Jeanne III of Navarre (* 7 January 1528; † 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne d’Albret, was the only daughter of King Henri II of Navarre and Marguerite d’Angoulême, the sister of French King François I.
François Clouet (?). Jeanne d’Albret. 1570. Musée Condé de Chantilly. CC0
He married his niece in 1541 against her will to Wilhelm V, Duke of Jülich-Kleve-Berg. (Wilhelm V was the brother of Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII). Jeanne proved to be unusually stubborn and resistant even then. For five years she prevented the consummation of the marriage, which was annulled in 1545. Two years later she marries the first prince du sang, Antoine de Bourbon. A few happy years of marriage followed. Of the five children, only Henri de Navarre and Catherine survived. As the Salic Law did not apply in Navarre, Jeanne became Queen of Navarre after the death of her father in 1555. By this time there was already a crisis in her marriage to Antoine. The conflict intensified when Jeanne III with her children converted to Calivinism in 1560 and declared it the state religion. Initially neutral, Jeanne III openly supported the Huguenots during the third War of Religion. She was involved in the negotiations of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, but agreed to the proposed marriage between her son and Marguerite only after tough negotiations. Her relationship with Caterina de' Medici and the French court as a whole remained a very tense one. During the preparations for the wedding, Jeanne III fell ill and died in Paris on 9 June 1572.1
The Massacre at Paris
Jeanne III is mentioned in the scene directions of [Scene 1] as a guest at her son’s wedding, but has no text. In [Scene 3] the apothecary gives her a pair of gloves which the Duke of Guise had previously had him poison. Jeanne smells the gloves and dies.
As Jeanne III had already died more than two months before the wedding, she was also unable to attend. The prescribed period of mourning would actually have required a postponement of the celebrations. However, the negotiations had been so complicated and the political situation so tense that it was agreed to keep the date. Henri de Navarre married in mourning clothes.2 It was customary at the time to perfume gloves. To poison someone with them, you would have to soak the gloves in poison and they would have to be worn for a longer period of time as a result. Just smelling the gloves is not fatal.3 However, the rumour actually arose that Caterina de' Medici had killed Jeanne III by poisoning her gloves, perfume or food. An autopsy was performed, which confirmed natural death. Nevertheless, the truth did not impress and the rumours remained in circulation.4 Yet there was absolutely no reason for Caterina de' Medici to hasten the demise of the Queen of Navarre. Caterina de' Medici was very keen on the marriage. Jeanne III had already agreed and her death could have prevented rather than promoted the marriage. If Henri de Navarre had really been convinced that someone from the royal family had poisoned his mother, he would hardly have married into that family.5
