Joan III of Burgundy and Blanche of France and Salic Law

Joan III of Burgundy and Blanche of France. 

Our next two subjects sadly have little written about them. This is often the case when the Passed are women, more so when a woman doesn’t have children in the case of one. I’ll be dividing this episode into three parts, one each for Joan III and Blanche, and one for Salic Law. Within the Salic Law discussion I’ll give a bit more of the history of the Capetian’s and France’s earlier royal families, the Meroviginas and the Carolingians. I think cover Salic Law is important both for our passed’s stories to make sense, but also to avoid a lazy explanation for something that was probably much more nuanced. Superficial research of French history, much like looking a succession for illegitimate children, will often include one-liners that gloss over the actual facts of the situation, for the illegitimate it’s ‘the church’, for French royalty it’s something along the lines of ‘due to Salic Law women could not inherit the throne and their children had no claim to it’. It’s almost never a fulfilling explanation, and I don’t want to leave my listeners with that, I want to dig a bit deeper. You all deserve a better explanation, if you’re interested take a moment to look on the Wikipedia page titled ‘Salic Law’, scroll down to the section headed ‘Female inheritance’. You’ll quickly notice a number of notes for ‘clarification needed’ or ‘citation needed’. I’m not suggestion the Wikipedia is a great source, useful, but not always correct, but it was a fun starting place for getting no useful directions to look. Hopefully I’ll be able to provide some clarification. 

Joan III, Countess of Burgundy in her own right, was born in May 1308. She was the oldest of Philip the Tall’s children. At the time of his ascension he had four daughters, including Joan and one son. Only his daughters would survive him. Joan’s mother was Joan II Countess of Burgundy, also in her own right. Joan II, of Burgundy, has been mentioned before. She was arrested for knowledge of the behaviour of her sister and sister-in-law. At no point was Joan II of Burgundy accused of being a party to the affair, and Philip the Tall was very defensive of her. He supported her claims to innocents and she was released in 1315 after being found innocent, their son was born the year after, though they wouldn’t have any further children after him. By all accounts Joan III’s parents’ marriage was harmonious if boring. Her father is said to have sent his wife formulaic love letters, there are worse crimes to accuse a husband of, and not everyone is great expressing their emotions in written form. 

As I discussed in Joan II of Navarre’s episode, Joan III of Burgundy was married to her cousin’s uncle, Odo IV Duke of Burgundy in 1318, yes the bride was 10. Since her younger brother had died before this it made her their heiress to the county of Burgundy, while being the Duchess of Burgundy through her marriage. Joan III and Odo would have six sons, starting in 1322, but only one, Phillip, Count of Auvergne would live to adulthood. Joan III’s mother passed in 1330, at which point she would become the Countess of Burgundy and Artois. As with Joan II of Navarre before her, Joan III was passed over in favour of her uncle for the Kingdoms of France and Navarre when her father, Philip V, died in 1322 at the age of 28. Due to the precedent set by her father her uncle was easily able to gain power, Joan III wasn’t even considered. Much like her cousin, Joan II, Joan III’s age played against her, she was only 14 and her husband was 27, but had already played his hand by supporting his late father-in-law to pass his niece. So, I guess it was an own goal for both Philip V and Odo IV. 

Joan III’s son, Philip Count of Auvergne predeceased her in 1346 at only 22. While Philip Count of Auvergne was rather young he had fathered three children, Joan, Margaret, and Philip I of Burgundy. Margaret would die young, Joan would enter a convent after breaking an engagement, and Philip I would survive both his grandparents and mother, and inherit both the county and duchy of Burgundy as well as the counties of Auvergne, Boulogne, and Artois. Joan III passed in 1347, her grandson would hold her titles until his premature death in 1361, he was 14 or 15 at the time. Her titles of the counties of Burgundy and Artois would pass to her sister, Margaret. Margaret’s line would eventually lead (through Mary the Rich, daughter of Philip the Bold, great sobriquets) to the Hapsburg dynasty that ruled Spain, the low countries, and much of what we now call Germany in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Philip the Tall’s other two daughters were Isabella who would marry twice, but never have children, and Blanche, who became a nun. 

The last of Philip the Fair’s sons was Charles IV, or the Fair. His daughter, Blanche of France is the second subject of this episode. Unlike his older brother, Louis, Charles was able to get his first marriage annulled, though not before he became king, making his first wife an uncrowned queen of France. Unlike our two previous subjects, Blanche was not the child of any of the women caught up in the Tour de Nesle Affair. Charles the Fair’s first wife, Blance of Burgundy had given him two children, who based on their dates of birth were of questionable legitimacy. They both passed before the middle of 1322. While Charles the Fair only ruled from 1322-1328 he managed to marry twice in that short time and father five children. His second wife, Marie of Luxembourg tragically had a stillborn or short lived daughter with Charles in 1323 and then fell out of a carriage while pregnant for a second time in 1324. Her second child, a boy, was born prematurely and died not long after birth, followed very shortly by Marie who was 19 or 20. Childbirth before modern medicine is something I’m grateful I’ve never experienced. Charles did need to provide an heir, so he did marry quickly after his second wife’s death. In June of 1324 he married Joan of Evreaux, his half first cousin (meaning children of this marriage would have four distinct grandparents, but only seven, instead of eight, distinct grandparents). Their first child, a daughter died before her first birthday, but their next two children, daughters Marie and Blanche would survive their father (though Marie would die young). Blanche of France was a posthumous child, like her cousin John I. Had she been a boy she would have been the next king of France. Her father’s cousin, Philip of Valois was the regent for the last month of her mother’s pregnancy. On the first of April 1328 Philip of Valois would pass over his young nieces and be crowned Philip VI, officially ending the senior Capetian line and bringing in the House Valois who would rule until 1589 through both their senior and cadet lines. With precedent firmly set Blanche never had a chance to even press her claim. Both she and her older sister, Marie were still in nappies. 

