Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales

by Penny Lawne

  The Earl of Salisbury’s demise was a catastrophe for Joan, and she was destined to spend another five years trapped between her two marriages. In 1344 William Montague was only sixteen and too young to inherit his father’s dignities or estates. He therefore had no power to fulfil whatever promises his father had made to Thomas Holand. Margaret and Thomas Wake may have had second thoughts about the terms Salisbury had agreed, and probably looked to the king to resolve the situation. Edward III was now drawn directly into the affair as William became his ward.33 This should have been decisive. Joan was his cousin, and Thomas Holand his household knight. The king had earlier abrogated his responsibility towards Joan when he left the Earl of Salisbury to resolve the matter with Thomas but he now had the opportunity to remedy the situation. Edward III was better placed than anyone else to effect a settlement, and if necessary he could invoke the Pope’s intervention, as he did a year later in February 1345 when he asked the Pope to confirm the dissolution of the Earl of Arundel’s marriage to Hugh Despenser’s daughter to enable Arundel to marry the Earl of Lancaster’s daughter, Eleanor.34 Yet the king appears to have made no attempt to resolve his cousin’s marital dilemma. Instead, he appointed one of the earl’s executors, Sir John Wingfield, to be William Montague’s guardian, and granted William some of his father’s estates in Somerset which brought him an annual income of around £300.35 This was not enough to enable William to offer Thomas a sufficiently generous inducement to relinquish Joan. While his relinquishment of the guardianship of his best friend’s heir could be interpreted as the king’s wish not to be seen to be taking sides, it is hard to explain or understand Edward III’s failure to take any further action. Maybe he had a sneaking sympathy for Thomas and Joan but did not want to offend the Montagues or his aunt and Thomas Wake by supporting them, but whatever his reasons, his lack of action meant that he was effectively washing his hands of the matter.

  It was some time before Margaret and Thomas Wake realised that the king was not going to settle the affair. Joan would again have been subjected to pressure to withdraw her support for Thomas, which would have enabled them to get the Holand marriage annulled. But Joan remained steadfast. There remained the possibility of reaching terms with Thomas for him to withdrawn his claim. Although they had hoped the earl would resolve the matter, and assumed the king would, they were both more than capable of taking decisive action themselves. In dealing with the family estates Margaret had proved she could be formidable in pursuing her objectives, and Thomas Wake had many years of experience in command. They knew they had the support of the Montague family. William was not given the opportunity to withdraw. It was now too late for him to reject his marriage under canonical law on the grounds of his age and lack of consummation, and he was too young to institute ecclesiastical proceedings himself unless his guardian undertook them on his behalf. The fact that no deal was reached suggests that Margaret and Thomas Wake were prepared to take a hard line with Thomas Holand, and hoped that if they simply refused to acknowledge his marriage and denied him access to Joan he would have no alternative but to drop his claim eventually. Nevertheless, the impasse was clearly unsatisfactory. Thomas might have been more effectively deterred from persisting in his claim if William and Joan had consummated their marriage, and had children. As they were now both sixteen there was no obvious bar to them doing so, but the fact that Joan did not become pregnant makes it evident they did not (both would later have several children). This was probably due to William. Maybe he hoped that her feelings for Thomas would lessen with time and she would become reconciled to their marriage.

  Offered no inducement to relinquish his claim to Joan, and faced with the combined opposition of Joan’s family and the Montagues, Thomas’ choices were limited. It was evident he could not appeal to the king for support, but he could request an ecclesiastical investigation to validate his marriage. This is what Sir John Grey had done in 1333 when his wife Eleanor had been abducted and then married by William la Zouche. Grey first brought proceedings before the Bishop of Lincoln, requesting Eleanor’s return. When the bishop refused to make a ruling despite being ordered to do so by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Grey was forced to appeal. His success, however, was short-lived, as the Pope then ordered the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield to reconsider the whole affair. The problem for Thomas was that he lacked the funds to mount what would probably be lengthy and expensive proceedings, and he may well have feared that he would not get a fair hearing. As his marriage had taken place abroad it might have been difficult for him to gather the evidence to support it. The alternative was for him to preserve his position by leaving matters as they were, and hope that a future change in either his or William Montague’s circumstances would provide a solution. He probably discussed it with his mother, always someone who had his best interests at heart. In September 1344 he was with her in Sussex, acting as godfather to Thomas FitzRoger, attending his christening at St Bartholomew’s church, Merston.36 In the event, it appears that Thomas decided to do nothing, and turned his attention back to his career.

