Joan of Acre
Encyclopedia
Joan of Acre was an English princess, a daughter of the King Edward I of England
and queen Eleanor of Castile
. The name "Acre
" derives from her birthplace in the Holy Land
while her parents were on a crusade.
She was married twice; her first husband was Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, one of the most powerful nobles in her father's kingdom; her second husband was Ralph de Monthermer
, a squire
in her household whom she married in secrecy.
Joan is most notable for the claim that miracles have allegedly taken place at her grave, and for the multiple references of her in literature.
and Eleanor
of Castile, were on crusade. At the time of Joan's birth, her grandfather, Henry III
, was still alive and thus her father was not yet king of England. Her parents departed from Acre shortly after her birth, traveling to Sicily and Spain before leaving Joan with Eleanor's mother, Joan, Countess of Ponthieu, in France. Joan lived for several years in France where she spent her time being educated by a bishop and “being thoroughly spoiled by an indulgent grandmother.” Joan was free to play among the “vine clad hills and sunny vales” surrounding her grandmother’s home, although she required “judicious surveillance.”
As Joan was growing up with her grandmother, her father was back in England, already arranging marriages for his daughter. He hoped to gain both political power and more wealth with his daughter's marriage, so he conducted the arrangement in a very “business like style”. He finally found a man suitable to marry Joan (aged 5 at the time), Hartman, son of King Rudoph I, of Germany. Edward then brought her home from France for the first time to meet him. As she had spent her entire life away from Edward and Eleanor, when she returned she “stood in no awe of her parents” and had a fairly distanced relationship with them.
Unfortunately for King Edward, his daughter’s suitor died before he was able to meet or marry Joan. The news reported that Hartman had fallen through a patch of shallow ice while “amusing himself in skating” while a letter sent to the King himself stated that Hartman had set out on a boat to visit his father amidst a terrible fog and the boat had smashed into a rock, drowning him.
Joan's first husband, Gilbert de Clare died on 7 December 1295.
, a squire in Joan’s father’s household. Joan fell in love and convinced her father to have Monthermer knighted. It was unheard of in European royalty for a noble lady to even converse with a man who had not won or acquired importance in the household. However, in January 1297 Joan secretly married Ralph. Joan's father was already planning another marriage for Joan to Amadeus V, Count of Savoy
, to occur 16 March 1297. Joan was in a dangerous predicament, as she was already married, unbeknownst to her father.
Joan sent her four young children to their grandfather, in hopes that their sweetness would win Edward's favor, but her plan did not work. The king soon discovered his daughter's intentions, but not yet aware that she had already committed to them, he seized Joan’s lands and continued to arrange her marriage to Amadeus of Savoy.
Soon after the seizure of her lands, Joan told her father of that she had married Ralph. The king was enraged and retaliated by immediately imprisoning Monthermer at Bristol Castle
. The people of the land had differing opinions on the princess’ matter. It has been argued that the ones who were most upset were those who wanted Joan’s hand in marriage.
With regard to the matter, Joan famously said, “It is not considered ignominious, nor disgraceful for a great earl to take a poor and mean woman to wife; neither, on the other hand, is it worthy of blame, or too difficult a thing for a countess to promote to honor a gallant youth.” Joan's statement in addition to a possibly obvious pregnancy seemed to soften Edward’s attitude towards the situation. Joan's first child by Monthermer was born in October 1297; by the summer of 1297, when the marriage was revealed to Edward I, Joan's condition would certainly have been apparent, and would have convinced Edward that he had no choice but to recognize his daughter's marriage. Edward I eventually relented for the sake of his daughter and released Monthermer from prison in August 1297. Monthermer paid homage 2 August, and being granted the titles of Earl of Gloucester
and Earl of Hertford, he rose to favor with the King during Joan's lifetime.
Monthermer and Joan had four children:
(later Edward II), and four of her sisters: Eleanor
, Margaret, Mary
, and Elizabeth
.
Joan, like her siblings, was raised outside her parents' household. She lived with her grandmother in Ponthieu for four years, and was then confided to the same caregivers who looked after her siblings. Edward I did not have a close relationship with most of his children while they were growing up, yet “he seemed fonder of his daughters than his sons.”
