Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales

by Penny Lawne

  Margaret’s perseverance paid off. Within a year of Edmund’s death her efforts had secured the reversal of the judgement against him, and restored his title, and the majority of his land and estates to his heir. By March 1333 the estates were in sufficient order for Margaret and her co-executor to be able to comply with the Treasury’s requirement for an audit of their affairs to check the debts still owed to the Crown.55 Subsequently, Margaret’s active involvement seems to have continued unabated. In May 1335, in her capacity as executrix, Margaret successfully prosecuted the parson William Kirkeby for stealing a bull, twelve oxen worth £20, £15 cash and other goods from her Woking manor (Surrey).56 A commission of oyer and terminer was set up on her complaint in April 1336 to look into a trespass and theft of deer at the park at Torpel manor (Northants).57 To settle an outstanding debt of £287 14s 4d due from Edmund to Raymund Seguyn, Margaret agreed to lease Seguyn the yearly rental from the town of Andover (Hants) for three years, and this was confirmed by the king on 2 March 1338.58 Her constant vigilance was evident. On 29 June 1338 Margaret wrote personally to request Edward III’s intervention, and in July a warrant was issued to arrest John Musard and others for breaking into and occupying Miserden manor (Gloucs), assaulting Margaret’s servants and stealing her goods.59 Margaret’s dogged persistence was well founded, as it is doubtful if Edward III would have been as assiduous in maintaining the interests of the Kent estates. It was not, for example, until 10 June 1339 that the king was persuaded to supersede the order for Margaret to pay for corn, animals and other goods confiscated on the day of her husband’s arrest on 14 March 1330.60 Margaret continued to keep a watchful eye on her son’s interests, and as late as April 1347 ensured that the king would excuse the customary payment of knight’s fees due to the Crown on the occasion of knighting the king’s eldest son.61

  Margaret never remarried. This was almost certainly her personal choice, as she was in her early thirties when Edmund died, and a widow of her status and circumstances would have been an attractive matrimonial proposition. There can have been no lack of opportunity to meet suitors at Edward III’s court. Perhaps Margaret never met anyone she wanted to marry, but it is also possible that it suited her not to do so. Her interest and active participation in obtaining and managing the Kent estates, even where they remained under the control of the Crown, shows how anxious she was to remain in charge. The shock of Edmund’s execution and the threat to herself and her children immediately afterwards may well have made Margaret more than usually anxious to protect her and her children’s position. Despite the October coup Edward III was an unknown quantity for Margaret, and she would not have forgotten his failure to help Edmund. Trust and a belief in a stable future would take time. As a widow, Margaret had control over her own land and affairs and could be appointed to act for her son, so making her own decisions. In addition, her widowed state ensured there was no reason for her children to be removed from the protection afforded to them by being in the royal household. Margaret’s success in restoring the family’s estates amply justified the trust Edmund had indicated in his wife when he appointed her co-executor in his will. Undeterred by her successive bereavements, Margaret was assiduous in protecting her children’s interests, and her actions demonstrate fortitude and determination. She was clearly a woman with considerable strength of character.

