Chateau of Queen Jeanne

Jeanne I, called la Reine Jeanne (1326-1382), sovereign of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, countess of Provence, Forcalquier and Piemont. Married for reasons of state, at the age of eight, to her cousin Andrew of Hungary, aged seven. Jeanne was to be accused of the murder of her husband, who was in actual-a-fact assassinated as a result of a plot, of which Louis of Taranto was the initiator. A widow at the age of nineteen, the young queen married Louis of Taranto, a violent and cruel man, who died at the age of forty two. Still beautiful and insatiable, Jeanne married again to James III of Mallorca, her cousin, twelve years younger than she, and after his death, she married Otto of Brunswick, a German prince who was devoted to her. Endlessly pursued by her enemies, including Louis of Hungary, brother of Andrew, Jeanne was strangled, in the sombre castle of Muro, in the Apennines. Queen Jeanne bequaethed Provence to one of her nephews, Louis I of Anjou. She left in Naples the memory of a superficial queen, of little consequence, ‘with very little dignity and incapable of governing’. In contrast, in Provence, she appears as a queen of legend, the incarnation of a dream, a living symbol of beauty and poetry. Queen Jeanne came to Provence only once, to Avignon, but appeared there in all her beauty. We are not surprised that there still remain so many castles, chapels, palaces, gardens and roads which carry the name of Queen Jeanne, and most frequently in places where she doubtless never visited.
Queen Jeanne gave her name to this through a legend. One Christmas evening, the Queen made an arrangement with her favourite page, Aubepin, for a night of love at the château. At midnight he arrived at the walls of the château. She called to him but the reply was a cry as the young page was in agony, with a dagger in his back. He died in her arms. For ten years Jeanne did not return. One Christmas day she wanted to hear mass in her château of Vence. She arrived, together with several friends. In the great hall a bush of may (‘aubépine’ in French) had grown on the exact spot where the page had died. Jeanne fell to her knees, stayed prostarate for along time, and by a miracle when she got up the bush was covered in red may-flowers. According to the legend, during the nights of Christmas a may-bush flowers in the château de la Reine Jeanne.

Leaving the Place du Grand Jardin, follow the avenue de la Résistance. Having reached the crossroad of Maréchal Juin, keep straight on, along the Avenue du Maréchal Foch and the Avenue Humbert Ricolfi. Take the second road on the right, the Chemin des Aspras. Then follow the Chemin de l’Ormée and the sentier de Rolland, which leads on to the chemin des Salles. There you will cross a large shady open space, then a little path which snakes through the garrigue to bring you facing another path which climbs up the hills. You keep to the left and cross the Guet du Malvan, a little stream. Above you, on a rocky spur, is the château de la Reine Jeanne, the real name of which is the château du Malvan. You pass in front of the chapel of St Raphaël, and the path leads you to the ruins of the château, the origins of which are very old. From the Xth century this spot served as a refuge for the habitants of Vence, as did the site of the Baou des Blancs. It was in 1747, during the retreat of the Imperial forces, that the château was destroyed.
The return walk follows the Chemin des Cambreniers, then passing under a viaduct, along the chemin des Combattants en AFN, reaching Vence by the Avenue Humbert Ricolfi and the Avenue de la Résistance.