Background
Joan was born c. 1378 to John II, Count of Auvergne and Boulogne and his wife Alenor de Comiinges.
Duchess of Berry Duke of Berry
Joan was born c. 1378 to John II, Count of Auvergne and Boulogne and his wife Alenor de Comiinges.
Joan"s mother was a descendant of Peter II of Courtenay, Emperor of Constantinople, who in turn descended from Louis VI of France. In 1389, Joan was married to John, Duke of Berry, a son of John II of France, whose wife had died in the previous year. They had no children.
During this, the King and five nobles dressed up as wildmen, clad "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp," and proceeded to dance about chained together.
At length, the King became separated from the others, and made his way to the Duchess, who jokingly refused to let him wander off again until he told her his name. When Charles" brother, Louis of Orléans, accidentally set the other dancers on fire, Joan swathed the King in her skirts, protecting him from the flames and saving his life.
Upon her father"s death in 1394, Joan became Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne. Joan was widowed upon the death of the Duke of Berry in 1416.