  It is impossible to know how much Joan and John saw of their mother. Although Margaret could rely on the knowledge, expertise and loyalty of the various stewards who had responsibility for the day to day management of the estates it is likely that she embarked on a succession of visits to see for herself what she had to deal with, and to establish personal contact with the stewards. Initially, Margaret probably left Joan and John behind, secure in the knowledge that her children were well protected and cared for within the royal household, and so would have been away from her children for extended periods of time. It would have been natural for Margaret to want to discuss family affairs with her children and make them aware how this affected their future. Joan would have been included, as she was John’s heir, and their elder brother’s early death was a reminder that there was no certainty John would survive to inherit at the age of twenty-one. Margaret would have wanted John and Joan to become familiar with the Kent estates and as they grew older would have ensured they accompanied her occasionally. From an early age Joan would have been made aware of the responsibilities that accompanied her heritage. Although there is no record of which, if any, of the estates John and Joan might have visited as children, it is reasonable to suppose that Margaret took them to the largest and most important one at least. Now that Arundel Castle no longer formed part of the inheritance, the largest holding and only castle in the Kent estates was Castle Donington in Leicestershire, situated in a commanding position beside the River Trent. The moated castle had a chequered ownership history. It had been part of the Lincoln earldom, and when this earldom passed by marriage to the Earl of Lancaster the castle became part of the vast Lancastrian estates. Forfeited by Thomas of Lancaster when he was executed in 1322, Castle Donington was then granted by Edward II to Hugh Despenser, but quickly reverted to the Crown when Despenser was executed in 1326, before being granted to Edmund in 1327.62 It was not in an ideal location, as flooding was a habitual problem. The inquisitors taking stock after Edmund’s death had noted that twenty-two acres of land in tillage had not been sown because they were under water, while faggots and hurdles from the woods were regularly made and used to preserve the meadows from flooding.63

  As Margaret remained unmarried there were two male relatives other than the king who might have been expected to show an interest in John and Joan’s welfare. These were Edmund’s brother, Thomas Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, and Margaret’s brother, Sir Thomas Wake. Edmund had been very close to his brother Thomas during his life, but after his death the Earl of Norfolk appears to have had very little to do with his sister-in-law and her children. When Edmund was arrested in March 1330, Mortimer had issued a warrant very quickly for the arrest of a number of named associates, including Thomas Wake. Thomas Brotherton had not been on that list, almost certainly because his son Edward had married Mortimer’s daughter Beatrice the previous year. The Earl of Norfolk’s secure position meant that he had been in a position to assist his sister-in-law when his brother was executed, and might reasonably have been expected to do so. However, instead of interceding on Margaret’s behalf, he had taken fright and gone abroad almost immediately, using the excuse of an overseas mission for the king to go to Gascony a few weeks after Edmund’s death.64 The earl seems to have been a man of uncertain temper and preoccupied with his own interests. According to Froissart, Thomas Brotherton had a ‘wild and disagreeable temper’.65 Edward III showed no sign of affection towards this uncle, in contrast to Edmund. After Mortimer’s downfall the earl’s estates were also in a state of flux in the general rearrangement. Like Margaret, he too in early 1331 was petitioning the king for the restoration of his estates, anxious to retain what he had obtained from Isabella and Mortimer, but with considerably less success than Margaret.66 It took him until 1 March 1334 to obtain formal confirmation from the king of the grants made to him in 1327 and, although he persuaded his nephew to make him a substantial additional grant of £800 a year, Edward III limited this to a life interest.67 The Earl of Norfolk was also preoccupied with his own family. His son died at an early age, leaving his two daughters, Margaret and Alice, as his heirs. They were similar in age to Joan and John, but the distancing between their respective parents makes it unlikely that they saw much of one another in the early years. The earl arranged Margaret’s marriage to his ward, John, Lord Segrave, and in 1333 reached agreement with Edward III’s close friend William Montague (Montague led the small group of supporters with Edward in the coup at Nottingham Castle) for Alice to marry Montague’s son William. For some reason this marriage never took place; possibly on Montague’s initiative, Alice married Montague’s brother Edward instead. Thomas Brotherto
n’s health also deteriorated dramatically and he died in 1338 at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight. A possible sign that he had been ill for some time was his consent to the appointment in March 1337 of Sir Constantine Mortimer, one of his retainers, to survey his household after complaints had been made of their unruly behaviour.68

