Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales

by Penny Lawne

  Gaunt’s loyalty and determination to support his nephew was greatly facilitated by the fact that he enjoyed an affectionate and trusting relationship with Joan. As Richard was only ten when he became king, his mother’s guidance and support behind the scenes was all important. The relationship between Joan and her brother-in-law was crucial, and they openly supported each other in working to further the interests of the prince’s son. Joan’s quiet influence was increasingly apparent as the months passed. When Edward III died the citizens of London sent a deputation to Kennington, conveying their respects and stressing their loyalty, requesting Richard’s presence in London and asking him to resolve the quarrel between the city and the Duke of Lancaster. The following day, on 22 June, Thomas Latimer, Nicholas Bond, Simon Burley and Richard Abberbury, on Richard’s behalf (though in practice almost certainly chosen by Joan), explained to London citizens that Gaunt had agreed to submit to the king’s will and asking them to do likewise. According to Walsingham there then ensued over six hours of discussion as the citizens were alarmed by such a formula for peace and felt that Richard, as a boy, was too weak to protect them. Eventually they agreed, on the basis that Latimer, Bond, Burley and Abberbury gave personal pledges of assurance that if the Londoners submitted it would be to their advantage and ‘not to their prejudice’.30 Their success was reported back to Gaunt and the scene set for a public reconciliation. A second deputation of London citizens was then received by Richard, attended by his mother and by his uncles, in a display of family unity. Gaunt knelt before Richard and asked the young king to pardon the Londoners, and to be reconciled to them. The unexpected spectacle of the proud duke publicly abasing himself, described as a ‘miracle’ by Walsingham, followed by the duke kissing each and every one of the citizens in front of the king ‘as a sign that peace was not feigned’, was a piece of deliberate stage theatre which had the desired effect, and the citizens of London went home in peace.31

  This was followed by a public reconciliation between Gaunt and Wykeham, with a full pardon and release of Peter de la Mare.32 Publicly the credit for these conciliatory gestures was given to Richard, as Walsingham lauded:

  The young king, because of his own innate goodness, desiring that there be peace among his subjects everywhere, at the very beginning of his reign reunited the duke and the bishop of Winchester … also whenever he discovered that a dispute had arisen anywhere in his kingdom he dealt with the case at issue himself, promising an outcome which would be advantageous and profitable to both parties. It was a happy beginning in a boy of so young an age, that he should be anxious about peace without anyone putting pressure upon him, and should know that peace was beneficial to his people without anyone telling him to do so.33

  Walsingham’s fulsome accolade makes no mention of Joan, but there can be little doubt of her guiding hand behind Richard. Hostile and acrimonious relationships were dangerous and could only damage the start of his reign. The pattern of personal intervention, of listening to both sides, of promising a solution which would be to both parties’ advantage, were Joan’s style, traits she used whenever she was involved. At every step she was behind Richard, counselling and advising him on handling each situation, helping him to restore harmony and peace. Her sure touch in conciliation was behind the reconciliation with Gaunt, her calming and reassuring presence facilitating his timely contrition, and it seems likely that it was Joan who suggested, and persuaded, Gaunt to adopt the humbling role in which he was cast.

  All was now set for Richard’s coronation.

  12

  The King’s Mother

  1377–1385

  Many great things were hoped for in the time of this Richard’s reign.

  Adam Usk

  Richard’s succession was heralded with joy and his coronation was held on Thursday 16 July 1377, just three weeks after his grandfather’s death and eleven days after Edward III’s funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 5 July.1 Hopes and expectations of the young boy were high. Once Richard was safely crowned, what part would Joan play, and how would his accession change her position? Would she retire gracefully, or remain at the centre of affairs? Crucially, Richard was only ten years old, and his youth, and vulnerability, would be a decisive factor in her decisions. Although he would be surrounded by powerful people anxious to guide and influence him, he would need protection from those ambitious for their own interests. This included his father’s family, in particular his uncles. What place would Richard’s half-brothers and sisters have in the new regime, and would Joan encourage him to enhance their standing?

