Jeanne de Constantinople: Comtesse de Flandre et de Hainaut

Jeanne’s childhood is shattered by loss: her mother dies in distant lands and her father, the emperor, falls shortly after, leaving her orphaned before her fifteenth birthday. Inherited with the wealth of the ancient Gaul‑Belgian provinces, she quickly becomes a pawn in the ambitions of King Philip Augustus, who seizes her and her sister and holds them in Paris as political hostages. When the Flemish finally secure her return, Jeanne is thrust into a marriage forged by intrigue, binding her to Fernand of Portugal, a restless yet daring prince.

The early years of her rule are marked by blood‑soaked conflict and the looming threat of French conquest. As her husband is captured and imprisoned, Jeanne must navigate a landscape of shifting alliances while bearing the heavy burden of both queen and sovereign. Her relentless pleas for Fernand’s freedom and her fierce defense of Flemish autonomy reveal a woman whose resilience defines an entire era.