedia

In November 1396, Joan married the recently widowed Ralph Neville, then 4th Baron Neville de Raby, after 1397, 1st Earl of Westmorland. Ralph was the son of John Neville, 3th Baron Neville de Raby and Maud Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick. The seventeen-year-old Joan immediately became the stepmother to Neville’s eight children by his first wife Margaret Stafford who died on June 9, 1396. Joan and Ralph lived primarily at Raby Castle near Staindrop in County Durham, England.

Joan’s eight stepchildren, the children of her second husband Ralph Neville:

  • Maud Neville (circa 1383 – 1438), married Peter Mauley, 5th Baron Mauley, had two daughters
  • Alice Neville (circa 1384 – circa 1434), married (1) Sir Thomas Grey, had nine children, beheaded for his part in the Southampton Plot (2) Sir Gilbert Lancaster, had one son
  • Philippa Neville (1386 – circa 1453) married Thomas Dacre, 6th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, had nin children
  • Sir John Neville (circa 1387 – circa 1420), Elizabeth Holland, had three sons and a daughter
  • Elizabeth Neville, a nun
  • Anne Neville (circa 1384 – 1421), married Sir Gilbert Umfraville (died at the Battle of Baugé in Anjou during the Hundred Years’ War), no children
  • Sir Ralph Neville (circa 1392 – 1458), married his step-sister Mary Ferrers, daughter of Robert Ferrers of Wem and Joan Beaufort, had five children
  • Margaret Neville (circa 1396 – circa 1463), married (1) Richard Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Bolton, had three children (2) William Cressener, had three sons

Joan Beaufort and her six daughters from her second marriage, from the Neville Book of Hours, circa 1427-1432; Credit – Wikipedia

Joan and Ralph had fourteen children:

Ralph Neville was initially loyal to Joan’s first cousin King Richard II and secured the English northern border with Scotland for him. As a reward, Ralph was created Earl of Westmorland in 1397. However, after Richard II was deposed in 1399 by his first cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Ralph gave his loyalty to the new King Henry IV, Joan’s half-brother. For his support of the new king, Ralph was rewarded with a lifetime appointment as Earl Marshal in 1399, although he resigned the office in 1412.

In 1403, Ralph was created a Knight of the Garter. He was important to his wife’s half-brother King Henry IV and then to Henry IV’s son King Henry V as a reliable ally in the troubled north of England. Because of Joan’s royal connections and dynastic importance, Ralph decided in 1404 to disinherit his children from his first marriage in favor of his children from his second marriage. This created a long dispute called the Neville–Neville Feud that took years to settle.

In 1423, Ralph and Joan took Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, the orphaned heir of the House of York, into their household as a royal ward. Richard’s mother Anne de Mortimer had died due to childbirth complications shortly after Richard’s birth. It was through his mother, a descendant of Edward III’s second surviving son Lionel of Antwerp that Richard inherited his strongest claim to the throne. Richard’s father Richard of Conisbrough, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, a grandson of King Edward III, died in 1415. Within a few months of his father’s death, Richard’s childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and so Richard inherited his uncle’s title and lands, becoming the 3rd Duke of York. From 1415 – 1423, Richard had been the royal ward of Robert Waterton.

Eventually, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York married Ralph and Joan’s youngest child Cecily, and they were the parents of the Yorkist Kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. Richard, 3rd Duke of York was the Yorkist claimant to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses until he was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. Richard and Cecily’s eldest son Edward, Earl of March, the future King Edward IV, then became the leader of the Yorkist faction.

The Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Staindrop that Ralph built; Credit – By George Ford, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9172971

After the early death of thirty-five-year-old King Henry V in 1422, and the accession of his nine-month-old only child as King Henry VI, Ralph served on the regency council of the young king. In addition to his political activities, Ralph built several churches including the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Staindrop, County Durham, England where his primary home Raby Castle was located. He was buried at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary after his death on October 21, 1425, at the age of about 61. Ralph’s tomb contains effigies of himself and his two wives but neither wife is buried there.

Tomb of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland with the effigy of his second wife Joan Beaufort. The effigy of Ralph’s first wife Margaret Stafford lies on his right side. Neither wife is buried with him. Credit – www.findagrave.com

Joan survived her husband Ralph by fifteen years, dying on November 13, 1440, aged 60-61, in Howden, Yorkshire, England. Although Joan had built a chantry in 1437 for her second husband Ralph and herself at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Staindrop, she decided that she wanted to be buried near her mother Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster at Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England.

Tombs of Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland on the left and her mother Katherine Swyford, Duchess of Lancaster on the right (behind the chairs); Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Works Cited

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  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Neville,_1st_Earl_of_Westmorland> [Accessed 1 July 2022].
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  • geni_family_tree. 2022. Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, 4th Baron Neville de Raby. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Ralph-Neville-1st-Earl-of-Westmorland-4th-Baron-Neville-de-Raby/6000000001069437500> [Accessed 1 July 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
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