Johanna I

Johanna I (14 March 1712-9 August 1785) was the third female ruler of Ferrodwiyin, reigning from 7 June 1738 until her death in 1785 at the age of 72. Her reign is considered the start of Ferrodwiyin's golden age, which ended with the death of her daughter Adelaide I. She was born in Thorb, Ferrodwiyin as Elizabeth Anne Mary Johanna of Itius-Vorlingtoon, and came to power following a coup d'état that overthrew her husband Ferdinand II, after which he was arrested and transported to his countryside estate of Blor Palace, where he committed suicide in 1746. It is widely agreed that Ferrodwiyin became a fully-developed power under her reign.

Johanna usually relied on her noble favourites, especially Gregory Kschernski, 3rd Prince Kschernski, and Lord Henry Moirskonki. The Duke of Renaux and the Count of Aurora were stripped from their position at court by her husband, although they returned as Johanna's favourites shortly after she ascended the throne. Supported by powerful generals and admirals, Johanna's tenure saw the expansion of Ferrodwiyin through both diplomacy and war.

Johanna's reign, dubbed the Johannian Era, marked the peak of the nobility's prominence. Under her, all nobles were freed from compulsory military service. She also sponsored the building of many nobles' mansions, both in the city and in the countryside.

Early life

Johanna was born to Prince Nicholas Johann of Itius-Vorlingtoon and Princess Marian of Virycova. Her father was the second son of Ivan II, Duke of Itius Vorlingtoon, and her mother was the youngest daughter of the impoverished Prince Richard, Duke of Virycova and second son of King John IX Augustus, brother of the short-reigning Ferdinand I, and uncle of Ferdinand II, who had fallen out of his father's favour when he firstly married Lady Dianne Tesovus, daughter of the Count of Ebia, without his consent and against Ernest IV's Ernestine Laws. Although both his parents were born into royalty, the family had little money, and both the ducal and royal family refused to provide them with any.

Their life was barely sustained by Nicholas's salary as Governor of Thorb, a post given to him by John IX as what was called a titre de la pitié, a title or job given to those that had fallen out of favour and run out of money so they could keep on mingling with the upper classes without being part of the civil list.

From ages 3-9 she was tutored by a French governess. When she turned 10, her aunt Catherine, Grand Princess of Gallymnana, petitioned her dying brother-in-law permission to bring Johanna (nicknamed Lili by her family) to court, arguing she shouldn't pay for Richard's mistakes. She also negotiated marrying her to the future Ferdinand II, styled Grand Prince in Gallymnana at the time. Princess Marian, historically described as cold, abusive, and insatiably power-hungry, agreed to her cousin's proposal right away. The couple first met when Johanna was 11, and her in her diaries she stated she found him "quite detestable, hideous-looking, childish at best" and "down right not agreeable at the least". It is known Johanna usually avoided Ferdinand as much as possible, resorting to staying at one end of the palace while Ferdinand stayed at the other. At the beginning of her stay at court, Princess Marian was a common visitor. She was eventually banned from court for having an affair with the Baron Hornoff. Prince Nicholas used his wife's affair as evidence to get a divorce, after which Marian was legally barred from marrying again.

Upon arriving to Sigismund Palace, Johanna spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only with the newly-accessed Ferdinand I, but with the Ferrodwiyinian population. In her journal, she wrote: "I have made up my mind to do whatever necessary to gain my future country's favour. I will believe whatever I have to believe, say whatever I have to say, and act however I have to act, to be fully qualified to enjoy the right to wear the crown."

Nicholas, a devout Lutheran, opposed his daughter's conversion to catholicism. On 14 March 1724, she was formally received into the Catholic Church, and the following day the official betrothal took place. Johanna and Ferdinand married on 28 June 1727, when she was 17. The newlyweds settled in the palace of Blirstpalas, which remained the residence of the petite cour for the following ten years.

Marriage

From the beginning, Johanna's marriage was sour. Weeks after they settled with their court at Blirstpalas as Grand Prince and Princess of Gallymnana, Ferdinand initiated an affair with Princess Lilian Fischeltskaya-Slobotskaya, the eldest daughter of Johanna's chamberlain Erhard, 1st Prince Fischeltsky-Slobotsky. She initiated a close friendship with Princess Olga, Lilian's younger sister, who introduced her to several groups conformed by high-ranking military officers and courtiers that opposed Ferdinand, whose temperament had become unbearable to all, including his lifelong friends Lucian de Nenci, 26th Duke of Renaux, and Stanislaw von Cynek, 14th Count of Aurora, styled Marquess of Olvum and Baron of Cynek respectively at the time. In 1732, Johanna became pregnant with her first child, Ferdinand Augustus, who died three months later. Three years later, she gave birth to their second child and only daughter, Adelaide, Duchess of Sarandion, who would later become Queen Adelaide I.

