Joan of Kent
Encyclopedia
Joan, Countess of Kent (29 September 1328 – 7 August 1385), known to history as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the first English Princess of Wales
. 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.
and Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell
and a granddaughter of King Edward I of England
.
Her father, Edmund, was a younger half-brother of Edward II of England
. Edmund's support of the King placed him in conflict with the Queen, Isabella of France
, and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Edmund was executed after Edward II's deposition, and Joan's mother, along with her children, were placed under house-arrest in Arundel Castle
when Joan was only two years old.
, was left with four children. Joan's first cousin, the new King Edward III
, took on the responsibility for the family, and looked after them well. His wife, Queen Philippa
(who was also Joan's second cousin), was well known for her tender-heartedness, and Joan grew up at court, where she became friendly with her cousins, including Edward, the Black Prince
.
of Broughton
, without first gaining the royal consent necessary for couples of their rank. The following winter (1340 or 1341), while Holland was overseas, her family forced her into a marriage with William Montacute
, son and heir of the 1st Earl of Salisbury. Joan later claimed she was afraid that disclosing her previous marriage would lead to Thomas's execution for treason on his return, and so did not disclose it. She may also have become convinced that the earlier marriage was invalid.
Joan is often identified as the countess of Salisbury who, legend says, inspired Edward III's founding of the Order of the Garter. It is equally possible, however, that the woman in that case was her mother-in-law, Catherine Montacute, Countess of Salisbury
.
Several years later, Thomas Holland returned from the Crusades, having made his fortune, and the full story of his earlier relationship with Joan came out. Thomas appealed to the Pope
for the return of his wife and confessed the secret marriage to the king. When the Earl of Salisbury discovered that Joan supported Holland’s case, he kept her a prisoner in her own home.
In 1349, Pope Clement VI
annulled Joan’s marriage to the Earl and sent her back to Thomas Holland, with whom she lived for the next eleven years. They had four known children (though some sources list five), before Holland died in 1360. Their children were:
Additional children also listed:
In the meantime, when the last of Joan's siblings died in 1352, she became Countess of Kent
and Lady Wake of Liddell
.
(who was her first cousin once removed) 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. Edward's parents did not, however, favour a marriage between their son and their former ward. Queen Philippa
had made a favourite
of Joan at first, but both she and the king seem to have been concerned about Joan's reputation. English law was such that Joan's living ex-husband, Salisbury, might have claimed any children of her subsequent marriages as his own. In addition, Edward and Joan were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity
.
The secret marriage they are said to have contracted in 1360 would have been invalid because of the consanguinity prohibition. At the King's request, the Pope granted a dispensation allowing the two to be legally married. The official ceremony occurred 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
which belonged to the English Crown since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine
and Henry II
. He and Joan moved to Bordeaux
, the capital of the principality, where they spent the next nine years. Two sons were born in France to the royal couple. The elder son, named Edward (27 January 1365 - 1372) after his father and grandfather, died at the age of six.
Around the time of the birth of their younger son, Richard
, the Prince was lured into a war on behalf of King Peter of Castile. The ensuing battle was one of the Black Prince’s greatest victories, but King Peter (Spanish: Pedro) was later killed, and there was no money to pay the troops. In the meantime, the Princess was forced to raise another army, because the Prince’s enemies were threatening Aquitaine in his absence.
was wreaking havoc. In 1372, he forced himself to attempt one final, abortive campaign in the hope of saving his father’s French possessions. His health was now completely shattered. On 7 June 1376, a week before his forty-sixth birthday, he died in his bed at Westminster
.
Joan’s son was next in line to succeed King Edward III. Edward III died on 21 June 1377 and Richard
became King. He was crowned Richard II at the age of 10 in the following month. Early in his reign, the young King faced the challenge of the Peasants' Revolt
. The Lollards, religious reformers led by John Wyclif, had enjoyed the protection of Joan of Kent, 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 a power behind the throne, she was well-loved for her influence over the young king - for example, on her return to London (via her Wickhambreaux
estate) from a pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral
in 1381, she found her way barred by Wat Tyler
and his mob of rebels on Blackheath but was not only let through unharmed, but saluted with kisses and provided with an escort for the rest of her journey.
In 1385, Sir John Holland
, an adult son of her first marriage, was campaigning with the King in the Kingdom of Scotland
, when a quarrel broke out between him and Ralph Stafford, son of the 2nd Earl of Stafford, a favourite of the new 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 son for four days to spare his half-brother. On the fifth day (the exact date in August is not known), she died, at Wallingford Castle
. Richard relented, and pardoned Holland (though he was then sent on a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land
).