However, Joan of Acre’s independent nature caused numerous conflicts with her father. Her father disapproved of her leaving court after her marriage to the Earl of Gloucester, and in turn “seized seven robes that had been made for her.” He also strongly disapproved of her second marriage to Ralph de Monthermer, a squire in her household, even to the point of attempting to force her to marry someone else. While Edward ultimately developed a cordial relationship with Monthermer, even giving him the title of Earl, there appears to have been a notable difference in the Edward’s treatment of Joan as compared to the treatment of the rest of her siblings. For instance, her father famously paid messengers substantially when they brought news of the birth of grandchildren, but did not do this upon birth of Joan’s daughter.
In terms of her siblings, Joan kept a fairly tight bond. She and Monthermer both maintained a close relationship with her brother, Edward II, which was maintained through letters. After Edward II became estranged from his parents and lost his royal seal, “Joan offered to lend him her seal” .
Less than four months after her death, Joan’s father, Edward I died. Joan's widower, Ralph de Monthermer, lost the title of Earl of Gloucester soon after the deaths of his wife and father in law. The earldom of Gloucester was given to Joan’s son from her first marriage, Gilbert, who was its rightful holder. Monthermer continued to hold a nominal earldom in Scotland that had been conferred on him by Edward I until his death.
Joan’s burial place has been the cause of some interest and debate. She is interred in the Augustinian priory at Clare, which had been founded by her first husband's ancestors and where many of them were also buried. Allegedly, in 1357, Joan’s daughter, Elizabeth De Burgh, claimed to have “inspected her mother's body and found the corpse to be intact,”, which in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church is an indication of sanctity. This claim was only recorded in a fifteenth-century chronicle, however, and its details are uncertain, especially the statement that her corpse was in such a state of preservation that "when her paps (breasts) were pressed with hands, they rose up again." Some sources further claim that miracles took place at Joan's tomb, but no cause for her beatification or canonization has ever been introduced.
In The Love Knot by Vanessa Alexander, Edward the II’s sister, Joan of Acre is an important heroine. The author portrays a completely different view of the princess than the one in Henley’s novel. The Love Knot tells the story of the love affair between Ralph de Monthermer and Joan of Acre through the discovery of a series of letters the two had written to each other.
Between historians and novelists, Joan has appeared in various texts as either an independent and spirited woman or a spoiled brat. In Lives of the Princesses of England by Mary Anne Everett Green, Joan is portrayed as a “giddy princess” and neglectful mother. Many have agreed to this characterization; however, some authors think there is little evidence to support the assumption that Joan of Acre was a neglectful or uncaring mother.
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and queen Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
. The name "Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
" derives from her birthplace in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
while her parents were on a crusade.
She was married twice; her first husband was Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, one of the most powerful nobles in her father's kingdom; her second husband was Ralph de Monthermer
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, Earl of Hertford, Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Atholl -Biography:Ralph was a knight in the household of Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I of England. After the death of Joan's husband Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford in 1295, Ralph and Joan...
, a squire
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
in her household whom she married in secrecy.
Joan is most notable for the claim that miracles have allegedly taken place at her grave, and for the multiple references of her in literature.
Birth and childhood
Joan (or Joanna, as she is sometimes called) of Acre was born in the spring of 1272 in Syria, while her parents, Edward IEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and Eleanor
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
of Castile, were on crusade. At the time of Joan's birth, her grandfather, Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, was still alive and thus her father was not yet king of England. Her parents departed from Acre shortly after her birth, traveling to Sicily and Spain before leaving Joan with Eleanor's mother, Joan, Countess of Ponthieu, in France. Joan lived for several years in France where she spent her time being educated by a bishop and “being thoroughly spoiled by an indulgent grandmother.” Joan was free to play among the “vine clad hills and sunny vales” surrounding her grandmother’s home, although she required “judicious surveillance.”
As Joan was growing up with her grandmother, her father was back in England, already arranging marriages for his daughter. He hoped to gain both political power and more wealth with his daughter's marriage, so he conducted the arrangement in a very “business like style”. He finally found a man suitable to marry Joan (aged 5 at the time), Hartman, son of King Rudoph I, of Germany. Edward then brought her home from France for the first time to meet him. As she had spent her entire life away from Edward and Eleanor, when she returned she “stood in no awe of her parents” and had a fairly distanced relationship with them.
Unfortunately for King Edward, his daughter’s suitor died before he was able to meet or marry Joan. The news reported that Hartman had fallen through a patch of shallow ice while “amusing himself in skating” while a letter sent to the King himself stated that Hartman had set out on a boat to visit his father amidst a terrible fog and the boat had smashed into a rock, drowning him.