  Richard had accompanied the old king’s cortege as it made its solemn procession from Sheen to Westminster, stopping overnight at Wandsworth and Southwark.2 Then it was his turn to be the centre of attention and, on the eve of the coronation, Richard slowly travelled from the Tower to Westminster through Cheapside, Fleet Street and down the Strand past the Savoy Palace. The city was decorated with gold and silver, with numerous bright silk banners above a series of newly constructed displays designed to entertain and amaze the crowds. The streets were thronged with well-wishers, with ample supplies of refreshments, provided in ingenious ways, with wine pouring out of the pipes of an aqueduct and from parts of the tower constructed in the market at Cheapside, and in such abundance that the wine lasted for over three hours. Preceding the procession were flute players, trumpeters, drummers and others musicians, all plying their instruments, proudly announcing the arrival of the young king. Trumpeters were posted by the Londoners above the aqueduct and at the tower, to blow their horns as the king arrived, maidens dressed in white blew gold petals and tossed imitation gold coins at the young king as he passed. Leading the procession were groups of loyal citizens, each wearing their own matching and differently coloured apparel, from Gascony as well as from the different London wards, followed by the nobility in order of seniority, earls, barons and knights, all attired in white, signifying innocence, in honour of Richard, making a blaze of colour and magnificence.3 Each group had their own trumpeter. Henry Percy, the Marshal of England, and Gaunt as steward of England, rode great chargers, accompanied by men from their retinue, clearing a path for the king. Richard rode behind, splendidly attired in regal robes, with his tutor Simon Burley beside him, carrying his sword, while his father’s squire, Nicholas Bond, held the horse’s reins. The entire cavalcade took over three hours to process their way to Westminster. It was a day of revelry and joy, splendid, festive and clamorously noisy, all in honour of the small boy described by the chronicler Adam of Usk as ‘fair among men as another Absalom’.4

  Richard and Joan spent the night in Westminster Palace. Early on the following morning the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, accompanied by the senior bishops, arrived to escort their young charge to the church of St Peter in the abbey itself for the coronation service. The way was led by the three great offices of state: the steward, marshal and constable – Gaunt, Percy and Thomas of Woodstock – all walking on foot, followed by the senior clergy and nobility. The service was conducted by Sudbury, and everyone of importance attended. William Montague, Joan’s erstwhile husband, carried one of the ceremonial vestments. The coronation ceremony took place first, followed by a Mass. Once the service was concluded, and the newly crowned king acclaimed, a long state banquet followed. Richard was so exhausted he was carried back to the palace afterwards by Simon Burley, losing a shoe in the process. The whole affair went smoothly, watched over and controlled by Gaunt’s benevolent, omnipotent presence. Gaunt had arranged and managed the proceedings entirely. No one could doubt his right to do so, and there was no one more suitable. Gaunt was the most senior nobleman and the king’s eldest uncle; as Earl of Leicester he was the king’s steward, as Duke of Lancaster he had the right to carry the king’s principal sword and as Earl of Lincoln he was entitled to carve for the king at the coronation banquet. During the coronation itself he delegated the task of carrying the sword to his son Henry of Bolingbroke, and the Earl of Stafford cut Richard�
��s meat and bread at the table at Westminster hall.5 Eventually the long day ended, as Walsingham recorded: ‘It was a day of joy and gladness … the long awaited day of the renewal of peace and of the laws of the land, long exiled by the weakness of an aged king and the greed of his courtiers and servants.’6

  For Joan, watching proudly as her youngest child swore his solemn oath and was proclaimed king, it was a day of great emotion, her joy mixed with sadness. Once she had anticipated that this day would belong to the prince, her husband; now it was their son who stood there, dressed in his coronation finery, barely old enough to understand the proceedings. Gaunt is rightly credited with the day’s success, but there can be no doubt that he consulted and conferred with Joan at every opportunity and that her views would have been taken into account. It was an event for which both had planned over many months, working together in harmony, and considerable thought was given to all aspects of the event. Most of the preparations dealt with the practicalities of the event, as the actual ceremony itself was based on long-standing tradition. Nevertheless two small, seemingly innocuous changes were made affecting the coronation oath, and Joan’s influence may well have been responsible for one of these. The coronation oath taken by Richard was essentially the same as that sworn by his grandfather, Edward III, and his great-grandfather Edward II; Richard swore to uphold the laws and customs of his ancestors, to protect the Church and the clergy, to do justice to all and to uphold the laws which the people chose. Traditionally the Archbishop of Canterbury presented the king to the congregation before the oath was taken, asking them to confirm their consent. In theory, at least, this format gave the assembly an opportunity to refuse, although it was extremely unlikely and had never happened. Richard took the oath first, and so was presented to the congregation as their king, with their positive response acting as an affirmation of his kingship. The effect of this change was to remove any elective element from the coronation while emphasising the legitimacy of his succession.7 The long-standing concern regarding the legal validity of the prince’s marriage to Joan probably explains the purpose behind this alteration, providing a powerful and incontrovertible barrier to anyone who might seek to challenge Richard’s right of succession.8 The other change was to the wording of one clause of the oath, inserting the words ‘just and reasonably’ to describe the laws chosen by the people. This clause was the most restrictive of the king’s powers and had been added in 1307 when Edward II succeeded his father. The qualification would give the king a means to limit its effect on his powers. Gaunt was careful to ensure that a full record was kept of the coronation and its proceedings, and in his capacity as steward of England he delivered the record to chancery with his own hands.9 The change made to the order of the oath was emphasised at the first parliament of the new reign when the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his opening speech on 13 October, stated that Richard was king ‘not by election nor by any other way but by lawful right of inheritance’.