  Thomas rejoined the Earl of Northampton’s forces as a fresh campaign was planned in France. In the autumn of 1344 Pope Clement VI had attempted to reconcile the French and English sides but he failed to do so. Edward III had already secured the support of Parliament to mount an expedition, and early in 1345 the king and his closest advisers drew up the first detailed plans for a fresh campaign, with an initial proposal to send two armies in the summer, one led by the king and the other by Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Derby.37 The plans expanded in the spring of 1345 when Edward III secured the allegiance of John Montfort of Brittany and some other noble Frenchmen, and with their support a third army was planned. The exact details of the planned campaign were kept secret. In June 1345 Edward III renounced the truce with France and the first of his armies, commanded by the Earl of Northampton, left Portsmouth in June 1345, landing in Brittany. Thomas and his brothers, having previously served with Northampton, were almost certainly among this first advance party. In July 1345 Northampton’s army laid siege to Quimper in Brittany, and in September and October Henry of Lancaster successfully engaged the French in battle at Bergerac and Auberoche south of Limoges in Périgueux. Meanwhile, the king, who had initially diverted to Sluys to deal with a sudden crisis in Flanders which threatened the Anglo-Flemish alliance, was delayed in England. On his return from Sluys, storms had scattered the fleet, and the ships were forced to make their way back individually to England, each disembarking on finding a safe haven. This made the original intention to re-embark and join Northampton and Henry of Lancaster’s armies in France impractical, and the king dispersed his army. It was clear to Edward III and his council that with the end of the campaigning season in sight the king would not be joining them and that the initiative could not be sustained. The expedition was cancelled, with Northampton and Derby wintering in France before dispersing in the spring of 1346 and Thomas among those who now returned to England.

  Joan’s whereabouts between January 1344 and the spring of 1346 are not known. We do not know where Joan was living and with whom during this period. While it is probable that she remained with the queen’s household, she may have accompanied Margaret when she visited the family estates. Joan was still her brother’s heir, and Margaret would have wanted her daughter to have some familiarity with the Kent estates. In addition, publicly at least, Joan was William’s wife and the Montagues would naturally have expected Joan to show an interest in William’s affairs and visit the Montague estates. Unfortunately there is no evidence to confirm or support this. The respite in the hostilities against France did little to change Joan’s position, and it is doubtful if she even saw Thomas Holand when he returned from Brittany. Edward III had been planning a renewed campaign for 1346, which would this time rely primarily on English troops rather than foreign allies. It was a huge expedition, with the army, once assembled, probably numbering between 7,000 and 10,000 men.38 The organisation required to gather such
a large army was a complicated and lengthy business which kept those involved occupied for weeks, sometimes stretching into months, even before the start of a campaign. Within days of his return from Brittany in the spring of 1346 Thomas was immediately engaged in supervising arrays in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, under the command of the Earl of Warwick, leaving him little time to spare for Joan. Thomas was paid war wages from 4 June, but money was still a problem for him, for in the same month his mother Maud obtained permission to give him the manors of Halse, Brackley and King’s Sutton in Northamptonshire, boosting his income.39

