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Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales
Immortalised by the chronicler Froissart as the most beautiful woman in England and the most loved, Joan was the wife of the Black Prince and the mother of Richard II, the first Princess of Wales and the only woman ever to be Princess of Aquitaine. The contemporary consensus was that she admirably fulfilled their expectations for a royal consort and king's mother. Who was this 'perfect princess'? In this first major biography, Joan's background and career are examined to reveal a remarkable story. Brought up at court following her father's shocking execution, Joan defied convention by marrying secretly aged just twelve, and refused to deny her first love despite coercion, imprisonment and a forced bigamous marriage. Wooed by the Black Prince when she was widowed, theirs was a love match, yet the questionable legality of their marriage threatened their son's succession to the throne. Intelligent and independent, Joan constructed her role as Princess of Wales. Deliberately self-effacing, she created and managed her reputation, using her considerable intercessory skills to protect and support Richard. A loyal wife and devoted mother, Joan was much more than just a famous beauty
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 3, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 18, 2022
2022 reread:
I wasn't anymore impressed on my reread. I am researching this period for an unrelated project and decided to reread this.
With my expanded knowledge of this period I like this book less than on the first read🤷🏾♀️
Original review:
This is an interesting and easy read.
There are 2 main issues that I have despite the ease of the writing style.
First, the main character barely appears in her own biography. I know that few records from this period survive compounded by the fact that women are only mentioned in texts in relation to men. Due to the legal case Joan was involved in regarding her first 2 marriages more records about her exist than most women of that time period.
I enjoyed the information about the key players in Joan's life and times. Still, they star in the book more than Joan.
Second and frankly more disturbing is the author's tendency to pretend like historical data exists about why Joan made the choices she made. From this distance we have no clue why Joan chose the way she did, nor how those around her reacted to her choices. After stating the previous, the author is free to offer her opinion stated as an opinion or even educated guess. Unfortunately this author pretends her opinion or interpretation of events are verifiable facts.
Sigh.
The result is both sloppily done and annoying.
I wasn't anymore impressed on my reread. I am researching this period for an unrelated project and decided to reread this.
With my expanded knowledge of this period I like this book less than on the first read🤷🏾♀️
Original review:
This is an interesting and easy read.
There are 2 main issues that I have despite the ease of the writing style.
First, the main character barely appears in her own biography. I know that few records from this period survive compounded by the fact that women are only mentioned in texts in relation to men. Due to the legal case Joan was involved in regarding her first 2 marriages more records about her exist than most women of that time period.
I enjoyed the information about the key players in Joan's life and times. Still, they star in the book more than Joan.
Second and frankly more disturbing is the author's tendency to pretend like historical data exists about why Joan made the choices she made. From this distance we have no clue why Joan chose the way she did, nor how those around her reacted to her choices. After stating the previous, the author is free to offer her opinion stated as an opinion or even educated guess. Unfortunately this author pretends her opinion or interpretation of events are verifiable facts.
Sigh.
The result is both sloppily done and annoying.
June 7, 2015
I'm about 20 pages from finishing this book, so I wanted to write a review while it's fresh in my mind. Joan of Kent is a pretty interesting figure - married to Edward "The Black Prince", one of the first Princess of Wales, not to mention the debacle over her marriages - it all makes for interesting reading, and I do commend Penny Lawne for writing a full book on her.
Lawne uses a good variety of sources to paint a picture of Joan and the world around her. The latter might be needed just to fill the book out - there's not a lot we do know about her. The earliest chapters, relating Joan's heritage and connection to the royal family. Lawne also takes care to relate to us some of the major personalities at that time, such as Edward III and Queen Philippa, John of Gaunt, Richard II, and others. She also does admit to times where we simply don't know much about Joan, such as regarding her appearance, her interests, or her religious patronage.
