Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales

by Penny Lawne

  Back in England for Christmas, Thomas and Joan were reunited with their two young sons, and it is probable that she was pregnant with their third child, whom they named Maud, after Thomas’ mother. It was an opportunity for Joan and Thomas to catch up on their own affairs on their many estates, although Thomas was not likely to be satisfied with that for long. He would have been very conscious of the fact that for the first time in his career he was not a part of an ongoing major campaign. Ironically, his promotion to Brittany had precluded him from being part of the prince’s company, and denied him the opportunity of being a part of that campaign. After the conclusion of his highly successful and destructive chevauchée, the prince remained in Gascony and spent the winter of 1355 and early spring of 1356 generally reasserting English control in the duchy. Many of Thomas’ old comrades in arms were with the prince, including his cousin Roger de la Warr. William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, was also with the prince, in joint command of his rearguard, with the Earl of Suffolk. On 2 April 1356 Thomas was appointed keeper of the Channel Islands, a post once held by Joan’s uncle Thomas Wake.28 This was hardly a promotion but there does not seem to have been any real intention on the king’s part that Thomas should fulfil the duties in person. Thomas immediately delegated his command to Otto, as he was engaged elsewhere on the king’s orders, and in June 1356 Otto was authorised to act as his deputy, and duly rewarded by Thomas with the gift, for his lifetime, of the manors of Ashford and Chesterfield in Derbyshire.29 Although there is no evidence of Thomas’ whereabouts over the next few months, it is a reasonable supposition that he had been ordered by the king to join in the fresh campaign planned for the summer of 1356. Building on the twin chevauchées of 1355, Edward III and his commanders planned an attack in France to start in the summer of 1356. Prince Edward was to progress from Bordeaux up into north central France, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, was to start with his army in Brittany, and the king would himself lead a third army from Calais.

  However, once again a campaign planned for Brittany was changed at the last moment. In May Navarrese envoys approached Edward III and implored his support. Charles of Navarre had been arrested and imprisoned by John II in a surprise attack in April, and his brother Philip of Navarre was desperately holding out. Edward III reacted swiftly to support his ally, and immediately ordered Henry of Lancaster to deploy his force to Normandy instead. On 18 June 1356 Lancaster set sail with his army for St Vaast la Hogue, taking with him the earls of March and Pembroke and John Montfort. Once in Normandy Lancaster was joined by Philip of Navarre and Sir Robert Knolles, who had brought a force from the garrisons of Brittany. The combined forces then advanced through Normandy, capturing fortresses, plundering the countryside, moving towards the beleaguered Navarrese strongholds at Pont Audemer, Breteuil and Verneuil. While Lancaster progressed through Normandy and then on into Brittany, Prince Edward mustered his forces at Bordeaux and in August started his campaign, taking a northerly route. With the prince were the earls of Warwick, Suffolk, Oxford and Salisbury. On 19 September the prince met the French king, John II, and his army at Poitiers. In the battle the earls of Warwick and Oxford commanded the vanguard, the prince the second division, and the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk commanded the rearguard.30 Despite having a much larger army, the French were comprehensively and overwhelming defeated, the final humiliation being the capture of John II, along with his young son Philip and most of his nobles. The prince’s Poitiers campaign had ended with a stunning and unexpected victory.

  Although Thomas’ whereabouts during this period are not known, it seems probable that in April 1356 he had been ordered to join the Duke of Lancaster. The intention at that time was for the duke to take his force to Brittany, and so Thomas would be on hand to supply his recent knowledge and experience of the duchy. When the duke was ordered to Normandy instead, Thomas would have remained with him. It is inconceivable that such an experienced and able commander would not have been part of one of the major campaigns, although it is curious that Thomas’ name is not mentioned among the duke’s entourage. The two men knew each other, as they had served together before (they were on crusade in Prussia in 1343), but it is possible that Henry had inherited his father’s antipathy towards the Holand family, reluctantly accepting Thomas’ presence but failing to accord him a prominent role among his retinue. By the winter of 1356/57 Lancaster’s forces had left Brittany and moved into Lower Normandy, bringing successive areas back under English control and establishing English commanders in some of the strategically important garrisons.31 Here his campaign stalled, and he spent six months trying to take the town of Rennes. It was not until July 1357 that the siege was resolved and Lancaster left Normandy. Thomas had had no opportunity in over twelve months to carry out his duties as keeper of the Channel Islands, leaving Otto to do so on his behalf. Recognising this, in June 1357 Edward III appointed Otto Holand to succeed Thomas as keeper.32

