Jeanne de Lusignan ★

Born 1260, in Angouleme, France. She died April 13, 1323 in France.

Family Background

Joan of Lusignan was born in 1260 in Angoulême, younger daughter of Hugh XII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angoulême, and Jeanne de Fougères; her grandfather Hugh XI of Lusignan was half-brother to King Henry III of England.

First Marriage

Joan's first husband was Bernard Ezi III, Lord of Albret, with whom she had two daughters, Mathe and Isabelle, before his death on December 24, 1280.

Marriage to Piers de Geneville

Before October 11, 1283, Joan married Sir Piers de Geneville of Trim and Ludlow Castle, and the couple had three daughters: Joan de Geneville, who married Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and had twelve children; and Maud and Beatrice, both of whom became nuns at Aconbury Priory.

Later Life and Death

Joan succeeded her uncle Guy de la Marche as Lady of Couhe and Peyrat around 1310–1313, holding the title in her own right. She died April 13, 1323, at age sixty-three, and was buried at the Abbaye de Valence.