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Joan Plantagenet, Princess of Wales.

IN

N the autumn of 1361, a royal wedding was solemnised in the chapel at Windsor, in presence of the Queen of England and her court. The ceremony excited much interest; and caused some surprise, for the bridegroom was 'the flower of English knighthood,' and the bride was one of the fairest of England's daughters; and there was a good deal of scandal mixed up with the affair. In fact, the career of the lady had been such as to make the grave and the decorous shake their heads; and the warrior-prince, with whom she now stood at the altar, had in other days appeared at the baptismal font as sponsor for the children whom she had by a former husband. The persons united under such circumstances were Edward, Prince of Wales, victor of Poictiers, and Joan Plantagenet, daughter of Edmund, Earl of Kent, and widow of Sir Thomas Holand, who, as her husband, had enjoyed that territorial dignity.

Edmund, Earl of Kent, was one of the sons whom the first King Edward had by his second wife, Margaret of France, and the prince who was so cruelly put to death during the domination of Queen Isabel and Roger Mortimer. Having espoused Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Wake, Edmund left two sons and two daughters; and of these Joan was the youngest and the most beautiful. Her personal charms made her remarkable even in that age of captivating women; and she became celebrated as the Fair Maid of Kent. But her discretion does not appear to have equalled her beauty; and as time passed on, her

matrimonial adventures won her a somewhat unenviable notoriety.

From an early age the Prince of Wales is understood to have cherished a romantic affection for his fascinating kinswoman. Circumstances, however, proved adverse to their union; and Joan of Kent, after remaining unwedded to the age of twenty-five, probably thought there was no more time to lose. Indeed, on going into the matrimonial market, she seems to have done so with the determination of making up for her disappointments, and so far to have forgotten herself as to have been guilty of something very like bigamy. Much mystery hangs over this part of her life; but there is no doubt that she was at the same time claimed as wife by Sir Thomas Holand, a Lancashire knight whose family had risen into importance under the patronage of the Earls of Lancaster, and by William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, son of that countess whose memory is associated with the Order of the Garter. Fierce was the contention; and, though it is difficult to comprehend the position which Joan occupied between the rival claimants, it is improbable that it was in any degree creditable to her. At length the Pope was appealed to; and Holand having in his petition represented 'that Salisbury had intended to wed Joan of Kent had not a precontract with her by him been formerly made ; also that nevertheless the earl, taking advantage of his absence in foreign parts, made a second contract with her, and unjustly withheld her,' Clement VI., upon full hearing of the cause, gave sentence for Holand and against Salisbury. Accordingly Holand was acknowledged as her husband; and Salisbury, acquiescing in the papal sentence, consoled himself by espousing one of the daughters of John de Mohun, Lord of Dunster.

While the wife of Holand, to whom she bore two sons and two daughters, Joan on the death of her brother became Countess of Kent, and Holand, as her husband, was re

cognised as earl. But the Lancashire knight did not long survive to enjoy his elevation. Shortly after the battle of Poictiers he went the way of all flesh; and Joan found herself as charming a widow as had appeared since the days of Dido, but by no means inclined, like the Queen of Carthage, rather to perish on a funeral pile than submit to the infliction of another husband.

All this time the Black Prince continued a bachelor; not indeed that attempts had never been made to find him a bride worthy of figuring as Princess of Wales and Queen of England. Various matches were talked of. One of the ladies proposed to him as a wife was a daughter of Philip of Valois; a second a daughter of the Duke of Brabant; and a third a daughter of the King of Portugal. But each of the negotiations came to nought; and, in the midst of all those triumphs which associated his name with glory, the Prince of Wales never quite got over his early attachment to his fair kinswoman.

