Joan of Kent PLANTAGENET

1326 - 1385  (58 years)

• Name	Joan of Kent PLANTAGENET  [1]
  Birth	29 Sep 1326	Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Female
  TitleOfNobility	Abt 1335	England   [2]
  	TitleOfNobility
  Appointed	1378  [2]
  	Appointed
  Title	[2]
  	Title
  Name	Princess of Aquitaine  [2]
  _FSFTID	KDQ8-TWV
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KDQ8-TWV
  _UID	AE99D0C516FF4C9CB501C726254C1B353DA3
  Burial	Aug 1385	Grey Friars Church, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England   [1]
  Death	7 Aug 1385	Wallingford, Berkshire, England   [1]
  Person ID	I594767516	Carney Wehofer July 2025
  Last Modified	22 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	Edmund, of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent,   b. 5 Aug 1301, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England d. 19 Mar 1330, Winchester, City of Winchester, Hampshire, England (Age 28 years)
  Mother	Lady Margaret WAKE, Countess of Kent,   b. Abt 1299, Blisworth, Northamptonshire, England d. 29 Sep 1349, Longtown, Cumberland, England (Age ~ 50 years)
  Family ID	F536728942	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Thomas HOLLAND, 1st Earl of Kent,   b. Abt 1314, Upholland, Lancashire, England d. 26 Dec 1360, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France (Age ~ 46 years)
  Marriage	1340	Kent, England   [3]
  Children	1. John HOLAND,   b. 1348, Upholland, Lancashire, England d. Aft 1409, Thorpe Waterville, Northamptonshire, England (Age 62 years)   2. Thomas HOLLAND, 2nd Earl of Kent,   b. 1350, Upholland, Lancashire, England d. 25 Apr 1397, Arundel Castle, Arundel, Sussex, England (Age 47 years)   3. Joan HOLLAND, Duchess of Brittany,   b. Abt 1350, Broughton, Buckinghamshire, England d. Nov 1384, Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France (Age ~ 34 years)   4. Edmund DE HOLLAND,   b. 1351, Broughton, Buckinghamshire, England d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F536728940	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Jan 2023

  
  

• Notes

  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. Although the French chronicler Jean Froissart called her "the most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, and the most loving", the appellation "Fair Maid of Kent" does not appear to be contemporary. Joan inherited the titles 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell after the death of her brother John, 3rd Earl of Kent, in 1352. Joan was born on 29 September of either 1326[3] or 1327 and was the daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301-1330), by his wife, Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell. Edmund was the sixth son of King Edward I of England by his second wife, Margaret of France, daughter of King Philip III of France. Edmund was always a loyal supporter of his eldest half-brother, King Edward II, which placed him in conflict with that monarch's wife, Queen Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Edmund was executed in 1330 after Edward II was deposed; and Edmund's widow and four children (including Joan, who was only two-years-old, at the time) were placed under house arrest in Arundel Castle in Sussex, which had been granted to Edmund in 1326 by his half-brother the king following the execution of the rebel Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel. It was a time of great strain for the widowed Countess of Kent and her four children. They received respite after the new king, Edward III (Joan's half-first cousin), reached adulthood and took charge of affairs. He took on the responsibility for the family and looked after them well. Early marriages In 1340, at the age of twelve, Joan secretly married 26-year-old Thomas Holland of Upholland, Lancashire, without first gaining the royal consent necessary for couples of their rank. Shortly after the wedding, Holland left for the continent as part of the English expedition into Flanders and France. The following winter (1340 or 1341), while Holland was overseas, Joan's family arranged for her to marry William Montagu, son and heir of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury. It is not known if the 13-year-old Joan confided to anyone about her first marriage before marrying Montagu, who was her own age. Later, Joan indicated that she had not announced her existing marriage with Thomas Holland because she was afraid it would lead to Holland's execution for treason. She may also have been influenced to believe that the earlier marriage was invalid. Montagu's father died in 1344 and he became the 2nd Earl of Salisbury. When Holland returned from the French campaigns in about 1348, his marriage to Joan was revealed. Holland confessed the secret marriage to the King, and appealed to the Pope for the return of his wife. Salisbury held Joan captive so that she could not testify until the Church ordered him to release her. In 1349, the proceedings ruled in Holland's favor. Pope Clement VI annulled Joan's marriage to Salisbury and Joan and Thomas Holland were ordered to be married in the Church. Over the next eleven years, Thomas Holland and Joan had five children: 1. Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent 2. John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter 3. Lady Joan Holland (1356– 1384), who married John IV, Duke of Brittany (1339– 1399). 4. Lady Maud Holland (1359– 1391), who married firstly Hugh Courtenay and secondly Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny (1355– 1415). 5. Edmund Holland (c. 1354), who died young. He was buried in the church of Austin Friars, London. When the last of Joan's siblings died in 1352, the lands and titles of her parents devolved upon her, and she became the 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell. Her husband Holland was created Earl of Kent in right of his wife in 1360. Marriage to the Black Prince Her first husband, Thomas Holland, died in 1360. Some may infer that evidence of a long-held desire by Edward, the Black Prince (son of her half-first cousin King Edward III) for Joan may be found in the record of his presenting her with a silver cup, part of the booty from one of his early military campaigns. Although one generation removed from her, he was probably only three years younger, as the exact date of Joan's birth is undocumented. It is suggested that Edward's parents did not favour a marriage between their son and their former ward, but this may be ameliorated by the fact that King Edward assisted his son in acquiring all four of the needed dispensations for Edward to marry Joan. Queen Philippa (wife of Edward III) had made a favourite of Joan in her childhood. Both she and the King may have been concerned about the legitimacy of any resulting children, but such concerns were remediated by a second ruling of Pope Clement's successor upholding the initial ruling on Joan's previous marriage(s). In addition, Edward and Joan were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. Further complicating matters was the fact that Edward was godfather to Joan's son by Thomas Holland. At the King's request, the Pope granted the dispensations (4) allowing the two to be legally married. Matters moved fast and Joan was officially married to the Prince barely nine months after Holland's death, the official ceremony occurring on 10 October 1361 at Windsor Castle, with the King and Queen in attendance. The Archbishop of Canterbury presided. In 1362 the Black Prince was invested as Prince of Aquitaine, a region of France that had belonged to the English Crown since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England. He and Joan moved to Bordeaux, the capital of the principality, where they spent the next nine years. Two sons were born during this period to the royal couple. The elder son Edward of Angoulême (27 January 1365 – 1370) died at the age of six. At about the time of the birth of their younger son, the future King Richard II, the Black Prince was lured into a battle on behalf of King Peter of Castile and achieved one of his greatest victories; however, King Peter was later killed and there was no money to pay the troops. In the meantime, the Princess was forced to raise another army as her husband's enemies were threatening Aquitaine in his absence. Transition to Dowager Princess of Wales By 1371 the Black Prince was no longer able to perform his duties as Prince of Aquitaine because of his poor health; and shortly after burying their elder son the couple returned to England, where the Black Death was wreaking havoc. In 1372 the Black Prince forced himself to attempt one final, abortive campaign in the hope of saving his father's French possessions; but the exertion left his health completely shattered. He returned to England and on 7 June 1376, a week before his forty-sixth birthday, he died in his bed at the Palace of Westminster. Joan's son Prince Richard was next in line to succeed his grandfather. One year later, King Edward III died on 21 June 1377, and Richard acceded to the throne as Richard II; he was crowned the following month, at the age of 10. Early in his reign, the young King faced the challenge of the Peasants' Revolt. The Lollards, religious reformers led by John Wyclif, had enjoyed Joan's support, but the violent climax of the popular movement for reform reduced the feisty Joan to a state of terror, while leaving the King with an improved reputation. As the King's mother, Joan did exercise much influence behind the scenes, and was recognised as doing such during the early years of her son's reign. She also enjoyed a certain prestige and dignity among the people as an elderly, royal dowager. For example, in 1381 on her return to London (via her Wickhambreaux estate in Kent) from a pilgrimage to Thomas Becket's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral, she found her way barred by Wat Tyler and his mob of rebels on Blackheath; however, she was not only let through unharmed, but was saluted with kisses and provided with an escort for the rest of her journey. In January 1382, Richard II married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. Death