  The new expedition affected Joan even more directly than the previous campaigns, as this time both William Montague and her brother John were involved. On 11 July the fleet of over 600 ships left Portsmouth and set sail for France.40 All four Holand brothers were aboard; Thomas’ older brother Robert served with him, while his younger brothers, Otto and Alan, were in the king’s retinue with Robert’s son.41 Also with the king was the sixteen-year-old Prince Edward, accompanied by William Montague (now aged eighteen) and Joan’s brother, John. The fleet’s destination had been kept a close secret; according to the royal clerk Adam Murimuth, ‘no one could know for certain where he [Edward III] intended to sail, or in what place overseas he meant to land’.42 In fact, the destination was Normandy, territory not previously campaigned on, and, as Jean le Bel and Froissart noted, a country ill-equipped to deal with the invading English.43 When Edward III landed at La Hogue his first action was to knight Prince Edward, and several young noblemen, including William Montague and John.44 The army was divided into three divisions which were to march separately and come together at night; the vanguard or advance force was commanded by Prince Edward with the earls of Northampton (the constable) and Warwick (the Earl Marshal) to assist him, the rearguard by the Bishop of Durham, Thomas Hatfield, with the main body under the king’s direct control.

  The first notable success of the campaign came within weeks at the end of July with the successful siege of Caen, the largest walled town west of Rouen, where the French had planned to halt the English army.45 One significant incident in the capture of the town would change Joan’s fortunes completely. Caen’s defences were commanded by the constable of Paris, the Count of Eu, and the chamberlain, the Count of Tancarville. On realising their hopeless position, and in fear of being killed by the attacking English soldiers, the two commanders surrendered themselves individually to two English knights known to them. The Count of Tancarville surrendered to Sir Thomas Daniels, a retainer of Prince Edward, while the Count of Eu surrendered to Thomas Holand, recognising him from the Crusades in Prussia and Granada.46 According to Froissart, Thomas was easily recognisable because he wore an eyepatch, shielding his lost eye.47 The Count of Eu’s surrender was a significant stroke of fortune for Thomas, as he could expect to be handsomely rewarded by the king for his captive. Such funds would give him the wherewithal to take William Montague to the ecclesiastical courts and reclaim Joan. On Edward III’s orders, the two counts were removed from the field and were taken to England in August by the Earl of Huntingdon, with instructions for them to be kept in captivity until the king had made more progress with his campaign before they were released against ransoms raised by their families or the French king.48 After the town surrendered Thomas lived up to his chivalrous reputation, securing the town with his companions and restraining the English troops from raping the women and girls and killing the townsfolk.49

  Being in the king’s army was not without personal risk for Thomas; he had already lost an eye. Shortly after leaving Caen, Thomas and a steward of the king’s household called Sir Richard Talbot were wounded attacking one of several castles which guarded the various crossings of the Seine.50 The wound was not serious and Thomas remained in service. Outmanoeuvring the French, the army crossed the river at Poissy and advanced to within ten miles of Paris, continuing to lay waste to the countryside and burning and pillaging towns. Failing to make contact with the French army, Edward III then turned north and headed towards Calais, hoping to engage Philip VI at a site of his choosing.51 On 26 August the two armies faced each other at Crécy. Philip VI, commanding an army superior in size and well equipped, was confident of success, but the English won an overwhelming victory, with the French king barely escaping from the battlefield. The French losses were enormous, and included most of the flower of the French nobility as well as King John of Bohemia and the King of Majorca. Thomas fought in Prince Edward’s division in his newly promoted position as a joint commander of the vanguard with the earls of Warwick and Northampton, on an equal footing with Sir John Chandos. The prince’s division was the front line and bore the brunt of the fighting in the battle; at one point it was feared the prince might be captured. William Montague and Joan’s brother John also took part in the battle, John serving with the prince. Many knights apart from Thomas distinguished themselves on the battlefield, none more so than Prince Edward, whose courage and chivalric conduct won him general admiration.