Joan was buried, as requested in her will, at the Greyfriars
, the site of the present hospital, in Stamford in Lincolnshire
, beside her first husband. Her third husband, the Black Prince, had built a chantry
for her in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (where he was to have been buried), with ceiling bosses of her face. (Another boss in the north nave aisle is also said to be of her.)http://www.finestoneminiatures.com/catalog/catalog_72.htm
, Joan is portrayed as a rival to her cousin, Isabella
, for the affections of Enguerrand de Coucy. She is the protagonist of Sweet Passion's Pain, a novel by Karen Harper
, which was republished as The First Princess of Wales. She appears briefly in Katherine
by Anya Seton
, as well as in The King's Mistress, by Emma Campion, where she is a friend of the main character, Alice Perrers
.
Joan is also a principal character in The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
, a novel that takes the characters of the Plantagenet family and recreates them in a modern dimension of the Godwin family of Oxmoon (the throne), where she appears as Ginevra (Ginette). Her story, retold in the first person, closely mirrors Joan's story and background.
The last published book of Gordon R. Dickson
's semi-historical Dragon Knight
series is titled The Dragon and the Fair Maid of Kent, and concerns Joan's attempts to reconcile the Black Prince with his father Edward III during the first years of the Black Plague in England.
Madeline Hunter
's first novel, By Arrangement, features Joan of Kent as a secondary character. The novel also mentions her relationships with Thomas Holland and William Montacute. Joan is portrayed as flirtatious and inconstant in her affections to the two men. Virginia Henley
's Desired features Joan of Kent as a secondary character.
Joan of Kent also appears in the novel The Nameless Day (The Crucible, #1) by Sara Douglass. In that novel, she dies when her husband's death is announced.
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
. The French chronicler Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart , often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...
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.
Lineage
Joan was the daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of KentEdmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent was a member of the English Royal Family.-Early life:He was born at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the son of Edward I Longshanks, King of England and his second wife, Margaret of France. He was 62 years younger than his father, who died when Edmund of Woodstock...
and Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell
Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell
Margaret Wake was the wife of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent.-Biography:She was the daughter of John Wake, 1st Baron Wake of Liddell, and was descended directly from Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd. Her mother was Joan de Fiennes, making her a cousin of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of...
and a granddaughter of King Edward I of England
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...
.
Her father, Edmund, was a younger half-brother of Edward II of England
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
. Edmund's support of the King placed him in conflict with the Queen, Isabella of France
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
, and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Edmund was executed after Edward II's deposition, and Joan's mother, along with her children, were placed under house-arrest in Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...
when Joan was only two years old.
Early life
The Earl’s widow, Margaret WakeMargaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell
Margaret Wake was the wife of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent.-Biography:She was the daughter of John Wake, 1st Baron Wake of Liddell, and was descended directly from Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd. Her mother was Joan de Fiennes, making her a cousin of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of...
, was left with four children. Joan's first cousin, the new King Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, took on the responsibility for the family, and looked after them well. His wife, Queen Philippa
Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault, or, Philippe de Hainaut was the Queen consort of King Edward III of England. Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years...
(who was also Joan's second cousin), was well known for her tender-heartedness, and Joan grew up at court, where she became friendly with her cousins, including Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
.
Marriage(s)
At the age of twelve (1340), Joan entered into a clandestine marriage with Thomas HollandThomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent
Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, 2nd Baron Holand, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.-Early Life:...
of Broughton
Broughton, Buckinghamshire
There are two places called Broughton in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England.*Broughton, Aylesbury*Broughton, Milton Keynes...
, without first gaining the royal consent necessary for couples of their rank. The following winter (1340 or 1341), while Holland was overseas, her family forced her into a marriage with William Montacute
William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury
Sir William II Montague, alias de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, 4th Baron Montacute, King of Mann, KG was an English nobleman and commander in the English army during King Edward III's French campaigns in the Hundred Years War.He was born in Donyatt in Somerset, the eldest son of William...
, son and heir of the 1st Earl of Salisbury. Joan later claimed she was afraid that disclosing her previous marriage would lead to Thomas's execution for treason on his return, and so did not disclose it. She may also have become convinced that the earlier marriage was invalid.
Joan is often identified as the countess of Salisbury who, legend says, inspired Edward III's founding of the Order of the Garter. It is equally possible, however, that the woman in that case was her mother-in-law, Catherine Montacute, Countess of Salisbury
Catherine Montacute, Countess of Salisbury
Catherine Montacute , Countess of Salisbury was an English noblewoman, remembered for her relationship with King Edward III of England and possibly the woman in whose honour the Order of the Garter was originated. She was born Catherine Grandison, daughter of William de Grandison, 1st Baron...