Unfortunately, for all that, Lawne also does what a lot of historians do when there's so little info - speculate. And I mean *really* speculate. Joan's first marriage? Probably a whirlwind romance. Some of Joan and The Black Prince's actions later on? Probably insecurity over the legality of their marriage. There were just too many points where she seemed to assume that such a thing *had* to have happened, and too many times I ended up reading sentences like, "There's no direct evidence for such-and-such, but Joan must have been involved with it." This happened with Richard II's coronation (Joan must have helped John of Gaunt plan it!), John of Gaunt's reconciliations (Joan must have guided him in this!), who served Richard II in his household (Joan must have been consulted in this!). It should be mentioned that Lawne bases this on (what she assumes is) Joan's personality of mediation and compromise, which itself is based on only one incident in which she addressed a London crowd. Now, this may well have been Joan of Kent's personality, but the thing is, we don't know, and it was a bit annoying to see a historian making such leaps.
And the other thing it inevitably led to was guessing at Joan's feelings - the other most common sentence was "Joan must have felt so and so" or "Joan would have felt such-and-such". "Joan must have been dismayed and disheartened by the inability of Richard's advisors", or "Joan would have felt deeply saddened for her old friend's loss", or "Joan must have felt felt truly satisfied with her work". Like with the speculation, it got old very fast, and also led to a lot of repetition of the same sort of sentences. And speaking of repetition, there were times when Lawne would give the same information in different chapters, often without paraphrasing - I think I must have read about Princess Isabella's marriage to a captured knight three times.
Overall, there's quite a bit of good information here, but it would have been better if the author had stuck more to the facts and stopped with all the rampant assumptions.
Lawne uses a good variety of sources to paint a picture of Joan and the world around her. The latter might be needed just to fill the book out - there's not a lot we do know about her. The earliest chapters, relating Joan's heritage and connection to the royal family. Lawne also takes care to relate to us some of the major personalities at that time, such as Edward III and Queen Philippa, John of Gaunt, Richard II, and others. She also does admit to times where we simply don't know much about Joan, such as regarding her appearance, her interests, or her religious patronage.
Unfortunately, for all that, Lawne also does what a lot of historians do when there's so little info - speculate. And I mean *really* speculate. Joan's first marriage? Probably a whirlwind romance. Some of Joan and The Black Prince's actions later on? Probably insecurity over the legality of their marriage. There were just too many points where she seemed to assume that such a thing *had* to have happened, and too many times I ended up reading sentences like, "There's no direct evidence for such-and-such, but Joan must have been involved with it." This happened with Richard II's coronation (Joan must have helped John of Gaunt plan it!), John of Gaunt's reconciliations (Joan must have guided him in this!), who served Richard II in his household (Joan must have been consulted in this!). It should be mentioned that Lawne bases this on (what she assumes is) Joan's personality of mediation and compromise, which itself is based on only one incident in which she addressed a London crowd. Now, this may well have been Joan of Kent's personality, but the thing is, we don't know, and it was a bit annoying to see a historian making such leaps.
And the other thing it inevitably led to was guessing at Joan's feelings - the other most common sentence was "Joan must have felt so and so" or "Joan would have felt such-and-such". "Joan must have been dismayed and disheartened by the inability of Richard's advisors", or "Joan would have felt deeply saddened for her old friend's loss", or "Joan must have felt felt truly satisfied with her work". Like with the speculation, it got old very fast, and also led to a lot of repetition of the same sort of sentences. And speaking of repetition, there were times when Lawne would give the same information in different chapters, often without paraphrasing - I think I must have read about Princess Isabella's marriage to a captured knight three times.
Overall, there's quite a bit of good information here, but it would have been better if the author had stuck more to the facts and stopped with all the rampant assumptions.
June 8, 2015
This book was a disappointment. It is badly edited, repetitive and the author's readings of the historical evidence are often presented as logical conclusions, when in fact they are highly speculative.
October 23, 2025
Quite a lot of filler in moments where we don’t have any specific records about Joan, but the filler was interesting anyway
March 22, 2015
Entertaining and educational!
While this is a non-fiction book it is an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. It is rare that I find books that fit my preference in reading so perfectly. One of my great passions is history but I often find history books dry and thus very difficult to read which is why my favorite genre is historical fiction. Although I find history texts boring I am not a fan of fantastical romance novels. This book is neither dry and boring or an unbelievable fantasy. It is highly entertaining and educational at the same time.