Reign of Ferdinand II and the coup d'état of June 1738

On 30 December 1737, King Ferdinand I died of pneumonia after reigning for 10 prosperous years. Johanna's husband rose to the throne as Ferdinand II, and she became Queen consort.

Ferdinand II was known throughout the Holy Union of Crowns for his admiration of King Peter II of Bedoria, who at the time was High King of the Union. His eccentricities and policies, one of which consisted in changing Ferrod's military uniforms from a light blue to the red used in Bedoria, alienated and angered the groups Johanna had cultivated.

On the night of 28 June 1738, Johanna was notified by General Aleksandr Shuyopov that Prince Paul de Rohè had been imprisoned by her estranged husband. He "urge[d] Her Majesty to be quick on putting aside all pendant matters, for the plan can and most likely will be discovered if we [they] continue[d] to delay it". That night, Johanna left the palace for Egano Palace, where the Petrovich Regiment was based. She delivered a speech to the soldiers requesting protection and support. The following day, Cardinal Jacques de Ahuet ordained and proclaimed Johanna sole ruler of Ferrodwiyin in a discreet ceremony at the Palace's chapel.

On 3 June, Ferdinand decided to move to Blirstpalas accompanied by his loyal courtiers, leaving Johanna in Sigismund Palace. On June 4, while Ferdinand and his court were dining, the Imperial Guards revolted and arrested them, proceeding to take them to Sigismund on Johanna's orders. Once he got to the palace, she forced him to sign an abdication document in her favour, so nobody could dispute her accession to the throne.

Ferdinand hanged himself four years later in Egano Palace.

Second Marriage

In 1740 Johanna married Lord Matthew de Nenci, only brother of the 27th Duke of Renaux, with whom she had an affair before Ferdinand II's death. The couple first met on her arrival to Andalacia, where the 26th Duke, the future 27th Duke (styled Marquess of Olvum at the time), and Lord Matthew received her on the orders of the elderly John IX Augustus. She wrote of him on her diary: "We were received by the Ld. Duke of Renaux and his sons, the Ld. Marquess of Olvum and the Ld. Matthew. Though I found both boys very agreeable and handsome, Ld. Matthew surely was the most of both, with a delicate charm to both his attitude and his looks." Later that year she gave birth to their only son, Prince Martin, Duke of Trevalon, who founded the Trevalon-Nenci branch of the House of Sirene. His descendants are ineligible to inherit the Dukedom of Renaux but remain in the line of succession to the Ferrodwiyinian throne. Lord Matthew was created Prince Consort of Ferrodwiyin in 1742.

Reign

Johanna's reign began an uninterrupted period of Ferrodwiyinian supremacy in the Holy Union of Kingdoms, starting with her election as High Queen in 1743, with all but one High King until 1915 being Ferrodwiyinian. She was the second female to be elected to the position, the first being Christina of Ferrodwiyin in 1578.

In 1740, Johanna and Prince Matthew published On The Rights and Obligations of The Noble Estate, the nobility's maximum governing document, where each rank's (High, Medium, and Lower) privileges and duties were delimited.

From 1742 until 1748, many imposters who claimed to be Johanna's dead husband attempted to overthrow her, although she quickly incarcerated them and smashed the uprisings. The most famous of them was Sir William von Humbertine, a member of the Lower Nobility who managed to convince many minor nobles by assuring them they would be raised to the Middle and Higher Nobility once he was on the throne. The uprisings ended when she published her husband's abdication document and declared her daughter Adelaide would be given preference over Prince Martin as the daughter of two Sovereign Monarchs.

The arts and sciences flourished under Johanna, with the creation of the first Palace of Fine Arts and Academy of the Sciences taking place in 1750 and 1755 respectively.

Later Years and Death

Ferrodwiyin remained relatively peaceful after 1748. Johanna carried a good relationship with foreign sovereigns and national ministers that helped ensure the peace for the Kingdom and the region.

Since 1772, Johanna reported to Sir John Durhamn, her personal physician, several pains and bouts of low energy. At the beginning, Sir John instructed her not to worry. However, as the pain became more intense, she and Prince Matthew retired to her Kintcot House in 1776, leaving the government in the hands of Adelaide, who regularly visited her mother and reported the government's actions.

Adelaide died on 7 February 1785. Her last words were, according to her confidante and lady-in-waiting Princess Olga Fischeltskaya-Slobotskaya, ‘I hope I do not meet with Ferdinand anytime soon'. Prince Matthew died three weeks later.