  In contrast, Thomas Wake, Margaret’s brother, was much more involved with Joan and John. Thomas was an able commander and staunchly loyal to the Earl of Lancaster, in whose household he had spent his formative years. He had an impetuous streak, having married Blanche of Lancaster, the earl’s niece, after a whirlwind romance in 1316 or 1317, without royal approval and when he was underage (he would have been about eighteen). Thomas had taken a considerable risk in doing so; fortunately for him, he appears to have been held in high regard by his father-in-law, Henry of Lancaster, and although Edward II imposed a stiff fine, at Henry’s request the king allowed Thomas to take possession of his inheritance even though he was not yet twenty-one.69 Loyalty to Henry kept Thomas at the earl’s side throughout the conflict with Edward II, and then later with Isabella and Mortimer in 1329 (after Henry’s defeat in January 1329 he was compelled to give a £10,000 recognisance), but Edward III recognised and valued his qualities and treated him with noticeable favour after Mortimer’s fall. Thomas Wake’s estates were restored in December 1330, and he was granted an immediate pardon for the recognisance.70 The king showed his considerable trust in Wake by entrusting him with bringing Queen Isabella to join the royal family at Windsor for Christmas in 1330.71 In January 1331 Thomas Wake was one of the commissioners appointed to look into complaints made in Yorkshire against the actions of the last regime’s officials, and he was appointed keeper of the Channel Islands from 18 October 1331.72 By 1330 he had been married for fourteen years and it must have seemed unlikely to him and Blanche that their union would be blessed with children, which probably caused them some sadness. As his only sibling, Margaret was his heiress, and as time went on it would have become apparent that one of Margaret’s children would eventually inherit the Wake estates. It would have been natural for Thomas and Blanche to have wanted to spend some time with Joan and John, and Margaret may also have visited them when she went to her own dower manor in Lincolnshire. Thomas continued to be held in high regard by Edward III, and held a succession of royal appointments up to his death in 1349, while Blanche was Edward III’s cousin and was on good terms with the king throughout her life. Thomas and Blanche were in a position to offer Margaret and her children considerable support, and to assist her in arranging her children’s future.

  3

  Growing up in the Royal Household

  1330–1338

  Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

  Proverbs, 22:6

  Family support aside, while Joan and John were under the king’s protection and in the queen’s household, the major influences on their lives, and their future, were the king and queen. Edward III celebrated his eighteenth birthday in November 1330, an extremely young man just entering into the full responsibilities of kingship, and having to cope with the legacy left by his father’s deposition and the two years of political domination by his mother, Isabella, and Mortimer. He was still developing his kingly style, and his young queen, Philippa, had had little time to adjust to her new independence. What was life like for Joan and John in the royal household, away from their mother’s watchful eye while she was preoccupied with family affairs? Childhood, even of a royal child, was not particularly well recorded in the fourteenth century, and there are no records referring to Joan during her early years. However, it is possible to speculate on aspects of her childhood from some of the known background.

  The king and queen had their own separate household, although they spent much time together, and the royal children and their companions came under the aegis of the queen. Naturally the queen’s household was extremely large and made up of many different parts, so that day-to-day supervision and care of the children was delegated and separately regulated. Prince Edward had a nurse, Joan of Oxford, and a nursemaid, Matilda Plumpton, appointed to attend his cradle. Matilda seems to have nursed Edward’s younger brother, Edmund of Langley, twelve years later. Both were later given generous pensions, and as an adult Prince Edward remembered his nursemaid Matilda, sending her a tun of wine in June 1357.1 These ladies may both have assisted in the care of Joan’s baby brother, so similar in age to the young prince. Prince Edward was given his own household, and a steward, Sir William Saint Omer, appointed to take charge of it for him. In 1332 Sir William’s wife, Lady Elizabeth, took charge of the prince himself. Her role expanded as the royal nursery did, and by 1334 she is described as mistress to the king’s other children.2 The Saint Omers were in charge of all aspects of the household and day-to-day lives of the royal children, including their early education, and the Saint Omers would have been expected to look after Joan and John as well as their royal charges. In April 1336 William and Elizabeth Saint Omer received a grant of £25 a year for their service to the king in looking after Prince Edward and the princesses, and Elizabeth received a further reward of £12 a year specifically for her service to the prince in December 1337.3

