Less than a year later, the prince's father, King Edward III, died, and Joan's life was to change for the last, and perhaps the most significant time. As part of the royal family, she was expected to gain permission for such a marriage; to fail to gain such permission could result in a charge of treason and in execution. JOAN (1328-1385), the 'Fair Maid of Kent,' wife of Edward, prince of Wales, 'the Black Prince', and mother of Richard II, born in 1328, was probably the younger daughter and third child of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, sixth son of Edward I, who was beheaded 19 March 1330, and Margaret Wake. Rumor has it that the prince had worshipped Joan since they had played as children together and that he had refused to marry anyone else. As the Kentish rebels gathered for the attack on London in June 1381, Princess Joan, returning from a pilgrimage to Canterbury, found herself surrounded. Joan of Kent (1328–1385)English noblewoman, famous for her beauty, who married Edward, prince of Wales (the Black Prince), was the mother of Richard II, king … Dobson, R.B. Jones, R.H. The embattled period in Aquitaine, for all its dangers, and despite her husband's frequent absences, was probably a happy and fulfilling time for Joan. London: Allen Lane, 1978. The object of her affection was, of course, ultimately revealed to be the prince of Wales himself. Joan's slightly-younger cousin, Edward the Black Prince, had apparently been interested in Joan for many years. Encyclopedia.com. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Edward III arranged to have their secret marriage annulled by the Pope, but also to have the Pope grant the necessary special dispensation. Froissart, Jean. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/joan-kent-1328-1385. In 1385, Joan's older son John Holland (by her first marriage) was condemned to death for killing Ralph Stafford, and Joan tried to use her influence with her son Richard II to get Holland pardoned. Even worse, many of these picture of Joan give no indication of their origins, so that any net-surfer might well believe that they are accurate. Herald of Sir John Chandos. Her funeral seems not to have taken place until January 1386. One source places Joan at the meeting in a carriage (whirlicote) but the other chroniclers have her remaining in the Tower which, either during the meeting or shortly afterwards, was invaded by the insurgents. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/joan-kent-1328-1385, "Joan of Kent (1328–1385) One of these was Edward and Philippa's third son, Edward, known as Edward of Woodstock or the Black Prince, who was almost two years younger than Joan. Dates: September 29, 1328 - August 7, 1385, Titles: Countess of Kent (1352); Princess of Aquitaine. Edmund was executed after Edward II's deposition, and Joan's mother, along with her children… On 10 October 1361 the prince, now in his 31st year, married his cousin Joan, Countess of Kent, daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, younger son of Edward I, and Margaret, daughter of Philip III of France, and widow of Thomas lord Holland, and in right of his wife Earl of Kent, then in her thirty-third year, and the mother of three children. ——. "Joan of Kent." The marriage of Joan of Kent to Edward, Prince of Wales, heir to the English throne proved to be in some ways quite as scandalous as her previous marital adventures with Sir Thomas Holland and William Montague, Earl of Salisbury. The pattern of her life changed significantly once again within a few months of her husband's death when she agreed to marry the king's eldest son, Edward, prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince (so-called because of the color of his favorite armor). Joan of Kent was the daughter of Prince Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent and his wife Margaret Wake; wife of the Black Prince and mother to King Richard II. The Peasants' Revolt of June 1381 challenged the way in which the governing classes saw the world; their Godordained, time-honored position was being violently threatened, and they could neither explain nor control the chaos which ensued. Edmund's support of his older half-brother, King Edward II of England, placed him in conflict with the queen, Isabella of France, and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Thanks for Liking. London: Macmillan, 1970. Recognizing his need for independence now that he was married, King Edward conferred this fertile region of western France upon his eldest son and, as a contemporary observed, "the very noble Prince took his wife with him, for that he loved her greatly." Joan, as might be expected, appears in the central focus of all the accounts, though the incidents happened so quickly and amidst so much confusion that the descriptions of her whereabouts are sometimes contradictory. Joan and Edward returned to England with their surviving son, Richard, and Edward died in 1376. As quickly as they had come, the rebels departed, and Richard's first concern, on reentering the city, was for his mother. However, though she was certainly aware that her life was in the gravest danger, Joan, showing great courage and presence of mind, managed to persuade the rebels to set her free. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. He had been a notable moneylender to the Crown; Joan was among his debtors, owing him 1,000 marks when he died, having given him a single nouche as security). She died a few days later; Richard did pardon his half-brother. Dictionary of National Biography. Joan was a daughter of Edmund, earl of Kent (d. 1330), and succeeded as countess in 1353. Edward III (son of Edward II of England and Isabella of France) became King. Lewis, Jone Johnson. McKisack, May. m (1339 or before) as her first husband, JOAN of Kent, daughter of EDMUND Earl of Kent & his wife Margaret Baroness Wake (29 Sep 1328-Wallingford Castle, Berkshire 7, 8 or 21 Aug 1385, bur 29 Jan 1386 Greyfriars Church, Stamford, Lincolnshire, probably later transferred to London). This is a very well written book and gives one an idea of the life and times these people lived through. 