While this is a non-fiction book it is an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. It is rare that I find books that fit my preference in reading so perfectly. One of my great passions is history but I often find history books dry and thus very difficult to read which is why my favorite genre is historical fiction. Although I find history texts boring I am not a fan of fantastical romance novels. This book is neither dry and boring or an unbelievable fantasy. It is highly entertaining and educational at the same time.
March 25, 2020
Interesting and easy read,but the author does make a lot of assumptions because of the lack of source material. I know that few records from this period survive and women are only mentioned on texts about men but the main character barely appears in her own biography. Anyway there are good things about this biography..life,events around her marriages etc
August 6, 2016
Joan was the wife of Edward, the Black Prince, and the mother of Richard II. As always when there are few sources, the historian had a decision to make about how far to extrapolate from the data available. The author chose to be quite conservative and never strays very far into speculation. Most of the sources were financial records and legal documents; so the book tends to include lots of lists such as property, purchases, and wages. Nevertheless, it is likely to be of interest to Shakespeare enthusiasts looking for some insight into the character formation of Joan’s son, one of the most ambiguous of the playwright’s creations.
August 21, 2018
Described by Froissart as “the most beautiful woman in the realm of England and the most loved”, Joan of Kent is perhaps best remembered as a figure of romance and scandal. Famously, she was a bigamist, having entered into a clandestine marriage with Thomas Holand before being making a more advantageous match with William Montague. Her third marriage – made after the Montague marriage was annulled and after Holand had died – saw her wooed by the most eligible bachelor in England – Edward of Woodstock, Edward III’s eldest son and heir – and becoming the first Princess of Wales and, ultimately, mother to the next king, Richard II.
Penny Lawne draws attention to a figure that may be well-known, but often misunderstood in Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales. It’s an admirable and Herculean task, given that – as Lawne frequently reminds the reader – so little evidence of Joan’s life exists today.
Lawne has some success in her ability to extrapolate from the limited evidence (or the lack of it), particularly in regards to Joan’s attitudes to public life. Her lack of obvious involvement in politics during the reign of her son, for instance, is interpreted by Lawne as Joan choosing to keep a low profile to avoid the questioning of Richard II’s legitimacy, but Joan’s conduct around and towards her son, it is argued, likely resulted in the attitudes and behaviours that resulted in his deposition.
Of course, with so little evidence of Joan’s life existing, it’s natural that Lawne would turn to speculation and this, I fear, is where the book disappoints. Because the speculation is rampant. In the chapter about Joan’s bigamous marriage, Lawne talks about who must have known Joan was already married to Holand prior to her marriage to Montague and then casts judgement over them doing nothing to protect Joan. There is no definitive proof who knew and didn’t know, and while it makes some sense that Joan’s mother would’ve known, it seems somewhat of a reach to claim that Edward III and Queen Philippa must have known and how they were terrible, terrible people for doing nothing.
In the same chapter, it is stated that the Earl of Salisbury (Montague’s father) negotiated with Holand in order to guarantee his silence in exchange for money, but when Salisbury died with the deal undone (and Montague a minor with no control over his inheritance), Holand went public and petitioned the pope to have Joan’s marriage to Montague annulled. Not once does Lawne discuss the evidence for this narrative, but instead presents it as what happened with nothing to signpost what appears to be wild speculation.
Thankfully, Lawne doesn’t romanticise Holand but instead characterises him as ambitious and opportunistic in his pursuit of Joan. Their marriage occurred when she was 12 and he was 24 and both stated that it was “immediately consummated”. This was unusual even for their time period – while women (and men) often married at a young age, these marriages were rarely consummated until the bride was old enough that pregnancy would not pose an enormous risk to her life. By today’s standards, though, Holand would be classed as a child rapist and Joan is victim, rather than some great, dashing romantic hero and his lustful bride.
Also included in this book is much assumption about Joan’s emotional reactions to events, how she felt about her third husband, Prince Edward (including her motivations about marrying him), and how the Great Uprising of 1381 totally transformed her viewpoint on John of Gaunt. There’s also massive speculation about who the figures on the Wilton Diptych might represent, with Lawne suggesting that the Virgin Mary holding the Christ-child represents Joan with Edward of Angouleme (the firstborn son of Joan and Prince Edward, who died in childhood), while Saint Edmund stands in for Joan’s father, Edmund (executed as a traitor for attempting to free Edward II following reports he was still alive) and John the Baptist representing John of Gaunt. Interesting and intriguing, perhaps, but I’m reminded by a scholar who called a similar piece of speculation as little more than a fairy tale.