and burial John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, was Joan's son by her first marriage; his wife Elizabeth of Lancaster was a daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, brother of the Black Prince. In 1385 while campaigning with his half-brother King Richard II in the Kingdom of Scotland, John Holland became involved in a quarrel with Sir Ralph Stafford, son of the 2nd Earl of Stafford, a favourite of the queen, Anne of Bohemia. Stafford was killed and John Holland sought sanctuary at the shrine of St John of Beverley. On the King's return, Holland was condemned to death. Joan pleaded with her royal son for four days to spare his half-brother and on the fifth day (the exact date in August is not known), she died, at Wallingford Castle. King Richard then relented and pardoned Holland, who was sent on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Joan was buried beside her first husband, as requested in her will, at the Greyfriars in Stamford, Lincolnshire. The Black Prince had built a chantry chapel for her in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent (where he himself was buried), with ceiling bosses sculpted with likenesses of her face. Another boss in the north nave aisle is also said to show her face. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Kent Birth, Parents and Early Life Joan was nicknamed by some in her lifetime as "the virgin of Kent" (possibly ironically in view of her marital history), and after her death as the "fair maid of Kent".[1] She was the daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, a son of Edward I, and Margaret Wake.[2] Her birth date is not wholly certain. 1353 Inquisitions Post Mortem for her brother John give her age as, variously, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 years and more, with the majority giving 24 and more:[3] so she was born between 1324 and 1331, probably in about 1328. Joan's father was executed in 1330[4] and she was afterwards taken into the household of Philippa of Hainault, Edward III's wife.[1] First Two Marriages and Children Possibly in or slightly before 1339 Joan secretly married Thomas de Holland, one of Edward III's household knights, without a priest being present. The possible date is given by a petition of May 1347 to the Pope in which Thomas de Holland said that he had married Joan over 8 years previously.[2] (The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says they married in the spring of 1340.[1]) Her mother was either unaware of this or regarded the marriage as invalid, for soon after (while Thomas was crusading in Prussia[2]) she arranged for Joan to marry William de Montagu, who was to become 2nd Earl of Salisbury in 1344, which was a much more advantageous marriage.[5][6] In May 1347 Thomas de Holland petitioned the Pope for his wife to be restored to him. Joan's mother and William de Montagu resisted. In a subsequent petition, Thomas de Holland stated that William was holding Joan in seclusion against her will. William was ordered to allow Joan to testify, and her testimony supported the validity of her marriage to Thomas. Despite this, proceedings dragged on. Eventually, in November 1349, Joan's marriage to William was annulled, and her marriage to Thomas was publicly confirmed as valid.[1][5][6] Very soon after, William married Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Mohun of Dunster.[6] Joan and Thomas de Holland had the following children: Thomas, born in 1350[1] (age 9 or 10 and more at his father's death in 1360[2]) John, who married Elizabeth, daughter of John of Gaunt[7][8] Edmund, who died in infancy[7][8] Joan, who married John de Montfort[7][8] Maud, who married Hugh de Courtenay and Waléran de Luxembourg[7][8] Countess of Kent Following the death of her brother John in December 1352, Joan inherited very extensive swathes of land across much of England[3] and became Countess of Kent in her own right. She and her husband were granted possession of these lands in February 1353.[2][9] Marriage to the Black Prince Thomas died in December 1360.[2] Joan, an extremely wealthy widow, was an attractive marriage prospect. In the first half of 1361 Edward, the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, son of Edward III, sought her hand even though there were discussions of his possible marriage to Margaret of Flanders. They appear to have been secretly betrothed - risking a repetition of the sort of difficulties that arose in relation to her first marriage, all the more so as they were cousins and therefore within the degrees of consanguinity for which a papal marriage dispensation was required. Stories by French chroniclers that the betrothal angered Edward III seem unlikely, as the king joined his son the Black Prince in requesting a papal dispensation: this was granted on 7 September 1361.[1] They were betrothed in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury on 6 October 1361 and married at Windsor four days later, on 10 October.