2021 . Described by Froissart as “the most beautiful woman in the realm of England and the most loved”, Joan of Kent is perhaps best remembered as a figure of romance and scandal. 29 Mar. The appellation "Fair Maid of Kent… Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1911–1922. A Papal Bull of 1377, instructing the archbishop of Canterbury to warn the king against Wycliffe's heresies, mentioned Joan by name and included several of her household knights in the list of Wycliffe's followers. Richard II. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Joan's mother and her four children, of whom Joan of Kent was the youngest, were placed under house arrest in Arundel Castle after Edmund's execution. He died on 26 Dec 1360 in Plouigneau, Brittany, France. Richard, on his departure for a campaign in Scotland on June 12, assigned five of his trusted knights to remain with his mother for her protection during his absence. 2 vols. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. Joan of Kent (1328-1385), Known as 'the Fair Maid of Kent'; former wife of 2nd Earl of Salisbury and Sir Thomas Holland, and later wife of Edward, Prince of Wales. Edited H.T. There are indeed a number of images of Joan of Kent but very few are contemporary. Edited by J.R. Lumby. She's less well known for her military leadership in Aquitaine in her husband's absence, and for her involvement with the religious movement, the Lollards. They responded, the chronicler reports, respectfully (reverentia), and agreed to a settlement, provided the duke accepted certain conditions. According to Froissart, Joan spent much of her childhood in the household of Philippa of Hainault. She's less well known for her military leadership in Aquitaine in her husband's absence, and for her involvement with the religious movement, the Lollards. The match was not made without some difficulty; the king's permission was sought only after the event and, once given, a Papal dispensation had to be obtained, since the two were related and Edward had served as godfather to Joan's sons. In his absence, the earl of Salisbury seized his chance to enter into a contract of marriage with Joan. The Fourteenth Century. (Roger was a cousin of Joan of Kent's maternal grandmother.) The account of the Chandos Herald is even more impressive: [S]ince the birth of God such fair state was never kept as his, nor more honourable, for ever he had at his table more than fourscore knights and full four times as many squires. ." Barber, Richard. He was born about 1320 in Upholland, Lancashire, England. A List of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Descendants Through John, King of England, Edward III of England and the Hundred Years' War, M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School, Father: Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (half-brother to King Edward II of England), Paternal Grandfather: Edward I of England, Paternal Grandmother: Marguerite of France, Maternal Grandfather: John Wake, Baron Wake of Liddell (descended from the Welsh king, Llywelyn the Great), Maternal Grandmother: Joan de Fiennes (cousin of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March), William de Montacute (or Montagu), 2nd Earl of Salisbury. To complicate matters, Thomas Holland went overseas to serve in the military, and at that time, her family married Joan to the son of Catherine and William Montacute, also named William. Death! The citizens of London welcomed the prince and princess on April 19 and presented them with a magnificent gift of gold plate to celebrate their return; Joan wrote personally to thank the citizens for their generosity and, as will be seen, she was to call upon their friendship and support in later, more troubled times. View the profiles of people named Joan Kent. However, Joan was only two years old when the earl was executed for treason. As Froissart describes the scene, the invading peasants broke Joan's bed "whereby she was so sore affrayed that she swooned." Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Then the king answered and said: "Certainly, madam, I know it well; but now rejoice yourself and thank God, for now it is time. She, so the story goes, would have nothing to do with the proposition and only when repeatedly pressed did she admit that she was already in love with someone else. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). She married Thomas Holland, first Baron Holland. Richard II's mother, Joan of Kent (c. 1328-85), was a granddaughter of Edward I. London: Rolls Series, 1863–64. She found her 14-year-old son, the king, in the Tower of London, having gathered together with a number of his ministers in fear and bewilderment, apprehensive of the advancing peasant mobs and uncertain that the citizens of London could be relied upon to provide defense. The Royal Policy of Richard II. Joan of Kent was the daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent and brother of Edward II. Now I have neither heart nor blood nor vein, but every member fails me when I call to mind his departure; for all the world says this, that never did any man adventure himself on so perilous an expedition. The Life of the Black Prince. (2020, August 26). Retrieved March 29, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/joan-kent-1328-1385. Their son was Richard II of England. Joan and Edward continued