If we are to believe the story told of the way in which the romance was revived, and the victor of Poictiers led to espouse the heroine of his early dreams, an English noble, whose name history does not mention, having fallen in love with the widowed Countess of Kent, and found his suit tardy, entreated the prince's good word; but that after certain denials, she told him plainly 'that when she was under ward she had been disposed of by others; but now, being mistress of her own actions, she would not cast herself beneath her rank, but remember that she was of the blood royal of England, and therefore resolved never to marry again but to a prince of quality and virtue like himself;' and that the hero, while pleading the cause of his friend, felt the old flame rekindled. But however that may be, it is certain that soon after Holand's death a marriage was projected. Grave, however, were the scruples of the king and queen; almost insuperable the objections of the Church. Edward and Philippa were averse to their

son wedding a woman whose reputation was so much the worse for wear; and the Church not only objected to a marriage on the score of nearness of kin, but because the prince had appeared as godfather to the sons of the countess. Ere long, however, all difficulties were overcome. The king and queen reluctantly gave their consent; Pope Innocent granted an absolution and a dispensation; and, on the 10th of October, 1361, they were solemnly united in the royal chapel at Windsor.*

After their marriage the Prince and Princess of Wales resided at the castle of Berkhamstead, and ‘kept a noble and grand state.' But a parliament, held in England during the winter, to form establishments for the king's sons, intimated an opinion that the prince should repair to Aquitaine, of which he was governor; and 'remonstrated with him, and told him from the king his father that it would be proper for him to reside in his duchy, which would furnish him withal to keep as grand an establishment as he pleased.' The barons and knights of Aquitaine were also very desirous that he should reside among them, and had entreated the king to allow him so to do. On hearing all this, the prince readily assented, and made every preparation becoming his own and his wife's rank.

Before the Prince and Princess of Wales left England for the continent, the king and queen visited Berkham

* There is a memorandum, 'Given at London,' by and under the seal of Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, dated on the day of the wedding, setting forth the particulars of the ceremony, and telling us who were present, viz. Queen Philippa, the Queen of Scotland, the Countess of Hainault, the prince's sister Isabel, and his brothers, John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley, Dukes of Lancaster and York; William Bishop of Winchester, John of Lincoln, and Robert of Salisbury' assisted' the Archbishop, together with the Abbot of Westminster, the deans of Windsor, Lichfield, and Lincoln. The Earls of Warwick and Suffolk, and several other noble lords and ladies, took part in the procession. The banns were asked publicly in the chapel, and the knot was tied with 'the kiss of peace.'

stead to bid them farewell. Froissart was then at the English court, and relates a strange prophecy of which he heard on the occasion.

'I, John Froissart,' he says, 'will literally say what, in my younger days, I heard at a mansion called Berkhamstead, distant from London thirty miles, and which, at the time I am speaking of, in the year of our Lord, 1361, belonged to the Prince of Wales, father of King Richard. As the prince and princess were about to leave England for Aquitaine, to hold their state, the King of England, Queen Philippa, my mistress, the Dukes of Clarence and Lancaster, the Lord Edmund, who was afterwards Earl of Cambridge and Duke of York, with their children, came to this mansion to visit the prince and take leave of him.

'I was at that time twenty-four years old, and one of the clerks of the chamber to my lady the queen. During this visit, as I was seated on a bench, I heard the following conversation of a knight to some of the ladies of the queen. He said: "There was in that country a book, called Brut, which many say contains the prophecies of Merlin. According to its contents, neither the Prince of Wales, nor Duke of Clarence, though sons to King Edward, will wear the crown of England, but it will fall to the house of Lancaster.'

Soon after this the prince and princess left England, which they were not destined to see again till that gloomy period when the hero came to his native land to die.

'When all was ready,' says Froissart, 'they took leave of the king, the queen, and their brothers, set sail from England, and were landed at La Rochelle, where they were received with great joy, and remained four whole days. As soon as the Lord John Chandos, who had governed the duchy of Aquitaine a considerable time, was informed that the prince was coming, he set out for Niost, where he resided, and came to La Rochelle, with a handsome attendance of knights and squires, where they feasted