page_title: Joan, Countess of Flanders
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Joan, Countess of Flanders / Political role / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Hainaut, Joan of Constantinople (1205-1244), Maille, struck in Valenciennes. Obverse: Monogram of Hainaut; legend: +VA LE CE NE. Reverse: Cross with four crescents. Nederlands: Henegouwen, Johanna van Constantinopel (1205-1244), Maille, geslagen in Valenciennes. Voorzijde: Monogram van Henegouwen; omschrift: +VA LE CE NE. Keerzijde: Kruis met vier sikkels.
context_page_description: Joan, often called Joan of Constantinople, ruled as Countess of Flanders and Hainaut from 1205 until her death. She was the elder daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Marie of Champagne.
  Orphaned during the Fourth Crusade, Joan was raised in Paris under the tutelage of King Philip II of France. He arranged her marriage to Infante Ferdinand of Portugal in 1212. Ferdinand quickly turned against Philip, starting a war that ended with the defeat of Bouvines and his imprisonment. Joan then ruled her counties alone from the young age of 14. She faced the rivalry of her younger sister, Margaret, as well as the revolt of her domains – guided by a man who claimed to be her father. After the end of the war, Ferdinand was released but died soon after. Joan then married Thomas of Savoy. She died in 1244 at the Abbey of Marquette near Lille, having survived her only child, a daughter by Ferdinand.
  Joan's policies favored economic development in her counties; in fact, she granted several charters to the Flemish cities. She played an important role in the development of the Mendicant orders, the Beguines, the Victorines and hospital communities in her domains.
context_section_description: Countess Joan, in the early years of her personal reign (1214–1226), conducted a policy favorable to the development of Flemish cities. She provided legal and tax privileges to Dunkirk, Ghent, Lille, Mardyck, Seclin (1216), Biervliet and Ypres (1225). In Kortrijk, in 1217, she promoted the influx of workers for the wool industry by exempting from the taille tax to people who come to settle in this city. After the return of her husband Ferrand, she confirmed this political orientation, by granting Douai, Ghent, Ypres, Bruges and Lederzeele new privileges, which gave them greater autonomy vis-à-vis from the Comital power. After the death of Ferrand (1233), she maintained the Lille Charter and authorized the construction of a belfry at Valenciennes.
  Then, after her marriage with Thomas of Savoy (1237–1244), she complemented this policy through tax exemptions, reorganization of the judicial system, measures to promote river commerce and sea ports, concerning the cities of Bergues, Bourbourg, Bruges, Damme, Veurne, Muiden and Kaprijke. In less urban areas, particularly in Hainaut, the comital power remained strong. Under constant pressure from the Flemish bourgeoisie, aware of Joan's need of their support against the King of France, she pursued a policy that promoted economic development and urban autonomy, not without tax counterparties.
  To promote river commerce, Joan ordered in 1237 the construction of water gates at Menen and Harelbeke, making the Leie river navigable. Then in 1242, with Thomas of Savoy, she authorized the aldermen of Lille to create three locks in Marquette-lez-Lille to Wambrechies and Lille itself, extending the network to the Deûle river. The latter was ultimately not built, but replaced by a double door in Le Quesnoy.
caption: Silver denier, struck in Valenciennes under Joan of Constantinople
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