Joanna of Pfirt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joanna of Pfirt
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| Duchess of Austria | |
Portrait by Anton Boys
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| Born | c. 1300 Basel |
| Died | 15 November 1351 Vienna, Austria |
| Buried | Gaming Charterhouse |
| Noble family | Scarponnois |
| Spouse(s) | Albert II, Duke of Austria |
| Father | Ulrich III of Pfirt |
| Mother | Joanna of Burgundy |
Joanna of Pfirt (French: Jeanne de Ferrette; born around 1300 – died November 15, 1351) was an important noblewoman in medieval Europe. She was the Countess of Pfirt in her own right starting in 1324. She also became the Duchess of Austria when she married Duke Albert II in 1330. She held this title until her death.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Joanna was born in a city called Basel. She was the oldest daughter of Count Ulrich III of Pfirt (1281–1324). Her family, the Scarponnois, had a long history of powerful counts. Her mother was Joanna of Burgundy (1284–1349).
How Joanna Inherited Land
In 1321, Reginald of Burgundy, the last Count of Montbéliard from his family, passed away. His daughter, Joanna of Montbéliard (who was Joanna of Pfirt's mother), inherited his lands.
Joanna of Pfirt's parents, Ulrich III and Joanna of Montbéliard, had four daughters but no sons. When Count Ulrich III died in March 1324, he left behind many large estates. These lands were in a region called the Alsatian Sundgau, in the southern Vosges Mountains, and near the Jura foothills. These areas were very important because they included the strategic Burgundian Gate, a key passage.
Ulrich's surviving daughters were Joanna of Pfirt and her younger sister Ursula. Since Joanna was the eldest, she inherited these valuable lands.
A Royal Marriage Opportunity
At this time, Duke Leopold I of Austria was the leader of the powerful Habsburg family. He was looking to expand his family's lands. When he learned that Joanna of Pfirt, who had just inherited so much land, was still unmarried, he saw a great opportunity.
Leopold sent his younger brother, Albert II, to ask Joanna's mother for her daughter's hand in marriage. Joanna's lands, which included the town of Belfort, made her a very attractive match. Joanna agreed to give her lands to the Habsburg family. This allowed the Habsburgs to add a large, connected territory in Southern Alsace to their existing lands. The agreement between Joanna and Duke Leopold was officially signed on March 17 in Thann.
Later, Joanna's mother remarried to Rudolf Hesso, Margrave of Baden-Baden. She had two more daughters, Margaret and Adelaide, from this second marriage.
Marriage and Family Life
Joanna married Albert II in Vienna on March 26, 1324. At first, their marriage was difficult because they had trouble having children who survived. They had five children early in their marriage, but sadly, all of them died young. They were buried in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna.
In 1330, Albert II became the Duke of Austria and Styria. Around the same time, he became very ill with a condition called polyarthritis, which made his legs paralyzed. This made it seem even harder for them to have heirs. To seek help, the Duke went on a religious journey to Cologne and Aachen in 1337.
Two years later, when Joanna was in her late thirties, she gave birth to a son. After that, she continued to have more children.
In total, Albert and Joanna had six children who survived:
- Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (born November 1, 1339, in Vienna – died July 27, 1365, in Milan). He married, but his family line did not continue.
- Catherine (born 1342, in Vienna – died January 10, 1381, in Vienna). She became an Abbess at St. Klara in Vienna.
- Margaret (born 1346, in Vienna – died January 14, 1366, in Brno). She married twice:
- In Passau on September 4, 1359, to Count Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol.
- In Vienna in 1364, to Margrave Johann Heinrich of Moravia.
- Frederick III, Duke of Austria (born 1347, in Vienna – died 1362, in Vienna). He never married.
- Albert III, Duke of Austria (born September 9, 1349, in Vienna – died August 29, 1395, at Castle Laxenburg). He had children.
- Leopold III (born November 1, 1351, in Vienna – died July 9, 1386, in Sempach). He also had children.
Joanna's Influence and Legacy
People described Joanna as a wise and careful person. She was known for being politically smart and talented. In 1336, she helped bring peace between the Habsburg family and the rising House of Luxembourg. This was about who would inherit the lands of the late Duke Henry of Carinthia. Thanks to Joanna's efforts, the Habsburgs later gained more lands, even reaching the Adriatic coast.
Through Joanna, Albert and the Habsburgs gained even more territory because she was an heiress. The Habsburgs were becoming one of the most powerful royal families in Europe. After Albert bought the Duchy of Carinthia and other areas, he became even stronger.
Joanna had children unusually late in life for her time. When she was fifty-one years old, she gave birth to her last child, a son named Leopold III, Duke of Austria. She passed away soon after. She is buried in the Gaming Charterhouse alongside her husband and her daughter-in-law, Elisabeth of Bohemia.
See also
In Spanish: Juana de Ferrette para niños