There are good things about this biography, of course, but the amount of speculation – and often unqualified speculation – really lets it down.
Penny Lawne draws attention to a figure that may be well-known, but often misunderstood in Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales. It’s an admirable and Herculean task, given that – as Lawne frequently reminds the reader – so little evidence of Joan’s life exists today.
Lawne has some success in her ability to extrapolate from the limited evidence (or the lack of it), particularly in regards to Joan’s attitudes to public life. Her lack of obvious involvement in politics during the reign of her son, for instance, is interpreted by Lawne as Joan choosing to keep a low profile to avoid the questioning of Richard II’s legitimacy, but Joan’s conduct around and towards her son, it is argued, likely resulted in the attitudes and behaviours that resulted in his deposition.
Of course, with so little evidence of Joan’s life existing, it’s natural that Lawne would turn to speculation and this, I fear, is where the book disappoints. Because the speculation is rampant. In the chapter about Joan’s bigamous marriage, Lawne talks about who must have known Joan was already married to Holand prior to her marriage to Montague and then casts judgement over them doing nothing to protect Joan. There is no definitive proof who knew and didn’t know, and while it makes some sense that Joan’s mother would’ve known, it seems somewhat of a reach to claim that Edward III and Queen Philippa must have known and how they were terrible, terrible people for doing nothing.
In the same chapter, it is stated that the Earl of Salisbury (Montague’s father) negotiated with Holand in order to guarantee his silence in exchange for money, but when Salisbury died with the deal undone (and Montague a minor with no control over his inheritance), Holand went public and petitioned the pope to have Joan’s marriage to Montague annulled. Not once does Lawne discuss the evidence for this narrative, but instead presents it as what happened with nothing to signpost what appears to be wild speculation.
Thankfully, Lawne doesn’t romanticise Holand but instead characterises him as ambitious and opportunistic in his pursuit of Joan. Their marriage occurred when she was 12 and he was 24 and both stated that it was “immediately consummated”. This was unusual even for their time period – while women (and men) often married at a young age, these marriages were rarely consummated until the bride was old enough that pregnancy would not pose an enormous risk to her life. By today’s standards, though, Holand would be classed as a child rapist and Joan is victim, rather than some great, dashing romantic hero and his lustful bride.
Also included in this book is much assumption about Joan’s emotional reactions to events, how she felt about her third husband, Prince Edward (including her motivations about marrying him), and how the Great Uprising of 1381 totally transformed her viewpoint on John of Gaunt. There’s also massive speculation about who the figures on the Wilton Diptych might represent, with Lawne suggesting that the Virgin Mary holding the Christ-child represents Joan with Edward of Angouleme (the firstborn son of Joan and Prince Edward, who died in childhood), while Saint Edmund stands in for Joan’s father, Edmund (executed as a traitor for attempting to free Edward II following reports he was still alive) and John the Baptist representing John of Gaunt. Interesting and intriguing, perhaps, but I’m reminded by a scholar who called a similar piece of speculation as little more than a fairy tale.
There are good things about this biography, of course, but the amount of speculation – and often unqualified speculation – really lets it down.
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August 31, 2025Having enjoyed @dan jones’ hilarious characterisation of #joanofkent I had to pick up this biography by #pennylawne published 2015 as it was in the further reading list of #lionhearts and I was not disappointed. Such a fascinating life. Joan’s father Edmund was executed (for plotting to help Edward II flee the country) by Isabella and Roger Mortimer (who were seeking to prevent any threat to their power and used Edmund as an example). Once Edward III took power the Kent family returned to grace. Joan was brought up in the royal household, had a secret marriage for love at the age of 12 to the household knight sir Thomas Holand. (The book includes a short but interesting description of Holand’s family background and wealth). Holand goes on crusade before being able to get retrospective approval of the marriage from the king or make the marriage public. In Holand’s absence, (and with the marriage being secret) Joan is forced to bigamously marry William Montague (son of the earl of Salisbury). Holand returns from crusade finds Joan married and gets called to fight in France, makes his fortune there allowing him to afford to take William Montague to the ecclesiastical courts to reclaim Joan. The marriage to William was annulled and Joan and Thomas started a family together. Joan’s brother died without children and Joan inherited making her very wealthy. Joan ‘accompanies’ Thomas to France while he is soldiering (rather unusual). When Thomas died Joan married the heir to the throne, the black prince. She is the mother of Richard II. Great foundations for a tv series. Thoroughly researched. The author is able to look at the abundance of information about the men and events surrounding Joan and extrapolate enough detail to form a sympathetic, compelling and reasonably comprehensive picture of Joan (especially given the limitations of the sources available when it comes to women of the period).
