Joanna of Flanders at the relief of Hennebont, 1342
Illus. from François Guizot's, History of France, 1869

Joanna of Flanders (c. François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (4 October 1787 -12 September 1874 was a French Historian, Orator, and Statesman. 1295 – September 1374), also known as Jehanne de Montfort was consort Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John IV, Duke of Brittany. John IV of Montfort (in Breton Yann Moñforzh, in French Jean de Montfort) (1295 – September 16 1345, Château d'Hennebon) was She was the daughter of Louis, Count of Nevers and Jeanne of Rethel and the sister of Count Louis I of Flanders. Louis I (1304 &ndash August 26, 1346, ruled 1322&ndash1346 was Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel.

She married Duke John IV in March 1329. When her husband died in 1345 in the midst of the Breton War of Succession, she took arms to protect the rights of her son John V, Duke of Brittany against the party led by Charles of Blois and Joanna of Dreux. The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. John V the Conqueror (in Breton Yann IV, in French Jean IV) (1339 &ndash November 1 1399) was Duke of Brittany and Charles of Blois ( Blois, 1319 &ndash September 29 1364) claimed the title Duke of Brittany, from 1341 to his death Joanna of Penthievre or Joanna the Lame (in French Jeanne de Penthièvre, Jeanne la Boiteuse) (1319 &ndash September 10 She organized resistance and made use of diplomatic means to protect her family. In the siege of Hennebont, she took up arms and, dressed in armour, conducted the defence of the town, urging the women to "cut their skirts and take their safety in their own hands". Hennebont (Henbont is a commune in western France (in the historic region of Brittany) in the Morbihan département. She even led a raid of knights outside the walls that successfully destroyed one of the enemy's rear camps.

Joanna's forces captured Charles of Blois in battle, but fortune turned against the Duchess as, her son John still a minor, she succumbed to madness and died in confinement. Her foe Charles was canonised after his death, leading historian Barbara Tuchman to comment on the equivalency between insanity and sainthood in the Middle Ages. Barbara Wertheim Tuchman ( January 30, 1912 &ndash February 6, 1989) was an American self-trained Historian and author

See also

• Timeline of women's participation in warfare