Historical documentary about Joan of Navarre, the only Queen of England ever accused of witchcraft! Joan was imprisoned by her stepson Henry V in 1419 so he could steal her fortune to fund his wars in France: the Battle of Agincourt! This wasn’t a witch trial. It was a mugging with a supernatural alibi. Henry V needed money. Joan had £6,600 a year. He accused her of sorcery and necromancy. She was kept locked up at Leeds Castle for 3 years. No trial. No evidence. Just royal robbery dressed up in medieval terror. On his deathbed, Henry V admitted what he’d done.
In this episode:
- Joan’s massive dower: 12% of England’s total royal income
- Why Henry V was desperate for cash by 1419
- The witchcraft accusation that let him seize everything
- Why there was never a trial
- Her comfortable “imprisonment” at Leeds Castle
- Henry V’s deathbed confession
*Further Reading:*
Leeds Castle official site: https://www.leeds-castle.com A.R. Myers,
“The Captivity of a Royal Witch” (scholarly article): https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/j…
Christopher Allmand on Henry V and Joan: https://archive.org/details/henryv000…
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Secret Bonus Facts: *The Relationship Nobody Discusses:* Lord Thomas Camoys – widower, Agincourt hero, Knight of the Garter – didn’t just visit Joan at Leeds Castle. He moved in with her. For nine months. Until his death in March 1421. Historian Susan Higginbotham is the only scholar who even hints at it: “One wonders if Camoys was a special friend of Joan’s.” That’s it. One line in the entire historiography. But consider: Joan had nine children by her first husband. Henry IV was besotted enough to marry her and grant her the largest dower ever given to an English queen. This was a charismatic, sexually vital woman in her early 50s. Camoys was 70, a widower, with nothing to gain and enormous reputational risk from associating with an accused witch. Yet he moved in, while she was under arrest, for nine months. As a journalist rather than an academic, I’ll say what historians won’t: it looks less like guard duty and more like a final, defiant romance. And, to be quite blunt… what else did Joan have to do with her time while she was incarcerated? There is no primary evidence to support this hypothesis. Merely the raised eyebrows of the possibility. Also worth considering is that Joan wasn’t simply a prisoner. She was a hostage. Necessary because her family were actively fighting Henry V. Joan’s brother Charles III of Navarre was killed at Agincourt. Her son Arthur of Brittany led an attack on Henry’s camp at Agincourt, was wounded, captured, and held prisoner. Joan pleaded for Arthur’s release. Henry refused. And any money transferred from the English Crown to Joan wasn’t simply an expense – it was also a potential national security threat. Particularly in those amounts. —- “The candle flickers but the darkness cannot put it out.”
You’ve scrolled too far. There is nothing down here. But… since you’re here… The Silence That’s Deafening: Camoys died at Leeds Castle in March 1421. A 70-year-old man died while living with a woman accused of trying to murder the king through sorcery? If the Crown genuinely believed their witchcraft charge, his death would have used as evidence. “See? She’s killed another one!” But there was… nothing. No investigation. No accusations. Complete silence. Why? One possible explanation ties back to the earlier speculation: everyone at Leeds Castle knew they were a couple. His death at 70 would be seen as natural. Claiming she “hexed” him would require admitting the intimate relationship – embarrassing for the royal family. In this case, the silence is the evidence. If they believed their own accusations, they’d have used his death. They didn’t.