February 28, 2022
I love reading almost anything about the English monarchy, and Joan of Kent is a very interesting character, given her unconventional marital history. She secretly married at age 12, and later was married to another person, whom her mother and King Edward III approved. Joan was the grand-daughter of King Edward I, and her father was executed as a traitor by Queen Isabella (who had overthrown her husband and notoriously bad king, Edward II-but that's another story!). She never reconciled herself to her second marriage (which was not consummated) and stayed loyal to her 1st husband. After nearly a decade, her 1st marriage was was recognized by the pope, and her marriage to Thomas Holand could finally begin. She had 4 children with him, and they seemed to have a successful marriage. He died relatively young, and within a year, Joan married Edward, the Black Prince--another love match, at least on Edwards part. Their son became the ill-fated Richard II, who was deposed by his cousin, Henry IV. Like so many books on the monarchy, this one assumes a baseline knowledge of who is who, and there are so many names and characters, all who seem to be related, that you have to constantly go back to the family trees in the front of the book, which are too scanty for my taste. Biographies of women from the 14th century are always challenging, since there are so few written records, but this one was a slog for me.
August 16, 2018
An amazing woman about whom not much is known. Her beauty was so striking that long after her death, he earned the title the Fair Maid of Kent. She appears to have married for love and been a good mother and wife. Surely she was influential in the events of her times, but we again, no so little. This biography brings together the threads of her life and the events of the day. One of the better historical biographies I have read.
July 26, 2019
I appreciate the amount of dedication the author put into this but 90% of the time, every sentence started with, “we can assume” or “Joan probably...” Unfortunately, there just aren’t a lot of documented info about Joan.
September 10, 2020
This book caught me by surprise. Rarely do medieval woman ever have a personality that we can see through the centuries. Using the information available Lawne develops the image of Joan as a strong woman who knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to assert it. Joan was of strong royal blood and despite her first marriage and questionable marriage status she married the Black Prince and they were invested in Acquitaine as Prince and Princess. It proved difficult for the couple to rule in mainland Europe due to poor support from the French and the English. Their son eventually came to the throne of England as Richard II. Highly recommended.
June 22, 2016
A slow read and a bit frustrating. Every other sentence is an assumption. (Yes I realise there isn't a lot of documents that pertain to Joan, but it gets old fast.)
I was quite keen to read about Joan, but the books seems unfinished. Perhaps the lack of proofreading made it a bit unbearable. There were parts where the author contradicted herself just pages earlier. This made it difficult to follow and you have to go back and forth to see if it was really different. Which it was. If you can gloss over the inaccuracies and are interested in Joan, it might be worth a read.
I was quite keen to read about Joan, but the books seems unfinished. Perhaps the lack of proofreading made it a bit unbearable. There were parts where the author contradicted herself just pages earlier. This made it difficult to follow and you have to go back and forth to see if it was really different. Which it was. If you can gloss over the inaccuracies and are interested in Joan, it might be worth a read.
June 5, 2015
Well written book about a historical figure who has been kept in the shadows. This lady actually played an important part as the wife and widow of Edward the Black Prince and mother of the boy king Richard 3rd. Her life was pretty complicated but this does not seem unusual for many prominent medieval women. The book is not a romantic saga but gives an insight into events, people, war and peace with France and the Peasants Revolt.
August 19, 2015
Interesting read, but the author does make a lot of assumptions because of the lack of source material.
July 21, 2018
Loved it, knew next to nothing about Joan before I read this
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