Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (23 April 1464-4 February 1505) was Queen of France as the wife of Louis XII of France. She was queen consort from 7 April to 15 December 1498, when the marriage was annulled due to her status as an embarrassment to the Kingdom of France.
Biography[]
Joan was born in Nogent-le-Roi, France on 23 April 1464, the second daughter of King Louis XI of France; she was the sister of Charles VIII of France. Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed to marry her cousin Louis, Duke of Orleans, and they married in 1476. She was unable to bear children, leading to her husband being unhappy in his marriage to her; she was seen as an embarrassment to the Kingdom of France. In 1498, their marriage was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity, with Cesare Borgia presenting the annullment papers to the King in a Papal brief; on that same visit, he also took Joan's lady-in-waiting, Charlotte of Albret, as a wife. Joan retired to her domain and created her own monastic order, the Order of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary, for which she was canonized in 1950. She died in 1505.