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Joan of England
Born	19 December 1333 or 28 January 1334 Tower of London (perhaps)
Died	2 September 1348 (aged 14)
Burial	Bayonne Cathedral
House	Plantagenet
Father	Edward III of England
Mother	Philippa of Hainault

Joan of England (19 December 1333 or 28 January 1334 – 2 September 1348) was a daughter of Edward III and his wife, Philippa of Hainault. She died in the Black Death that struck Europe in 1348.

Life

Joan, also known as Joanna, was born in the Tower of London. As a child she was placed in the care of Marie de St Pol, wife of Aymer de Valence and foundress of Pembroke College, Cambridge. She grew up with her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their cousin Joan of Kent.

In 1336, Joan was betrothed to the eldest son of Otto, Duke of Austria, with the stipulation that she would receive her education at the Austrian court. However, Edward III showed reluctance in sending her and delayed her departure, promising that he would personally accompany her the following year.

In 1338, Joan accompanied her father on his campaign to Antwerp. Later, they traveled to Koblenz, where they met Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and were his special guests at the Imperial Diet in the church of Saint Castor. Edward III was crowned vicar-general of the Holy Roman Empire and formed an alliance with Louis against Philip VI of France, but in 1341 the emperor deserted him.

Joan travelled with Louis IV's consort, Margaret of Hainault, to Munich and remained at court there for nearly a year before finally being brought to the Austrian court in the autumn of 1339. Around this time, Duke Otto passed away, and Edward sensed that the new Duke of Austria was swayed towards France. As a result, he decided to dissolve the marriage agreement and insisted on Joan's return home in 1340.

In 1345, she was betrothed to Peter of Castile, son of Maria of Portugal and Alfonso XI of Castile. In the summer of 1348, she left England with the blessing of her parents. Thanks to a heavily armed retinue she was, perhaps, the most protected woman of Europe at the time, and it is said that her trousseau alone required an entire ship. The travel schedule included a visit to one of her family's castles in Bordeaux.

Death

As Joan embarked on her journey, the Black Death had not yet appeared in England, and it is unlikely that the party was aware of the danger. Despite the severe outbreak of plague in Bordeaux, at first it did not occur to Joan and her advisors to leave town. Soon, they watched in horror as the members of the entourage began falling sick and dying. Robert Bouchier, the leader of the retinue, died on 20 August.

Joan feared for her life and was probably moved to the small village of Lormont (Loremo), where she remained for some time. However, she could not escape the disease and became its first victim in the camp, suffering a violent, quick attack and dying on 2 September 1348.

Some accounts document that Joan was buried in Bayonne Cathedral, and her statue, in Westminster Abbey, is on the South Side of her father's tomb.

Letter to Alfonso

Here is an excerpt from the letter that King Edward III sent to King Alfonso of Castile (translated by Rosemary Horrox in her book The Black Death):

We are sure that your Magnificence knows how, after much complicated negotiation about the intended marriage of the renowned Prince Pedro, your eldest son, and our most beloved daughter Joan, which was designed to nurture perpetual peace and create an indissoluble union between our Royal Houses, we sent our said daughter to Bordeaux, en route for your territories in Spain. But see, with what intense bitterness of heart we have to tell you this, destructive Death (who seizes young and old alike, sparing no one and reducing rich and poor to the same level) has lamentably snatched from both of us our dearest daughter, whom we loved best of all, as her virtues demanded

No fellow human being could be surprised if we were inwardly desolated by the sting of this bitter grief, for we are humans too. But we, who have placed our trust in God and our Life between his hands, where he has held it closely through many great dangers, we give thanks to him that one of our own family, free of all stain, whom we have loved with our life, has been sent ahead to Heaven to reign among the choirs of virgins, where she can gladly intercede for our offenses before God Himself.