to be deeply in love, indeed their marriage helped to create a new courtly and literary emphasis on the possibility of love existing within marriage; earlier fashion had regarded marriage among the nobility as a practical necessity, undertaken for reasons which were primarily political and economic, with love confined to extra-marital liaisons. (She was also Countess of Salisbury for a time.) The Black Prince. When the Peasants' Revolt happened, Joan lost some of her influence on the king. Also known as: "The Fair Maid of Kent" -- apparently a literary invention from long after she lived, not a title she was known by in her lifetime. Of lamentation and sighing, of crying aloud and sorrowing, there was so great a noise that there was no man living in the world, if he had beheld the grief, but would have had pity at heart. They are certainly not authentic and give no true idea of her attractiveness or otherwise. Edmund was a younger son of Edward I by his 2nd wife, Margaret of France; he married Margaret Wake in 1325. Holland seems to have been Joan's own choice; they had made a verbal marriage contract and probably lived together for a short time before he was called away to the war in France. ." Joan, Duchess of Cornwall, Countess of Chester and Countess of Kent, was the first member of the English royal family to bear the title Princess of Wales. Historia Anglicana. The life of Joan of Kent was marked by frequent, sudden change and was full of adventure. Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales (known as The Black Prince). There were held jousts and feasts in Angoulême and Bordeaux. Entering "the chamber of the king and of his mother with their filthy sticks … they arrogantly lay and sat on the king's bed while joking; and several asked the king's mother to kiss them." Knowing that Edward's mother, who had once considered Joan a favorite, now opposed their relationship, Joan and Edward decided to get secretly married -- again, without the required consent. (March 29, 2021). Joan of Kent Following the successes of the French campaign, Montagu became one of the Founders of the Order of the Garter when it was created by Edward III in April 1348. Father beheaded (1330) when she was two years old; married Thomas Holland and then contracted to earl of Salisbury; restored to Holland (1349); became countess of Kent (1352); left England for Normandy with Holland (1358); married Edward, prince of Wales (1361), following Holland's death; lived in Aquitaine where another two sons were born (1362–71); following death of husband (1376), her son Richard became heir to the throne of England and succeeded his grandfather (1377); guided her son and played a significant role in English politics until her death (1385). Joan, Countess of Kent (29 September 1328 – 7 August 1385), known to history as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the first Princess of Wales. Joan was the 3rd of 4 children, and was born on … Chronicon Angliae, 1328–1388. However, the most dramatic events of Joan's event-filled life were yet to occur. London: Rolls Series, 1874. Edited by E.M. Thompson. Knighton, Henry. Joan had a life full of adventure and variety, in which she managed to bring most of her children to adulthood. Like voting is closed. They sought refuge at Kennington where Joan received them. She subsequently sent three of her knights to entreat the Londoners, "out of their love for her," to agree to make peace with the duke and to restore order. Joan, now aged 33, was two years older than Edward, who was Europe's most eligible bachelor. The wedding was celebrated in October 1361, and, after spending a few months in England, the couple left for Aquitaine. In the early part of the year, she journeyed between Wallingford, where she now lived, close to London, to Pontefract, in the north of England, in a successful attempt to patch up a quarrel between Richard and John of Gaunt. By her early teens, Joan had become a strikingly attractive woman: to the French author of the Chronique des Quatre Premiers Valois, she was "one of the loveliest women in the world." There was certainly sympathy among many at Richard's court, including John of Gaunt, for Wycliffe's criticisms of the Catholic Church, and in particular for his anti-papal theories. 2 vols. On Thursday, June 13, the rebels entered the city and began burning and looting, one of their first targets being John of Gaunt's palace of the Savoy. Joan's interests were well represented by the appointment of several of her loyal supporters to the council, and Joan herself remained at the center of the court, close to her son in both physical proximity and affection. The events, which involved peasants from all over southern, northern, and eastern England, centered upon the attack of the rebels from Kent and Essex upon the city of London and, reflecting the stunned, horrified reaction of the ruling classes, the chronicles of the period describe the events minutely, almost in the equivalent of frame-byframe slow motion, in order that the reader should miss none of the bloody turmoil of the time. Two very different incidents which occurred in 1378, the first full year of the new reign, indicate Joan's powerful position: she was inducted into the Order of the Garter, and she succeeded in stopping heresy proceedings against the reformist preacher John Wycliffe. Known for: Joan of Kent was known for her relationships with several important royal figures of medieval England, and for her impetuous clandestine marriages, and for her beauty. Born in 1328, the third child and second daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, and Margaret Wake of Liddell , she was of royal blood, as her father was the sixth son of Edward I Longshanks. See: Joan of Kent was only two when her father, Edmund of Woodstock, was executed for treason. Lewis, Jone Johnson. She had become countess of Kent following her father's death some 20 years before and now, as mother of the young King Richard II, might provide either a useful hostage or a symbolic victim for the desperate peasants. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Princess Joan of Kent, suo jure 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell, later the first Princess of Wales, as wife to Edward, the Black Prince, son and heir of King Edward III. When Thomas Holland returned to England, he appealed to the King and to the Pope to have Joan returned to him. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1976. Froissart, the medieval French author, claimed Joan to be: The most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, and the most amorous. Joan was to remain in Aquitaine for nine years. NY: AMS Press, 1967. However, it was not an external, physical danger which threatened Joan this time. Lewis, Jone Johnson. Encyclopedia.com. Sitter in 1 portrait. Having escaped the clutches of the Kentish rebels, Joan completed the journey from Canterbury to London in one day. Since marriage to her beloved was impossible, Joan told Edward that she had resolved never to marry. Name variations: Princess of Wales; Fair Maid of Kent; Joan, countess of Kent; Joan Plantagenet. He succeeded as Earl of Kent, de iure uxoris. Translated from the French by John Bourchier, Lord Berners. English noblewoman, famous for her beauty, who married Edward, prince of Wales (the Black Prince), was the mother of Richard II, king of England, and left her own her mark on history. Joan's son (by Edward III's son Edward the Black Prince) was crowned Richard II, though he was only ten years old. England's political interests were so firmly focused on the Continent that their courts at Bordeaux and Angoulême were constantly receiving visitors from home, and the court culture which Joan and Edward developed in Aquitaine was not inferior to that of Westminster; indeed Froissart, who must often have visited the area himself, observed that "the state of the Prince and Princess was so great that in all Christendom was none like." Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. The eldest, Edward of Angoulême, died at age six. Countess of Kent (1352-1385) Princess of Wales Born 1328 Died 1385. [2] Her father Edmund was the son of King Edward I and his second wife, Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III of France. Having received word that Henry was using French territory to assemble his army, Joan sent a series of letters and messages to the king of France "desiring him not to consent that the bastard of Spain should make her any manner of war, saying that her resort was to the court of France, certifying to him that much evil might ensue and many inconveniences fall thereby." https://www.thoughtco.com/joan-of-kent-3529659 (accessed March 30, 2021). Joan of Kent is a fascinating woman as was her husband The Black Prince. Her son Richard had been created prince of Wales four months after the death of the Black Prince, at the age of 9. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. The prince was a better soldier than administrator; his harsh and unbending rule of the region lead to resentment and revolts, and his love of the battlefield meant that he was frequently away from his capital at Bordeaux, campaigning in French territory and in parts of Spain, leaving Joan alone. During that time, Joan's mother died of the plague. Edward the Black Prince became involved in a war on behalf of Pedro of Castile, a war which was at first militarily successful but, when Pedro died, financially disastrous. The French conceit of courtly love had crossed the channel and become the fashionable mode of behavior; ladies were the objects of knightly devotion, and love was as important at the court as courage was on the battlefield. She was astute and courageous, and life in Aquitaine gave her the chance to demonstrate these qualities. Once established in Aquitaine, Joan would probably not have often pined for home. Perhaps when she was as young as 11, but more likely when she was 15 or 16 years old, she was the subject of a dispute between two prospective husbands, William de Montacute, earl of Salisbury, and his steward of the household, Sir Thomas Holland. What should I do, God and Love, if I were to lose the very flower of nobleness … him who has no peer in the world in valour? Richard, unavoidably detained in Scotland, gave instructions that her body was to be wrapped in wax swathings and kept in a lead coffin until his return, no doubt so that he might make his last farewell. Joan "of Kent" de Holand (born of Kent) was born on month day 1328, at birth place, to Edmund Of Woodstock 1st Earl of Kent of Woodstock, Plantagenet, 1st Earl of Kent and Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of of Woodstock, Plantagenet, 1st Earl of Kent (born Liddell). When Edward III became old enough to reject the regency of Isabella and Roger Mortimer, he and his Queen, Philippa of Hainault, brought Joan to court, where she grew up among her royal cousins. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. It is believed that the Order of the Garter was founded in honor of Joan of Kent, though this is disputed. In his absence in Prussia, she soon contracted a second marriage with the earl of Salisbury; this was annulled nine years later, in 1349. Joan, Countess of Kent (29 September 1326/7 – 7 August 1385), known to history as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the mother of King Richard II of England, her son by her third husband, Edward the Black Prince, son and heir apparent of King Edward III.