  Waiting in England, Joan was aware of the tremendous success of the victory, but there is no evidence that Thomas informed her of the change in his circumstances. Thomas and William Montague, remained in France. With the French in disarray after their crushing defeat at Crécy, the English army advanced to the outskirts of Calais. According to Edward III, Calais was chosen for its location and in order to be within reach of reinforcements and supplies from England, needed because of the long and continuous marches.52 However, Calais was well defended and the king made no attempt to assault the town and instead had organised his army to besiege the town. The siege started in September 1346 and did not conclude until August 1347. The defenders were able to obtain fresh supplies which were brought in by sea, and proved equal to withstanding the immense resources thrown at them by the English army. The siege turned into a vast and costly exercise involving around 32,000 English troops, all housed in a purpose-built and fortified camp named Villeneuve-le-Hardi (Bold New Town) by Edward III.53 Eventually, by April 1347 Edward III had been able to ensure Calais was surrounded on all sides and blockaded from the sea so that supplies were no longer able to reach the town. The inhabitants and the garrison began to starve. Philip VI dithered, hoping initially to draw Edward III away from the town by sending an army into Flanders and encouraging the Scots to invade England (where they suffered a devastating defeat at Neville’s Cross). In July 1347 Philip VI finally arrived with his army, hoping to relieve the Calais defenders, but soon abandoned the idea when he realised the strength of the English defences. He departed, having failed to achieve anything. The citizens of Calais, deserted by their king, came to terms with Edward III and on 4 August 1347 the king took possession of the town. The siege had lasted eleven months.

  Thomas Holand served with distinction in the Crécy campaign and his outstanding performance dramatically enhanced his reputation and prospects. But, more significantly for Joan, his capture of the Count of Eu at Caen proved incredibly lucrative. It was usual for all the more important prisoners to be purchased from their captors by the king, who then negotiated their release. In April 1347 Edward III formally agreed to pay Thomas the sum of 80,000 florins (£13,333 6s 8d) for the Count of Eu, to be paid in instalments over three years: 12,000 florins (£2,000) in 1347, 41,000 florins (£6,633 13s 4d) in 1348 and the final 27,000 florins (£4,500) in 1349, and as the hide and wool subsidy was being used to provide the cash, each yearly instalment was to be paid in two equal payments at Michaelmas and Easter.54 At a stroke, Thomas was promised riches beyond his dreams. It was also a huge and unprecedented sum for the king to pay, and there is no record of any captive, other than crowned heads of state, for whom Edward III was prepared to pay as much.55 Thomas Daniels, for example, to whom the Count of Tancarville had surrendered at the same time as the Count of Eu had surrendered to Thomas Holand, received £666 and an annual pension of £26 13s 4d.56 Some months later, when Sir Thomas Dagworth captured Charles of Blois, the claimant for the duchy of Brittany supporte
d by the French, he was promised the sum of £4,900.57 Ten years later, after the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, the Earl of Warwick received £8,000 for the Archbishop of Sens, and Sir Bartholomew Burghersh secured £6,666 13s 4d for the Count of Ventadour.58 The sum Edward III agreed to pay Thomas Holand is disproportionately high in relation to the count’s importance as a political prisoner, and indicates clearly the value he placed on Holand as a military commander and his desire to reward him. Perhaps it also indicated something further.

  Edward III would have been well aware that the sum he had agreed to pay for the Count of Eu would enable Thomas to pursue his claim to Joan, and there can be little doubt that Thomas’ courage and exceptional performance had secured him the king’s tacit support. Although the king was still not prepared to intervene in person to resolve Joan’s marital dilemma, he was effectively communicating his message by giving Thomas ample means to take the necessary legal steps required to regain her. It is likely that Edward III was also well aware of his young cousin’s desire to be reunited with Holand. The queen, accompanied by princesses Isabella and Joan, had joined the king outside Calais to celebrate Christmas in 1346, and remained with him until the siege ended. Joan, now eighteen years old, was among their party.59 The queen’s sympathies must have been drawn to Joan’s awkward situation, and her continued determined support for Thomas in the face of her family’s opposition. Joan’s presence in Calais also gave Thomas an opportunity to see her again after many months of enforced separation. This was a decisive moment for the couple. Having secured the promise of such a rich reward from the king, Thomas no longer had any reason to surrender his right to Joan in exchange for cash and now had the financial wherewithal to challenge William Montague.