Jeanne was born in about 1195, the eldest daughter of
Guillaume des Roches, Seneschal of Anjou and one of the greatest barons in Anjou and Maine. Her mother was
Marguerite de Sablé, Dame de Sablé who had brought the rich Sablé barony to her husband. Jeanne had a brother Robert, who died in 1204, and a younger sister Clémence, Viscountess de Chateaudun (died after September 1259). Her paternal grandparents were Baudoin des Roches and Alix de Châtellerault, and her maternal grandparents were
Robert de Sablé and Clémence de Mayenne, daughter of Geoffroy, Sire de Mayenne and
Isabelle de Meulan. Jeanne's father was a knight who had fought in the
Third Crusade in the service of the
Angevin kings of England and King
Philip II of France.
Inheritance Upon her father's death on 15 July 1222 Jeanne, being the eldest surviving child, succeeded to the seneschalship of Anjou, as well as his vast lordships which included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Mayet, Loupeland, Chateauneuf-sur-Sarte, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon. Jeanne did homage to King
Louis IX of France for '''' in a charter dated 27 January 1226. By March 1219 Jeanne was married to Amaury I, Sire de Craon. He was the son of
Maurice II, Sire de Craon and
Isabelle de Meulan. Jeanne's mother-in-law,
Isabelle de Meulan was also her maternal great-grandmother, as Isabelle had married twice; Geoffroy de Mayenne was her first husband, and Maurice de Craon her second. The seneschalship and barony passed to her husband upon their marriage. Jeanne died on 28 September 1238. Her husband had died in 1226. ==Issue==