  A new king and a new regime afforded the opportunity to create new members of the nobility, both to reward loyal and faithful friends and to bolster support for Richard. Four new earls were created just before the banquet held after the coronation ceremony, the greatest number to be so awarded since 1337, and again this was a staged and planned event. Though the titles were conferred by Richard he would have been prompted in their selection by those closest to him, almost certainly his uncle and his mother. His uncle Thomas of Woodstock was created Earl of Buckingham, Richard’s first tutor Guichard d’Angle became Earl of Huntingdon, while Gaunt’s friends and loyal supporters Henry Percy and Thomas Mowbray became respectively Earl of Northumberland and Nottingham. The elevation of d’Angle to a lifetime-only peerage was the most personal award, reflecting the regard with which he had been held by Richard’s parents while he had served them as the boy’s tutor, and was unlikely to be contentious as it was generally recognised as a just reward for his services to the young king. Joan’s hand in his selection, supported by Gaunt, seems self-evident. Thomas of Woodstock was the only one of Edward III’s sons who had not been granted an earldom in his father’s lifetime. Both d’Angle and Thomas were also given an income of £1,000 a year to support their new status, a thoughtful addition as their newly created earldoms did not bring income and estates with them. Thomas was an ambitious and able young man, and while there was no reason to doubt his loyalty, with his nephew’s accession it was natural and prudent to give him the status to which he was entitled by birth. Gaunt was anxious to promote family solidarity, and Joan had her father’s experience to warn her of the dangers of overlooking royal relations. Henry Percy and Thomas Mowbray were wealthy and powerful northern barons who had proved their loyalty to the Crown during Edward III’s last years, and their promotion was accepted with equanimity despite their connections with Gaunt and the latter’s continuing unpopularity.

  Richard was only ten years old. Clearly he was not old enough to direct his own household unassisted, let alone govern the country. The crown had passed to a minor only twice before; more than 150 years earlier in 1216 when King John died, leaving his nine-year-old son Henry to succeed him, and when Edward III had replaced his father in 1327 following Edward II’s deposition. In 1216 the country had been in a state of civil war, which the death of King John halted but did not extinguish. There was a paramount need for a strong, authoritative figure to protect the royal interest, and this was provided by William Marshal, who became regent. The obvious candidate to be regent now was John of Gaunt, as the most powerful and richest noble, and the king’s most senior uncle. But Gaunt was deeply unpopular, and he himself realised that any authority wielded by him in Richard’s name would potentially harm the young king. Neither of his brothers would have been thought suitable candidates, as Edmund of Langley and Thomas of Woodstock lacked Gaunt’s ability, gravitas and authority. Instead, the device to cover the day-to-day running of the country was the establishment of a council of twelve leading peers, with each rank represented: two earls, two barons, two prelates, two bannerets and four knights. This was similar to the council set up in 1327 to rule in the young Edward III’s name after his father was removed from the throne.

  What role could, or should, Joan take? Henry III’s mother, the dowager queen Isabella of Angoulême, found she had no role in the new regime, and returned to France, leaving her son in the regent’s care. This was not an option for Joan. In 1327, when Edward III had been crowned at the age of fourteen, it had been a theatrical and carefully stage-managed action to legitimise the removal of his father Edward II from the throne and to mask the seizure of power by his mother Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. Joan’s situation was hardly comparable; nevertheless, after Richard’s accession her position did subtly and irrevocably change. Although she had been one of the most important women at court for many years she was now the most senior and would remain so until her son married. In some respects there was no role model for her to follow as the king’s mother. The precedents of Queen Isabella, and Henry III’s mother, Isabella of Angoulême, were of limited value in guiding her. They had both been foreign princesses as well as queens, enjoying an independent authority and status Joan lacked. Yet Joan had advantages they did not have. The country was more stable and united in 1377 than it had been in either 1216 or 1327, and Joan was on extremely good terms with the strongest magnate in the land, John of Gaunt. Richard was very close to his mother and, aged ten, was rather younger than Edward III had been when he succeeded to the throne, and it is unlikely he would have resented her influence in the way Edward III had done with his mother. As the prince’s wife she had gradually earned respect and affection, and she was genuinely universally well regarded by 1377. In addition, unlike her mother-in-law Queen Philippa and Edward III’s mother Isabella, Joan was independently wealthy and had no need of income from the Crown to maintain a lifestyle commensurate with her status. Her position, greatly enhanced now that Richard was king, coupled with her wealth, gave her considerable potential t
o extend her influence. Queen Isabella had taken advantage of Edward III’s minority to exercise power in the political arena as well as enhancing her own wealth, and rewarded her family and her friends. Arguably Joan could have done likewise. But Joan was a completely different personality and had absolutely no intention of repeating Isabella’s example. In 1377 there were still some who remembered this time, and even those who had been born afterwards had heard and seen the consequences of Isabella’s use of power, enriching herself and her lover, usurping the authority of the Crown for her own interests. As Joan knew, women were generally expected to play a passive role, and be of no political consequence. The idea that Joan might become regent for her son was never entertained, and it was certainly not one that she herself ever put forward.