Everything about Germaine Of Foix totally explained
Germaine of Foix (
1488-
18 October,
1538) was
queen consort of
Aragon, the second wife of
Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon, married in
1505 after the death of his first wife,
Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Castille.
She was a daughter of
Jean de Foix, vicomte de Narbonne,
infante of
Navarre and
comte d'Étampes, by his wife, Marie d'Orléans. Her paternal grandparents were
Gaston de Grailly,
comte de Foix and the
Queen regnant Eleanor of Navarre. Her maternal grandparents were
Charles, duc d'Orléans and
Marie of Cleves. Her only maternal uncle was
Louis XII of France.
Following the death of Isabella, Ferdinand had to yield the government of Castile to his son-in-law
Philip of Habsburg (1478-1506), who assumed power in the name of his wife
Joanna (Juana la Loca, 1479-1555), Isabella's heir. Ferdinand objected to Philip's policies and to prevent Philip from gaining Aragon through Joanna, he married Germaine of Foix in the hope of having a son, who would take precedence over Joanna for the
Crown of Aragon. This included
Aragon,
Valencia and
Catalonia in Spain, and the
Kingdom of Naples,
Kingdom of Sicily and
Sardinia in the
Italian peninsula and the
Tyrrhenian Sea.
Germaine was bright but not attractive. Being however a niece of Louis XII, King of France (reigned 1498-1515), did gain a short truce and brief alliance between the two kings, who were most often at war. In 1506 Philip of Habsburg died and Ferdinand became regent of Castile for his mentally unstable daughter Joanna. Ferdinand and Germaine did have a son, Juan, Prince of Aragon (
3 May,
1509) but he died almost at once. Despite the use of love potions, they didn't have another.
Ferdinand's diplomatic deviousness and off and on alliances with France infuriated
Henry VIII of England (born 1491, reigned 1509-1547), married to Ferdinand and Isabella's youngest daughter,
Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536). To spite Ferdinand and for his own advantage, Henry in 1514 forced his sister
Mary (1496-1533) into a loveless marriage with Louis XII, who died the next year.
In 1516, Ferdinand died, leaving Germaine a widow. Ferdinand's successor was the later
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, elder son of Philip and Joanna. Charles arranged for Germaine to marry in 1519, at Barcelona, the
margrave Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a landless
cadet and cousin of
Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg. In 1523 Charles appointed the couple jointly
viceroys of Valencia.
On Johann's death in 1526, Germaine married
Ferdinand of Aragón, Duke of Calabria, a son of King
Frederick IV of Naples (1496-1501) by his second wife
Isabella del Balzo. The two continued as viceroys of Valencia and were patrons of the arts and music. Germaine died in 1538. The Duke of Calabria continued in office until his death in 1550.
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