First marriage
Edward arranged a second marriage almost immediately after the death of Hartman. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, who was almost thirty years older than Joan and newly divorced, was his first choice. The earl resigned his lands to Edward upon agreeing to get them back when he married Joan, as well as agreed on a dower of two thousand silver marks. By the time all of these negotiations were finished, Joan was twelve years old. Gilbert de Clare became very enamored with Joan, and even though she had to marry him regardless of how she felt, he still tried to woo her. He bought her expensive gifts and clothing to try to win favor with her. The couple were married on 30 April 1290 at Westminster Abbey, and had four children together. They were:- Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of HertfordGilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of HertfordGilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester was a powerful English noble. Also known as "Red" Gilbert de Clare, probably because of his hair colour.- Lineage :...
- Eleanor de ClareEleanor de ClareEleanor de Clare was the wife of the powerful Hugh Despenser the younger. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly in Glamorgan, Wales. She was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile; thus...
- Margaret de ClareMargaret de ClareMargaret de Clare, Countess of Cornwall, Countess of Gloucester , was an English noblewoman, heiress, and the second eldest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and his wife, Joan of Acre, making her a granddaughter of King Edward I of England...
- Elizabeth de ClareElizabeth de ClareElizabeth de Clare was the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl...
Joan's first husband, Gilbert de Clare died on 7 December 1295.
Secret second marriage
Joan had been a widow for only a little over a year when she caught the eye of Ralph de MonthermerRalph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, Earl of Hertford, Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Atholl -Biography:Ralph was a knight in the household of Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I of England. After the death of Joan's husband Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford in 1295, Ralph and Joan...
, a squire in Joan’s father’s household. Joan fell in love and convinced her father to have Monthermer knighted. It was unheard of in European royalty for a noble lady to even converse with a man who had not won or acquired importance in the household. However, in January 1297 Joan secretly married Ralph. Joan's father was already planning another marriage for Joan to Amadeus V, Count of Savoy
Amadeus V, Count of Savoy
Amadeus V , surnamed the Great for his wisdom and success as a ruler, was the Count of Savoy from 1285 to 1323. He established Chambéry as his seat...
, to occur 16 March 1297. Joan was in a dangerous predicament, as she was already married, unbeknownst to her father.
Joan sent her four young children to their grandfather, in hopes that their sweetness would win Edward's favor, but her plan did not work. The king soon discovered his daughter's intentions, but not yet aware that she had already committed to them, he seized Joan’s lands and continued to arrange her marriage to Amadeus of Savoy.
Soon after the seizure of her lands, Joan told her father of that she had married Ralph. The king was enraged and retaliated by immediately imprisoning Monthermer at Bristol Castle
Bristol Castle
Bristol Castle was a Norman castle built for the defence of Bristol. Remains can be seen today in Castle Park near the Broadmead Shopping Centre, including the sally port.-History:...
. The people of the land had differing opinions on the princess’ matter. It has been argued that the ones who were most upset were those who wanted Joan’s hand in marriage.
With regard to the matter, Joan famously said, “It is not considered ignominious, nor disgraceful for a great earl to take a poor and mean woman to wife; neither, on the other hand, is it worthy of blame, or too difficult a thing for a countess to promote to honor a gallant youth.” Joan's statement in addition to a possibly obvious pregnancy seemed to soften Edward’s attitude towards the situation. Joan's first child by Monthermer was born in October 1297; by the summer of 1297, when the marriage was revealed to Edward I, Joan's condition would certainly have been apparent, and would have convinced Edward that he had no choice but to recognize his daughter's marriage. Edward I eventually relented for the sake of his daughter and released Monthermer from prison in August 1297. Monthermer paid homage 2 August, and being granted the titles of Earl of Gloucester
Earl of Gloucester
The title of Earl of Gloucester was created several times in the Peerage of England. A fictional earl is also a character in William Shakespeare's play King Lear. See also Duke of Gloucester.-Earls of Gloucester, 1st Creation :...
and Earl of Hertford, he rose to favor with the King during Joan's lifetime.
Monthermer and Joan had four children:
- Mary de MonthermerMary de MonthermerMary de Monthermer, Countess of Fife was an English noblewoman. She was a daughter of Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer and his wife Joan of Acre. Other sources have her being born in 1298.-Family and early life:...