[1][2] The marriage made her Princess of Wales. It seems to have been a happy relationship. In 1362 Edward the Black Prince paid substantial sums for her clothing; and, after he returned from Castile in 1367, she met him outside Bordeaux Cathedral; he dismounted from his horse and they walked hand-in-hand to the Bishop's palace.[1] Joan and the Black Prince had two sons: Edward, born in 1365, who died in 1370[1] Richard, born in January 1367, the future Richard II[1] Last Years and Death The Black Prince died on 8 July 1376[2] and Joan became guardian of their son the future Richard II, with a third of the revenues of Wales being set aside for her once he became Prince of Wales. Records of 1377-1385 show Richard granting a number of pardons at her request, so she seems to have been close to her son after his accession to the throne in 1377.[1] Joan appears to have been sympathetic to John Wycliffe and the incipient Lollard movement. Leading Lollard-inclining knights were close to her and in 1378 she stopped English bishops from condemning Wycliffe.[1] In 1379 John of Gaunt came into conflict with the citizens of London and sought refuge in one of her houses: she sent three knights to ask the Londoners to calm down for her sake, with an implication that she was popular in the city. During the 1381 Peasants' Revolt she was left unharmed, and leaders of the revolt invited her to kiss them.[1] In her last years Joan was very fat and her mobility suffered. She did not allow this to stop her travelling between the royal court and John of Gaunt in 1385 to try and effect a reconciliation and avert civil war when Richard II attempted to arrest John of Gaunt. In June that year Richard II, presumably fearing for her safety in uncertain times, set 13 knights to guard her while he was in Scotland. She died a few weeks later, probably at Wallingford Castle, Berkshire, where she signed her will on 7 August 1385. She was buried at Grey Friars, Stamford, Lincolnshire, where Thomas de Holland was buried,[2][7][8][10] on 27 January 1386, the funeral having been delayed until after the return of her son Richard II from Scotland.[1] The site of her burial is marked by a modern wall inscription.[11] Joan's will, dated 7 August 1385, was proved on 9 December 1385.[2] Inquisitions Post Mortem show the very large extent of Joan's landholdings. They give varying dates for her death: in July (clearly wrong in view of the date of her will) and August 1385.[12] Order of the Garter One of several legends for the origin of the Order of the Garter has it that its name is due to a garter slipping from Joan's leg when she was dancing, with Edward III picking it up and saying "Honi soit qui mal y pense!" - "Shame on anyone who think ill of this!"[13] In 1378 she was herself made a Lady of the Order of the Garter.[14] Sources ? 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Richard Barber for 'Joan, suo jure countess of Kent, and princess of Wales and of Aquitaine [called the Fair Maid of Kent]', print and online 2004 ? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, St Catherine Press, 1929, pp. 150-154, Internet Archive ? 3.0 3.1 A. E. Stamp, E. Salisbury, E. G. Atkinson and J. J. O'Reilly, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, Files 118 and 119', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 10, Edward III (London, 1921), pp. 41-57, British History Online, accessed 21 October 2022 ? G E Cokayne, Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, pp. 146-147, Internet Archive ? 5.0 5.1 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by M M N Stansfield for 'Holland, Thomas, earl of Kent, (c. 1315– 1360)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008 ? 6.0 6.1 6.2 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by John L. Leland for 'Montagu, William [William de Montacute], second earl of Salisbury, print and online 2004, revised online 2008 ? 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. II, pp. 485-496, Google Books ? 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol I, pp 97-103; Vol III, pp 424-433 ? Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Edward III, A.D. 1347-1356, HMSO, 1921, pp. 356-357, Hathi Trust ? Mark Duffy. Royal Tombs of Medieval England, Tempus, 2003, pp. 151-152 ? Image at Find A Grave: Memorial #46672269 ? M. C. B. Dawes, M. R. Devine, H. E. Jones and M. J. Post, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Richard II, File 41', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 16, Richard II (London, 1974), pp. 110-118, British History Online, accessed 21 October 2022 ? George Frederik Beltz. Memorials of the most noble Order of the Garter, William Pickering, 1841, pp. xlii-xliii, Internet Archive ? George Frederik Beltz. Memorials of the most noble Order of the Garter, p. ccxxi, Internet Archive

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Thomas Holland, person ID LBXV-7R4. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Joan of Kent, person ID KDQ8-TWV. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Thomas Holland, person ID M9WP-FX4. (Reliability: 3).