.
Several years later, Thomas Holland returned from the Crusades, having made his fortune, and the full story of his earlier relationship with Joan came out. Thomas appealed to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
for the return of his wife and confessed the secret marriage to the king. When the Earl of Salisbury discovered that Joan supported Holland’s case, he kept her a prisoner in her own home.
In 1349, Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
annulled Joan’s marriage to the Earl and sent her back to Thomas Holland, with whom she lived for the next eleven years. They had four known children (though some sources list five), before Holland died in 1360. Their children were:
- Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of KentThomas Holland, 2nd Earl of KentThomas Holland , 2nd Earl of Kent, 3rd Baron Holand KG was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England.-Family and early Life:...
- John Holland, 1st Duke of ExeterJohn Holland, 1st Duke of ExeterJohn Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter KG , also 1st Earl of Huntingdon, was an English nobleman, primarily remembered for helping cause the downfall of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and then for conspiring against Henry IV.He was the third son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan...
- Joan Holland (1356-1384), who married John V, Duke of BrittanyJohn V, Duke of BrittanyJohn V the Conqueror KG was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort, from 1345 until his death.-Numbering:...
(1339-1399) - Maud Holland (1359-1391), who married Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of LignyWaleran III of Luxembourg, Count of LignyWaleran III of Luxembourg , Count of Ligny and Saint Pol, was a French nobleman and soldier.He was the son of Guy of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Mahaut of Châtillon, Countess of Saint Pol. He succeeded his father in 1371, after his death at the Battle of Baesweiler...
(1355-1415)
Additional children also listed:
- Edmund (c. 1354) died young
In the meantime, when the last of Joan's siblings died in 1352, she became Countess of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
and Lady Wake of Liddell
Baron Wake of Liddell
Baron Wake of Liddell is a title created in 1295 in the Peerage of England. It has been in abeyance since 1408.-Barons Wake of Liddell :*John Wake, 1st Baron Wake of Liddell...
.
Marriage into the royal family
Evidence of the affection of Edward, the Black PrinceEdward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
(who was her first cousin once removed) 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. Edward's parents did not, however, favour a marriage between their son and their former ward. Queen Philippa
Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault, or, Philippe de Hainaut was the Queen consort of King Edward III of England. Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years...
had made a favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
of Joan at first, but both she and the king seem to have been concerned about Joan's reputation. English law was such that Joan's living ex-husband, Salisbury, might have claimed any children of her subsequent marriages as his own. In addition, Edward and Joan were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
.
The secret marriage they are said to have contracted in 1360 would have been invalid because of the consanguinity prohibition. At the King's request, the Pope granted a dispensation allowing the two to be legally married. The official ceremony occurred on 10 October 1361, at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
with the King and Queen in attendance. The Archbishop of Canterbury
Simon Islip
Simon Islip was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366.-Lord Privy Seal:In 1347, possibly in September, Simon was appointed keeper of the Privy Seal. Previously he had held the seal of Lionel, who was the regent in England...
presided.
In 1362, the Black Prince was invested as Prince of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, a region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
which belonged to the English Crown since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
and Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. He and Joan moved to Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, the capital of the principality, where they spent the next nine years. Two sons were born in France to the royal couple. The elder son, named Edward (27 January 1365 - 1372) after his father and grandfather, died at the age of six.
Around the time of the birth of their younger son, Richard
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
, the Prince was lured into a war on behalf of King Peter of Castile. The ensuing battle was one of the Black Prince’s greatest victories, but King Peter (Spanish: Pedro) was later killed, and there was no money to pay the troops. In the meantime, the Princess was forced to raise another army, because the Prince’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, and returned to England, where plagueBlack Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
was wreaking havoc. In 1372, he forced himself to attempt one final, abortive campaign in the hope of saving his father’s French possessions. His health was now completely shattered. On 7 June 1376, a week before his forty-sixth birthday, he died in his bed at Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
.
Joan’s son was next in line to succeed King Edward III. Edward III died on 21 June 1377 and Richard
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
became King. He was crowned Richard II at the age of 10 in the following month. Early in his reign, the young King faced the challenge of the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
. The Lollards, religious reformers led by John Wyclif, had enjoyed the protection of Joan of Kent, 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 a power behind the throne, she was well-loved for her influence over the young king - for example, on her return to London (via her Wickhambreaux
Wickhambreaux
Wickhambreaux is a village, just off the A257 Sandwich Road, five miles from Canterbury in the county of Kent, England, United Kingdom.-History:Wickhambreaux manor was the home of Joan of Kent, wife to Edward Plantagenet, and mother of Richard II...
estate) from a pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
in 1381, she found her way barred by Wat Tyler
Wat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
and his mob of rebels on Blackheath but was not only let through unharmed, but saluted with kisses and provided with an escort for the rest of her journey.