  During this period it is likely that Joan remained in England. Certainly, on the basis that Thomas was with Lancaster, the nature of the campaign would have precluded her accompanying him this time. Ostensibly there would be no reason for Thomas not to appoint Joan as his attorney, but there is no evidence to confirm this. While Joan was in England she had the opportunity to renew her friendship with Princess Isabella and other members of the royal family. In May 1357 Prince Edward arrived back in England with the French king, and made a triumphal entry into London where John II was temporarily installed in the Duke of Lancaster’s Savoy Palace. An outline of the peace treaty had been agreed as early as March, and in June papal envoys arrived to assist in the negotiations to agree terms for a lasting peace. In the meantime the court celebrated the prince’s victory jubilantly. Joan would have been among the ladies of the court attending the banquets, jousting and general festivities, congratulating her cousin on his achievement and updating him on his godson’s progress. The cousins would not have seen each other for some years, and it seems reasonable to suggest that it was during this period that the prince fell in love with his cousin, although he could only admire her from afar while she was married to Thomas.

  Once back in England it was not long before Thomas was given another command. A truce had been agreed between the two sides until Easter of 1359 to give time for the peace negotiations to be concluded, but in the meantime Edward III wanted to safeguard his gains in France. He needed men like Thomas, and on 18 November 1357 entrusted him with the custodianship of the strategically placed Cruyk Castle in Normandy.33 In a further demonstration of his faith in Thomas’ military capabilities, in December he appointed Thomas to assist Philip of Navarre, whom he had made lieutenant in Normandy in October 1356.34 There is no record of Thomas taking up his appointment immediately, and in April 1358 he would have attended the annual Garter celebrations at Windsor with his fellow Garter knights. The Garter celebrations were particularly splendid that year, as the guests of honour included the captive King of France. Champions had been invited from all over England, Germany and the Low Countries and hundreds of knights, including the prince and his four brothers, competed in the lists. Shortly afterwards Thomas visited the Channel Islands in May to negotiate the ransom for one of the captured French nobles, the Viscount of Rohan.35 Thomas did not leave for Normandy until October, and by this time he had additional responsibilities. Godfrey of Harcourt, a Norman lord with substantial lands in the Cotentin, including the thirteenth-century fortress at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, had willed these to Edward III before he died and despite the claim of his ally Philip of Navarre the king had taken possession of the castle by appointing one of his lieutenants and installing a garrison there. On 10 October 1358 the king appointed Thomas warden of the castle of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte.36 The major fortress was at the heart of the Harcourt inheritance, and Thomas would have the delicate task of maintaining English control against the Navarrese claim while at the same time working with local Navarrese forces against the French. With occasional raids and intermittent fighting, his command
was by no means purely administrative.

  Thomas appointed attorneys – Roger Mortimer, John Oulton, Robert Thorpe (another on the prince’s council), David Wollore, John Winwick, Randolf Saleby and Gervase Wilford – and returned to Normandy with Otto, his nephews John de la Warr and John Holand, their clerk John Raynford and, this time, with his wife as well.37 Thomas and Joan had spent much of the last two years apart, with Joan in England and Thomas abroad. This would be Joan’s first trip to Normandy. They now had three children (Thomas, John and Maud), and it is possible that Joan had just given birth to their last child, another girl, whom they named Joan.38 It was not unusual to name children after their parents, but it is sad to note that while Thomas and Joan saw fit to name their elder daughter after Thomas’ mother, they did not honour the memory of Joan’s mother, Margaret, in this way. But although Margaret had been responsible for restoring most of the Kent estates, Joan and her mother had not had a close or easy relationship. We do not know if the children accompanied their parents to France. As they would have been an additional responsibility for Joan and required an increased household for support, Thomas and Joan may have decided to leave their young children behind in safety and called on the services of Joan’s relations again. Thomas’ appointment was a success, and four months later, in February 1359, his commission was renewed. Then, in May, Otto Holand was badly wounded on a raid, dying four months later.39 This was a devastating loss for Thomas, as Otto had been at his side throughout his career and had faithfully acted as his deputy on so many occasions. Otto’s incapacity may explain why Thomas and Joan remained in Normandy, missing John of Gaunt’s marriage to Blanche of Lancaster in May. Although they would have been invited (especially as Joan was the groom’s cousin, and related by marriage to the bride through her aunt Blanche Wake), they are not listed as having given a gift, which suggests they did not attend. Held in Reading, the wedding was a magnificent display, the guests including the captive kings of France and Scotland, and was followed by two weeks of festivities and jousting, with a tournament in London in which Edward III and princes Edward, Lionel, John and Edmund participated, disguised as aldermen of London.

