ENGLAND, Joan of

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Daughters of Edward I
• Royalty & Nobility: English princess, a daughter of King Edward I of England and Queen Eleanor of Castile.
• Name: Plantagenet; Joan of Acre

Notes:

Joan of Acre (April 1272 - 23 April 1307) was an English princess, a daughter of King Edward I of England and Queen Eleanor of Castile.[2] The name "Acre" derives from her birthplace in the Holy Land while her parents were on a crusade.

Joan is most notable for the claim that miracles have allegedly taken place at her grave, and for the multiple references to her in literature.

Joan’s burial place has been the cause of some interest and debate. She is interred in the Augustinian priory at Clare, which had been founded by her first husband's ancestors and where many of them were also buried. Allegedly, in 1357, Joan’s daughter, Elizabeth De Burgh, claimed to have “inspected her mother's body and found the corpse to be intact”,[32] which in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church is an indication of sanctity. This claim was only recorded in a fifteenth-century chronicle, however, and its details are uncertain, especially the statement that her corpse was in such a state of preservation that "when her paps [breasts] were pressed with hands, they rose up again." Some sources further claim that miracles took place at Joan's tomb,[32] but no cause for her beatification or canonization has ever been introduced.

Joan of Acre makes an appearance in Virginia Henley's historical romance Infamous. In the book, Joan, known as Joanna, is described as a promiscuous young princess, vain, shallow and spoiled. In the novel she is only given one daughter, when she historically had eight children. There is no evidence that supports this picture of Joan.[33]

In The Love Knot by Vanessa Alexander, Joan of Acre is an important character. The author portrays a completely different view of the princess from the one in Henley’s novel. The Love Knot tells the story of the love affair between Ralph de Monthermer and Joan of Acre through the discovery of a series of letters the two had written to each other.[34]

Between historians and novelists, Joan has appeared in various texts as either an independent and spirited woman or a spoiled brat. In Lives of the Princesses of England by Mary Anne Everett Green, Joan is portrayed as a “giddy princess” and neglectful mother.[35] Many have agreed to this characterization; however, some authors think there is little evidence to support the assumption that Joan of Acre was a neglectful or uncaring mother

Joan married CLARE, Gilbert on 23 Apr 1290 in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England. Gilbert (son of CLARE, Richard and LACY, Maud) was born on 2 Sep 1242 in Christchurch, Hampshire, England; died on 7 Dec 1295 in Monmouth Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. DE CLARE, Countess of Gloucester, Countess of Cornwall Margaret was born on 12 Oct 1293; died on 9 Apr 1342 in Tunbrige Castle, Kent, England.

Family/Spouse: DE MONTHERMER, Ralph. Ralph was born in 1270; died on 5 Apr 1325. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. DE MONTHERMER, Thomas was born on 4 Oct 1301 in Stoke, Ham, Wiltshire, England; died on 24 Jun 1340.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain
• Royalty & Nobility: King of England
• Name: Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots

Edward + CASTILE, Queen Consort of England, Coronation date Eleanor of. Eleanor (daughter of CASTILE, Ferdinand III of and DAMMARTIN, Joan of) was born in 1241 in Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain; died on 28 Nov 1290. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Eleanor Of Castile: The Shadow Queen
• Royalty & Nobility: Queen of England

Notes:

First queen consort of Edward I of England, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony.

The marriage was known to be particularly close, and Eleanor travelled extensively with her husband. She was with him on the Eighth Crusade, when he was wounded at Acre, but the popular story of her saving his life by sucking out the poison has long been discredited. When she died, near Lincoln, her husband famously ordered a stone cross to be erected at each stopping-place on the journey to London, ending at Charing Cross.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Henry III: The Great King England Never Knew It Had
• Books About: Henry III: The Rise to Power and Personal Rule, 1207-1258 (Volume 1) (The English Monarchs Series
• Books About: The Silken Rose
• Royalty & Nobility: King of England
• Name: Henry of Winchester

Henry + PROVENCE, Eleanor of. Eleanor (daughter of BERENGUER, Ramon IV and SAVOY, Beatrice of) was born in 1223; died on 24 Jun 1291. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: The Damask Rose
• Books About: The Silken Rose
• Royalty & Nobility: Queen of England
• Name: Ailenor

Notes:

Although Eleanor was completely devoted to her husband King Henry III, and staunchly defended him against the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, she was very much hated by the Londoners. This was because she had brought a large number of relatives with her to England in her retinue; these were known as "the Savoyards", and they were given influential positions in the government and realm. On one occasion, Eleanor's barge was attacked by angry citizens who pelted her with stones, mud, pieces of paving, rotten eggs and vegetables.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Between 31 Aug 1217 and 30 May 1252; King of Castile and Toledo

Ferdinand + DAMMARTIN, Joan of. Joan was born in 1220; died on 16 Mar 1279. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Queen consort of Castile and León, Countess of Ponthieu

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: King John Treachery and Tyranny
• Differentiator: King and signer of the Magna Carta
• Relation to Me: 25 GGF
• Name: John Lackland
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 6 Apr 1199 and 19 Oct 1216; King of England
• Magna Carta: 1215; King and signer of the Magna Carta

Notes:

John lost the Duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of most of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has since been the subject of significant debate and periodic revision by historians from the 16th century onwards. Historian Jim Bradbury has summarised the current historical opinion of John's positive qualities, observing that John is today usually considered a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general". Nonetheless, modern historians agree that he also had many faults as king, including what historian Ralph Turner describes as "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", such as pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty.[3] These negative qualities provided extensive material for fiction writers in the Victorian era, and John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in films and stories depicting the Robin Hood legends.

Died:
Newark Castle, Lincolnshire, England

King + ANGOULEME, Isabella of. Isabella (daughter of ANGOULEME, last Count of Angoulême of the House of Taillefer. Aymer of and COURTENAY, Alice of) was born in 1188; died on 4 Jun 1246. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Ladies of the Magna Carta
• Royalty & Nobility: Queen of England and Countess of Angoulême

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Count of Provence

Ramon + SAVOY, Beatrice of. Beatrice was born in 1198; died in 1267. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Countess of Provence

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: King of León and Galicia

Alfonso + CASTILE, Berengaria of. Berengaria (daughter of CASTILE, Alfonso VIII of and ENGLAND, Eleanor of) was born in 1179; died on 8 Nov 1246. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Queen of Castile and Toledo; Queen consort of Leon