References

1. Mortimer 2006, pp. 433–434.
2. Ormrod 1990, p. 22.
3. Green 1857, p. 229.
4. Green 1857, p. 230.
5. Green 1857, p. 231.
6. ^ Green 1857, p. 232.
7. Mortimer 2006, p. 149.
8. Green 1857, p. 234.
9. ^ Mortimer 2006, p. 151.
10. Ormrod 1990, p. 10.
11. Green 1857, pp. 235–236.
12. Mortimer 2006, p. 189.
13. Green 1857, p. 236.
14. ^ Green 1857, p. 238.
15. Green 1857, p. 239.
16. Mortimer 2006, pp. 255.
17. Green 1857, p. 244.
18. Green 1857, p. 250.
19. Green 1857, p. 257.
20. Green 1857, p. 259.
21. Horrox, R. The Black Death (Manchester Medieval Sources). Manchester University Press, 1994.

Sources

• Green, Mary Anne Everett (1857). Lives of the Princesses of England Vol. III. London. pp. 229–260. Retrieved 3 November 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Mortimer, Ian (2006). The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-2240-7301-X.
• Ormrod, W. M. (1990). The reign of Edward III : crown and political Society in England, 1327-1377. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

v t e House of Plantagenet
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou Wife: Empress Matilda Henry II of England Geoffrey, Count of Nantes William FitzEmpress Illegitimate: Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey Emma of Anjou Mary of Shaftesbury
Henry II of England Wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine William IX, Count of Poitiers Henry the Young King Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony Richard I of England Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile Joan of England, Queen of Sicily John, King of England Illegitimate: Geoffrey (archbishop of York) William de Longespée, Earl of Salisbury
Henry the Young King Wife: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary William Plantagenet (died in infancy)
Richard I of England Wife: Berengaria of Navarre Illegitimate: Philip of Cognac
John, King of England Wife: Isabella of Angoulême Henry III of England Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Joan of England, Queen of Scotland Isabella of England Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester Illegitimate: Joan, Lady of Wales Richard FitzRoy Oliver FitzRoy Geoffrey FitzRoy John FitzRoy Henry FitzRoy Osbert Gifford Eudes FitzRoy Bartholomew FitzRoy Maud FitzRoy Isabel FitzRoy Philip FitzRoy William de Forz
Henry III of England Wife: Eleanor of Provence Edward I of England Margaret of England Beatrice of England Edmund Crouchback Katherine of England
Edward I of England Wives: Eleanor of Castile Margaret of France, Queen of England Henry Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester Alphonso, Earl of Chester Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant Mary of Woodstock Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Edward II of England Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edward II of England Wife: Isabella of France Edward III of England John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall Eleanor of Woodstock Joan of the Tower Illegitimate: Adam
Edward III of England Wife: Philippa of Hainault Edward the Black Prince Isabella de Coucy Joan of England Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York Mary of Waltham Margaret, Countess of Pembroke Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester Illegitimate: John de Southeray Jane Northland Joan Skerne
Richard II of England Wives: Anne of Bohemia Isabella of Valois
Henry IV of England Wives: Mary de Bohun Joan of Navarre, Queen of England Henry V of England Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Blanche of England Philippa of England Illegitimate: Edmund Leboorde
Henry V of England Wife: Catherine of Valois Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England Wife: Margaret of Anjou Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
Edward IV Wife: Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth of York Mary of York Cecily of York Edward V Margaret of York Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York Anne of York, Lady Howard George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford Catherine of York Bridget of York Illegitimate: Elizabeth Plantagenet Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle Grace Plantagenet
Edward V no consort or issue
Richard III of England Wife: Anne Neville Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales Illegitimate: John of Gloucester Katherine, Countess of Pembroke Richard of Eastwell
Category

• 1330s births
• 1348 deaths
• 14th-century English people
• 14th-century English women
• English princesses
• 14th-century deaths from plague (disease)
• House of Plantagenet
• Children of Edward III of England
• Daughters of kings
• Royalty who died as children