  Thomas’ command in Normandy as one of the most senior English officers ensured he was closely involved in the next phase of the king’s campaign in France. By June 1359 it was apparent that Edward III would not obtain the settlement in France for which he had hoped. Despite English military dominance, and the captivity of John II, securing a lasting treaty of peace with the dauphin and the estates general in France was proving increasingly difficult. The king and his council determined on a major new campaign in France, with the principal objective of capturing the city of Rheims. Preparations for the invasion, planned to commence in August, began straight away. Then, in August, Charles of Navarre made his peace with the dauphin at Pontoise, turning his back on his alliance with Edward III. The Navarrese were torn between Charles and his brother, Philip, who remained loyal to Edward III. It was imperative to reinforce English support for Philip of Navarre, and the king had no hesitation in promoting Thomas to bolster English authority. In October Thomas was ordered to secure Barfleur, and he was appointed joint lieutenant of Normandy with Philip of Navarre.40 Following his orders, Thomas reacted swiftly and occupied the harbour at Barfleur in the north-east of the Cotentin peninsula to secure it for his king.41 This renewed military activity brought with it a need for reinforcements, and this necessitated a return to England. Although Joan accompanied Thomas back to England, where she would have the opportunity to see their children, her stay was brief; she returned to Normandy with her husband the same month, appointing Randolf Saleby and Gervase Wilford as their attorneys.42 This was the fourth occasion on which Joan is known to have accompanied Thomas to France, and, as it is unlikely that Thomas had any continuing concern about the status of their marriage, indicates that it was her personal choice, and preference, to do so.

  At the end of October Edward III and his invasion force of around 10,000 men left England and landed at Calais. The army was divided in three, with the king in personal command of the main body, and Prince Edward and the Duke of Lancaster commanding the other two sections. At the beginning of December the army arrived outside the walls of Rheims. Hopes were riding high, but the English found the French resistance more efficient than they had hoped, and their own supply trains, efficient though they were, were less adequate than they had anticipated. Barely four weeks later, in January 1360, the king was forced to abandon the siege, having failed to take the city by assault and diminished the supplies of food necessary to sustain his army. There followed four months of desultory campaigning in northern France, without any major engagement. The dauphin withdrew his forces in front of the English army, and successfully attacked the English supply lines. With inadequate supplies, dogged by poor weather, and unable to engage in a decisive action, and urged by the Duke of Lancaster and Prince Edward, at length Edward III agreed to settle terms.43 By May 1360 the peace negotiators had reached an agreement. Although the Rheims campaign appeared to be a miserable failure after the previous stunning successes, the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny were immensely favourable to Edward III. In return for abandoning his claim to the French throne, Edward III received full sovereignty over the whole of the old Angevin duchy of Aquitaine (Gascony, Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, Perigord, Limousin, Quercy and Rouergue), based on the new boundaries defined by the successful English campaigns, with further territory in the north and west near the Pyrenees including Calais and the surrounding area and the county of Ponthieu, a landmass amounting to nearly a quarter of France.44 Arrangements were agreed for the release of John II, including a ransom of 3 million écus to be paid in instalments over six years. On 19 May Edward III and his sons sailed for England from Honfleur while the rest of the army followed shortly afterwards from Calais.45