In 1385, Sir John Holland
John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter
John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter KG , also 1st Earl of Huntingdon, was an English nobleman, primarily remembered for helping cause the downfall of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and then for conspiring against Henry IV.He was the third son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan...
, an adult son of her first marriage, was campaigning with the King in the Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
, when a quarrel broke out between him and Ralph Stafford, son of the 2nd Earl of Stafford, a favourite of the new Queen Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elizabeth of Pomerania....
. Stafford was killed, and John Holland sought sanctuary at the shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
of St John of Beverley. On the King’s return, Holland was condemned to death. Joan pleaded with her son for four days to spare his half-brother. On the fifth day (the exact date in August is not known), she died, at Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
. Richard relented, and pardoned Holland (though he was then sent on a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to 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...
).
Joan was buried, as requested in her will, at the Greyfriars
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
, the site of the present hospital, in Stamford in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, beside her first husband. Her third husband, the Black Prince, had built a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
for her in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (where he was to have been buried), with ceiling bosses of her face. (Another boss in the north nave aisle is also said to be of her.)http://www.finestoneminiatures.com/catalog/catalog_72.htm
Fictional depictions
Joan of Kent features in several pieces of fiction. In The Lady Royal, a fictionalized biography by Molly Costain HaycraftMolly Costain Haycraft
Molly Costain Haycraft is a Canadian author. She was born in Toronto, Canada, and spent her childhood in Philadelphia, where her father, the well-known novelist Thomas B. Costain, was an editor for The Saturday Evening Post. She is the author of several novels about women in English royal history...
, Joan is portrayed as a rival to her cousin, Isabella
Isabella de Coucy
Isabella of England, also known as Dame Isabella de Coucy , was the eldest daughter of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault and the wife of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy, by whom she had two daughters.She was made a Lady of the Garter in 1376.-Early years:Isabella was the royal...
, for the affections of Enguerrand de Coucy. She is the protagonist of Sweet Passion's Pain, a novel by Karen Harper
Karen Harper
Karen Harper is an historical fiction and contemporary fiction author. She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.-Writing career:...
, which was republished as The First Princess of Wales. She appears briefly in Katherine
Katherine (novel)
Anya Seton's Katherine is a historical novel based largely on fact. It tells the story of the historically important love affair between the titular Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of King Edward III...
by Anya Seton
Anya Seton
Anya Seton was the pen name of Ann Seton, an American author of historical romances.-Biography:...
, as well as in The King's Mistress, by Emma Campion, where she is a friend of the main character, Alice Perrers
Alice Perrers
Alice Perrers was a royal mistress whose lover and patron was King Edward III of England. She acquired significant land holdings. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Edward's consort, Philippa of Hainault.-Life and Family:...
.
Joan is also a principal character in The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Susan Howatch
Susan Howatch is an English author. Her writing career has been distinguished by family saga-type novels which describe the lives of related characters for long periods of time...
, a novel that takes the characters of the Plantagenet family and recreates them in a modern dimension of the Godwin family of Oxmoon (the throne), where she appears as Ginevra (Ginette). Her story, retold in the first person, closely mirrors Joan's story and background.
The last published book of Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author.- Biography :Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1937...
's semi-historical Dragon Knight
Dragon Knight
The Dragon Knight is a series of fantasy novels by Gordon R. Dickson . The first book informed the 1982 animated movie The Flight of Dragons by Rankin/Bass, but was previously published as a short story, St. Dragon and the George...
series is titled The Dragon and the Fair Maid of Kent, and concerns Joan's attempts to reconcile the Black Prince with his father Edward III during the first years of the Black Plague in England.
Madeline Hunter
Madeline Hunter
-Biography:Madeline Hunter's first book By Arrangement was published in 2000 and she received the award for Waldenbooks Bestselling Debut Author that year....
's first novel, By Arrangement, features Joan of Kent as a secondary character. The novel also mentions her relationships with Thomas Holland and William Montacute. Joan is portrayed as flirtatious and inconstant in her affections to the two men. Virginia Henley
Virginia Henley
Virginia Henley, née Virginia Syddall , is a British successful writer of historical-romance novels. She is well-known for her Medieval, Renaissance and other period piece romance novels.- Biography :...
's Desired features Joan of Kent as a secondary character.
Joan of Kent also appears in the novel The Nameless Day (The Crucible, #1) by Sara Douglass. In that novel, she dies when her husband's death is announced.