  When Prince Edward reached the age of seven in 1337 he was given a completely independent household, and taken out of what would have been a largely female environment. His education was amended to one more suitable for his age and rank, acquiring a tutor, possibly the scholarly philosopher William Burley, Queen Philippa’s almoner, and by 1338 he was receiving military training, possessing a quantity of armour and accoutrements.4 The princesses remained together, mostly with their mother. It is probable that Joan and her brother were similarly separated, Joan remaining with the princesses and John with the prince. Traditionally other children were placed with the royal children to give them the company of others their own age; both Edward I and Edward II had their childhood households expanded in this way. Joan and John were merely the first to join their cousins. An early recruit into the prince’s household was almost certainly William Montague, eldest son of the king’s best friend. The Montagues were among the entourage closest to the king. In January 1331 Edward III appointed Montague keeper of the royal manor at Woodstock, and his wife Catherine Montague brought the king the news of Princess Isabella’s birth in June 1332.5 It has been thought that they may have become Joan’s governor and governess, but there is no evidence to substantiate this.6 The young William Montague was the same age as Joan, and two years older than Prince Edward. Joan’s later relationships with Prince Edward and the Montague family were based on the familiarity acquired during these early childhood days. An indication of that childhood familiarity is the use of the diminutive ‘Jeanette’ by Prince Edward in a gift to Joan made in 1348 many years before their marriage.7

  As was usual at that time, the first language of the nobility and royal family was French, and English was used to communicate with less privileged members of the household. Joan would have spoken both, and been taught to read, and write, in French at least. Her parents were literate; Edmund’s conviction was based partly on the letters that he and Margaret had written to the guards at Corfe Castle. A limited amount of correspondence to and from Joan survives which implies literacy, the most well known being the letter written in French by Prince Edward to his wife from Spain after the Battle of Nájera in 1367.8 She would have had some knowledge of Latin, though this may have been limited to the religious services. English was little used by the higher nobility as a written language at that time, and she may not have learnt to read in it. The usual accomplishments for girls of Joan’s background included dancing, singing, the ability to play a musical instrument and embroidery. She would also have learned to ride, and probably falconry, a sport in which women participated fully and which was extremely popular with the royal family. Her brother John would in addition have received military training and enjoyed hunting and hawking, activities favoured by
Edward I, Edward II and Edward III and enjoyed by Prince Edward.

  Religion was a fundamental and important part of Joan’s life. Like her brother John, Joan would have been christened shortly after her birth, and her godparents expected to play an important part in her life, providing her with a spiritual family. There is unfortunately no indication as to the identity of Joan’s godparents, and although it was common for the chief godparent’s name to be given to a child, this does not seem to have been the case for Joan and her brothers. Her elder brother Edmund was clearly named after his father, and her younger brother John was probably named after Margaret’s father, John Wake. It seems likely that Joan was named after her maternal grandmother, Joan Wake. Living in the royal household meant that Joan and John had access to chapels, with chaplains and regular services. Initially they were too young to attend services, but as they grew older a daily routine of worship would have become part of their lives, such as saying matins (the hours of the Virgin) just after they got up. It had become so much an accepted part of a noble child’s day that in the 1370s the French knight Geoffrey de la Tour Landry instructed his daughters to begin their day in this way before they had breakfast.9 The calendar was punctuated by feast days of saints and religious holidays and celebrations, and it was on those days that Joan was most likely to have attended the royal chapels, which would have been richly furnished and brightly decorated with pictures of religious scenes. Aids to worship, such as statues, crosses and books, were also lavishly decorated. Queen Isabella is known to have had chapel furnishings that included an alabaster statue of the Virgin and one of St Stephen, a number of embroideries and wall hangings.10 Joan was no doubt given her own reader, probably a book of hours as this was the most popular devotional item and a traditional gift for a young girl learning to read. As Latin was not normally taught to women, even in the royal household, this would probably have been in French. Many ecclesiastics encouraged learning among women and religious texts might be combined with other material, such as the psalter given by Lord de Lisle to his daughters in 1339 which contained a number of scholarly schematic diagrams including the Tower of Theology of Master John of Metz.11