  Thomas served on the Rheims campaign, although it is not known in what capacity. As he left to join the army, perhaps arriving after the siege of the city had ended, Joan presumably returned to England. Her stay in Normandy had been short. Thomas returned to England in May 1360, relinquishing his command of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte to Sir John Chandos.46 Joan might reasonably have expected and hoped that their stay in England would be extended now that peace had been agreed. That autumn held a surprise in store for Joan. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, Countess of Kent, left Waverley Abbey and on 29 September broke her vow of chastity by marrying the Hainaulter knight Sir Eustace d’Aubrichecourt at Wingham church in Kent.47 How Elizabeth met d’Aubrichecourt is unknown but it is a reasonable supposition that it was through her brother-in-law Thomas. Eustace d’Aubrichecourt was, like Thomas, a founder member of the Order of the Garter, and within that close-knit elite fraternity the members all knew each other well.48 Eustace was also a professional soldier of considerable ability and had served with Prince Edward in Gascony and on the Poitiers campaign. Subsequently he had chosen to loosen his ties with the prince and operate independently in France with his company of Hainaulters, becoming another of the many bands of soldiers plundering the French countryside for their own advantage. After being captured by the French in 1359, he purchased his freedom in time to join the English army on the Rheims campaign in January 1360, serving in the Duke of Lancaster’s division.49 Presumably he came to England in May with the remaining troops, as in August 1360 he was granted an annuity of 40 marks for his good service to the king.50 He evidently became acquainted with Elizabeth during that summer and it seems likely that Elizabeth may have been visiting Joan when d’Aubrichecourt was Thomas’ guest. An ambitious and unscrupulous soldier, he lost no time in pressing his suit. Marrying the widowed Countess of Kent substantially augmented his social status, enabling him to enjoy Elizabeth’s dower and establishing a bond with Thomas, one of the king’s favoured captains.

  Joan’s time back in England with Thomas was short-lived. Six months after he had returned, on 30 September 1360, Thomas was indented to serve as captain and lieute
nant in Normandy and France for a quarter of a year with a retinue of sixty men-at-arms, including a banneret and ten knights, and 120 mounted archers.51 He immediately prepared to return to France, with ten ships commissioned for his passage, and on 24 October was instructed to publish the peace and to supervise handover of English fortresses as agreed at the Treaty of Brétigny.52 This new promotion was the highest point in Thomas’ career, and he was at last made Earl of Kent by the king, in due recognition of his services.53 Thomas’ newfound confidence found expression in an unusually generous gesture on his part towards his nephew John Holand, granting him the manors of Northweald in Essex and Whissendine in Rutland for life.54 Unfortunately Thomas did not live to enjoy the fruits of his labours. In December he was taken ill at Rouen, and he died on 28 December 1360.55

  Joan does not seem to have accompanied Thomas on this last trip, and she must have been devastated when news of his death reached her. As a career soldier, Thomas had survived many arduous and dangerous campaigns, and his death now, in his early forties, was unexpected. For twenty years his strong, dominant personality had been the centre of Joan’s life. There can be no doubt of her love for him. She had agreed to marry him when she was still a child, and had stoutly maintained her support for their marriage despite their separation for eight years and the opposition of her family. Their ten years of married life together had been fruitful and varied; Thomas had risen from humble household knight to being one of the king’s most trusted commanders, a respected and valued companion of the military elite as a knight of the Garter. When they married, Thomas had no more than £26 a year to his name; he died Earl of Kent with vast landed estates. Joan had been at his side throughout; unlike most of her peers she had accompanied Thomas on three tours of duties in France, her wifely devotion amply demonstrated by this and their four children. Initially Thomas was buried at the church of the Friars Minor in Rouen, but Joan arranged for his body to be brought back to England and for him to be reburied in the Franciscan church of which they had been patrons at Stamford in Lincolnshire.56 Thomas’ body was laid to rest in the chapel adjoining the church. Mourning her loss, Joan gave instructions to her constable at Castle Donington for a chaplain to regularly sing for Thomas’ soul.57