How come Edward III & Philippa permitted the Black Prince's marriage to Joan of Kent stand? Joan had quite the checkered past. Her father, Edmund of Woodstock, was executed for supporting his brother, Edward II, when Isabella & Mortimer took over. She (along with her mother & siblings) were under "house arrest" at Arundel for many years after. When she was brought to court to be raised in the royal nursery by Philippa, Joan, then age 12, secretly married Thomas Holland. This was much like the case of Catherine Grey, as royal cousins could not contract a marriage alliance without consent of the king/queen. Holland was with the army in France, & in his absence Joan kept her mouth shut & was married off to William Montacute even though she had a husband already  The Montacutes also kept her under "house arrest" when Holland returned & found his wife had married another in his absence. He appealed to Rome to get his bride back. Joan was 21 by the time a favorable decision was made & she was released to return to her secret spouse, with whom she had four children. After Holland's death is where the Black Prince comes in. At this point Joan was already in her early 30s, slightly older than young Edward. He being the heir apparent to the throne (though there was no dearth of heirs as Edward III & Philippa bred like rabbits LOL), Joan was rather long in the tooth by 14th century standards to be breeding up royal sons (tho she managed 2 of them). They were also first cousins & definitely had a consanguinty issue, yet secretly wed anyway. Did Joan have a romantic bent that she kept getting married in secret? At any rate, Edward III immediately petitioned for an annulment of this furtive union of his son & his niece. Suddenly there is a very public marriage ceremony for the happy couple, their union blessed by none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury, who officiated, in the presence of the king & queen. This took place in October 1361; their eldest son, Edward of Angouleme, was born in 1365, & Richard II in 1367. There's no record of any other pregnancies for Joan in this marriage, but could she have been with child to have Edward III do this sudden turn-around & accept her as his DIL?  Any thoughts? |
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