, born October 1297. In 1306 her grandfather King Edward I arranged for her to wed Duncan Macduff, 8th Earl of Fife. - Joan de Monthermer, born 1299, became a nun at AmesburyAmesburyAmesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
. - Thomas de Monthermer, 2nd Baron Monthermer, born 1301.
- Edward de Monthermer, born 1304 and died 1339.
Relationship with family
Joan of Acre was the seventh of Edward I and Eleanor’s fourteen children. Most of her older siblings died before the age of seven, and many of her younger siblings died before adulthood. Those who survived to adulthood were Joan, her younger brother, Edward of CaernarfonCaernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle is a medieval building in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure...
(later Edward II), and four of her sisters: Eleanor
Eleanor of England (1269-1298)
Eleanor of England was the eldest surviving daughter of Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile...
, Margaret, Mary
Mary of Woodstock
Mary of Woodstock , known anachronistically as Mary Plantagenet, was the seventh named daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile.-Early life:...
, and Elizabeth
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan was the eighth and youngest daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile...
.
Joan, like her siblings, was raised outside her parents' household. She lived with her grandmother in Ponthieu for four years, and was then confided to the same caregivers who looked after her siblings. Edward I did not have a close relationship with most of his children while they were growing up, yet “he seemed fonder of his daughters than his sons.”
However, Joan of Acre’s independent nature caused numerous conflicts with her father. Her father disapproved of her leaving court after her marriage to the Earl of Gloucester, and in turn “seized seven robes that had been made for her.” He also strongly disapproved of her second marriage to Ralph de Monthermer, a squire in her household, even to the point of attempting to force her to marry someone else. While Edward ultimately developed a cordial relationship with Monthermer, even giving him the title of Earl, there appears to have been a notable difference in the Edward’s treatment of Joan as compared to the treatment of the rest of her siblings. For instance, her father famously paid messengers substantially when they brought news of the birth of grandchildren, but did not do this upon birth of Joan’s daughter.
In terms of her siblings, Joan kept a fairly tight bond. She and Monthermer both maintained a close relationship with her brother, Edward II, which was maintained through letters. After Edward II became estranged from his parents and lost his royal seal, “Joan offered to lend him her seal” .
Death
Joan of Acre died on 23 April 1307, at the manor of Clare in Suffolk. The cause of her death remains unclear, though one popular theory is that she died during childbirth, a common cause of death at the time. While Joan's age in 1307 (about 35) and the chronology of her earlier pregnancies with Ralph de Monthermer suggest that this could well be the case, historians have not confirmed the cause of her death.Less than four months after her death, Joan’s father, Edward I died. Joan's widower, Ralph de Monthermer, lost the title of Earl of Gloucester soon after the deaths of his wife and father in law. The earldom of Gloucester was given to Joan’s son from her first marriage, Gilbert, who was its rightful holder. Monthermer continued to hold a nominal earldom in Scotland that had been conferred on him by Edward I until his death.
Joan’s burial place has been the cause of some interest and debate. She is interred in the Augustinian priory at Clare, which had been founded by her first husband's ancestors and where many of them were also buried. Allegedly, in 1357, Joan’s daughter, Elizabeth De Burgh, claimed to have “inspected her mother's body and found the corpse to be intact,”, which in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church is an indication of sanctity. This claim was only recorded in a fifteenth-century chronicle, however, and its details are uncertain, especially the statement that her corpse was in such a state of preservation that "when her paps (breasts) were pressed with hands, they rose up again." Some sources further claim that miracles took place at Joan's tomb, but no cause for her beatification or canonization has ever been introduced.
Joan in fiction
Joan of Acre makes an appearance in Virginia Henley's historical romance, entitled Infamous. In the book, Joan, known as Joanna, is described as a promiscuous young princess, vain, shallow and spoiled. In the novel she is only given one daughter, when she historically has eight children. There is no evidence that supports this picture of Joan.In The Love Knot by Vanessa Alexander, Edward the II’s sister, Joan of Acre is an important heroine. The author portrays a completely different view of the princess than the one in Henley’s novel. The Love Knot tells the story of the love affair between Ralph de Monthermer and Joan of Acre through the discovery of a series of letters the two had written to each other.
Between historians and novelists, Joan has appeared in various texts as either an independent and spirited woman or a spoiled brat. In Lives of the Princesses of England by Mary Anne Everett Green, Joan is portrayed as a “giddy princess” and neglectful mother. Many have agreed to this characterization; however, some authors think there is little evidence to support the assumption that Joan of Acre was a neglectful or uncaring mother.