Blanche of France would marry her second cousin, the fifth son of Philip VI, Philip Duke of Orleans. They would have no children and this is where Blanche’s story ends. She would die in 1393 and be buried in Notre-Dame. Blanche being passed over for her second cousin and none of her cousins being able to put up a claim properly cemented Salic Law and succession into French law. This wouldn’t stop some from trying to change things, of course. Isabella of France, has been accused of attempting to remove any competition for her son by lying about her sister-in-laws at the start of the Tour de Nesle Affair. Her son, Edward III, King of England would claim the French throne. His claim and the support he had from his cousin, Joan II of Navarre were the leading causes of the Hundred Years War. 

I also brought up Charles of Valois earlier, the brother of Philip the Fair as a historical bad guy. Both he and Isabella of France are accused of planning the downfall of the sons of Philip the Fair to take power for themselves or their heirs. The truth is probably more boring than any fiction. The sons of Philip the Fair became ill with common diseases in times when medicine was not advanced enough to treat them. They did each have at least one son, but like their fathers these young boys were struck down by illness. Isabella could not have expected all her brothers to die young even if she managed to have her sister-in-laws removed and the paternity of all of her nieces questioned. They would have been expected to remarry, live long lives, and father many more children. Charles of Valois was an intelligent man, but more a blunt instrument than the sharp blade needed for political intrigue. I’m not going to suggest that Isabella wasn’t smart enough to come up with a plan that would have seen her son on the throne of England and vying for the French throne, but I think 1314 was a little early to put that plan into motion. I hope you’re all looking forward to her episode next week, I know I am! Before we get there we need to figure out how we got in this huge mess of women not only not being able to succeed nor pass on succession through their sons. What is Salic Law!?!

In simple terms Salic Law is property law. Much like the Magna Carta in England it dealt with property inheritance and distribution, but nothing to do with titles of nobility nor royal inheritance. There was more written concerning cows than titles. Where it could be used to point to not allowing female inheritance is in Title LIX (59): Concerning Private Property, Part six. It states: But of Saling Land, no portion of the inheritance shall come to a woman, but the whole inheritance of the land shall come to the male sex. It’s important to note that other parts of the code allow land and inheritance to go to women, just not Salic Land. Salic Land or terra salica is land granted by the king in exchange for service, service generally being equated to armed service, hence why the land would got to a male. Women could not perform military service (at least at the time this was written). But the king was the one who grants this land and is, theoretically at least, not bound by the rule of preforming military service, the service is given to him in exchange for this land.

Why would Philip the Tall have used this argument over other possible arguments? Well, obviously Charles of Valois was planning on poisoning every single male….wait, probably not. There were two other perfectly good options opened to Philip. Joan II of Navarre could have been declared illegitimate or he could have remained her regent and made sure she never married, making him and his progeny her heirs. Most likely it didn’t occur to him that he wouldn’t have a surviving son, so he didn’t worry about his daughters needing a way to inherit the throne. Louis X claiming Joan as his daughter did make declaring her illegitimate a bit more difficult, there also wasn’t a pope around to do it.The second option would have seen Philip acting as king for a very long time, while never being king. Poor luck hurt Philip the Tall as much as his poor choice of legal reasoning. He was very young when he became king, only 23. He and his wife had four healthy daughters, who would all live into adulthood, and a young son. He had no reason to think he wouldn’t have more children with his wife, or find another wife if they couldn’t. 

Philip the Tall’s usurpation wasn’t recognised by much of the nobility and there were demonstrations in the areas supportive of Joan II of Navarre. By keeping the support of Charles of Valois and marrying his oldest daughter to Joan II’s likely military supporter he was able to end most disagreement. Philip was actually a relatively good king through much of his short reign. He was much more able and focused than either of his brothers. His premature death at 28 on 1322 meant any plans he had came to nothing. His decision to use property law to support his usurpation mean that his brother and not his own children would rule. His brother, Charles IV, would only last six years as king and leave behind a very young daughter and a pregnant wife, mirroring Louis X. As we know, this child would be a girl, not a boy. 

Did any other countries use this form of inheritance for royalty? Not really. At least not at this time. This was still a bit of the era of ‘might’ makes right. If a woman or, more likely, her son could claim a throne through descent and hold it then it was theirs. Male inheritance was preferred because men led armies, sometimes from the front, though more often from the rear at this point. Later kingdoms did make use of this rule, but at the time nothing was there to stop a woman from claiming a throne. The Empress Matilda came very close two centuries before and Edward the III is going to put in a concerted effort in the coming years. In fact, English claims to the French throne date from this time, though their claims to the left of France go back to Henry II and Elinor of Aquitaine. Almost two centuries later the Spanish would do much the same as Edward. They would claim the French throne, for Isabella, Lady of the Netherlands, through her mother, the oldest surviving sister of the last Valois king, Henry III. The Spanish argument was much the same as the English, Salic Law did not apply to royal inheritance and its usage was invented. The Parliament of Paris actually declared her their rightful ruler, until Henry King of Navarre, the heir according to Salic Law, converted to Catholicism and was crowned Henry IV. With his conversion he became the first Bourbon king of France. The French also did not have any problem ignoring Salic Law when it came to other countries. During the War of Spanish Succession the French claim to the Spanish throne was through a female line, that of Maria Teresa, queen consort to Louis XIV and daughter of Philip IV of Spain. While Spanish law had always allowed claims through female lines, and even had multiple power female rulers, the French found it convenient to follow their own rules only when it suited.