Joan of Valois
French queen who entered religious life, became a nun and later an abbess who founded the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary (canonized 1950)
Feast: 4 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Jeanne of Valois, daughter of King Louis XI, was born at Nogent-le-Roy on 23 April 1464 to her father's disappointment, and at 26 days old was betrothed to her two-year-old cousin Louis of Orléans. Deformed and lame, at five she was sent away to Linières, where her greatest joy was talking with the 'blessed Virgin'.
Kept at a distance by her husband, later King Louis XII, she was abandoned again when their marriage was declared null. She took refuge in God, venerated the Cross with special devotion, and in 1502 founded the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A rejected queen who turned her humiliation into love of the Cross and founded an order for Our Lady.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Giovanna di Valois
- Wikidata Q236220 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.