Queen: Joanna of Sicily

Plantagenet women were not damsels in distress waiting for their men to rescue them.  They ran countries, led armies, conducted diplomacy, patronized artists and scholars, and when the situation called for it, they got their brothers (or any other man) told off in a hurry.

Joanna (or Joan) was one of the youngest of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's large brood.  Eight years separated Joanna from her old brother Richard (aka the Lionheart).  Joanna (1165-1199) was born at one of her father's favorite places in Angers.  She spent much of her time as a girl under her mother's care, drifting between Winchester and Poitiers.  In 1176, when she was 11 years old, ambassadors from Sicily asked her hand in marriage for their king, William II.  The marriage would be celebrated, but the couple wouldn't begin living together until Joanna began menstruating, indicating that she was capable of child bearing.  The couple had no children and William died in 1189, leaving Joanna a widow and his out-of-wedlock son Tancred as his only heir.  In those days, being born out of wedlock wasn't necessarily a barrier to inheritance if a man had the means to take his rights by force.

Tancred seized the lands guaranteed to Joanna by her marriage contract, or tired to.  He was also holding Joanna captive when her brother Richard arrived in Sicily in 1190 as part of the Third Crusade.  Richard demanded her safe conduct and return of her dowry money.  Tancred defied him until Richard seized a monastery, the castle of La Bagnara, and decided to stay the winter in Massena.  Tancred realized there was only one way of getting rid of two Plantagenet siblings and returned Joanna and her money.  Things only got worse for Tancred when Richard and Joanna's mother, Eleanor, arrived in Sicily with Richard's intended bride, Berengaria of Navarre. 

Eleanor handed Berengaria off to Joanna and returned to England to deal with John if he made any false moves in Richard's absence.  Joanna, Berengaria and Richard sailed for Acre.  A storm ensued and his ship was blown to Crete.  Joanna and Berengaria ended up in Cyprus where the local Byzantine ruler, Isaac Comnenus, seized Joanna's dowry and Richard's crusading funds.  Isaac was courteous enough to the women, but intended to keep the money until Richard attacked the port of Limasol, threw Isaac into a dungeon, married Berengaria and took her along with him and Joanna on the crusade.  The two women remained at Acre while Richard pursued his crusade.

Then, one of the stranger episodes in Joanna's history began to unfold.  Richard soon realized that Saladin the Magnificent was not called that for nothing and that he and his fellow crusaders were in for more of a war than they realized.  In his turn, Saladin realized that Richard was just crazy enough to be dangerous.  When Richard proposed a truce, Saladin was ready to talk.  Then Richard proposed to marry Joanna to Saladin's brother and top general, Al-Adil.  Joanna loved Richard but this was not in her game plan.  She pleaded and begged, threatened and quarreled.  When Richard persisted with this insane idea of marrying a Christian princess to a Muslim, she went over his head to the Church leaders in Acre.  Not even being Queen of Jerusalem on an equal footing with Al-Adil as King, and the assurances that she could retain her Christian faith were going to dissuade her.  The churchmen warned Richard that he faced excommunication if he allowed the marriage and Richard backed off the idea.  Joanna was equally unimpressed with Phillip II of France, who backed off in his turn.  His father had been married to Joanna's mother Eleanor and one lion queen in the family was enough.

Joanna was too valuable a widow to be left unmarried.  She eventually married Raymond VI, Count of Tolouse and bore him two children, Raymond VII and a daughter, Little Joanna.  Raymond was trying to hold on to his own estates in the Holy Land and Joanna was described as supporting him by herself commanding the forces laying siege to the castle of a rebellious vassal.  When the situation proved too much she did what all sisters do, ask big brother to step in.  But by that time, unbeknownst to her, Richard was already dead.  Joana returned to Europe, widowed and pregnant again.  She sought refuge at Fontevrault Abbey in France where, after her child was born dead, she was veiled a nun and died in her turn.  Her tomb, with its effigy showing her kneeling at the head of her father, Henry II, was destroyed during the French Revolution.