Notes
Note N1567
Index
Alice FitzAlan (1378-1415)
from Wikipedia [2014-04-06]
Alice FitzAlan, Lady Cherleton (1378-1415) was an English noblewoman, being the daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel. She was the wife of John Charleton, 4th Baron Cherleton. She was also allegedly the mistress of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, by whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Jane Beaufort,[1] though there is no real evidence to support this.
Family
Lady Alice was born in Arundel Castle, Sussex in 1378, one of the seven children of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel by his first wife Elizabeth de Bohun. She had two brothers, including Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel, and four sisters, Lady Eleanor FitzAlan, Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan, Lady Joan FitzAlan, and Lady Margaret FitzAlan. Her paternal grandparents were Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster, and her maternal grandparents were William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere.
On 21 September 1397, her father was executed at Tower Hill, Cheapside for high treason against King Richard II of England.
Marriage and love affair
Sometime before March 1392 Alice married John Cherleton, 4th Lord Cherleton (25 April 1362 - 19 October 1401).[2] According to popular belief, following her marriage she became the mistress of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, and bore him an illegitimate daughter, Jane Beaufort. In Philip Yorke's The Royal Tribes of Wales, he states that Cardinal Beaufort left an illegitimate daughter by Alice, daughter of FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel.[3] Genealogist Douglas Richardson also confirms the affair between Alice and the Cardinal. Beaufort did indeed father an illegitimate daughter, Jane Beaufort, possibly before Henry took holy orders on 7 April 1397, although the idea of Jane's mother being Alice FitzAlan is possibly a legend of Tudor-era descendants of Jane Beaufort and her husband Sir Edward Stradling. There is no late-14th/early-15th century documentation to support this affair at all, and the surviving documentation entirely discounts it. Jane and Sir Edward Stradling had three sons and a daughter, Katherine.
Alice's husband died on 19 October 1401, and she herself died before October 1415 at the age of about thirty-seven years.
References
1. Philip Yorke, The Royal Tribes of Wales. p.88
2. Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Arundel
3. Yorke, p.88.
Philip Yorke, The Royal Tribes of Wales Google Books, accessed 30 August 2009
Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Arundel
Notes
Note N1568
Index
Joan of England (1335-1348)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [2014-04-06]
Joan of England (December 19, 1333 or January 28, 1334 - July 1, 1348[1] ) was a daughter of Edward III and his wife, Philippa of Hainaut. Joan, also known as Joanna, was born on either December 19, 1333 or January 28, 1334 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 together with her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their cousin Joan of Kent. Joan died in the Black Death that struck Europe in 1348.
Life
In 1338, Joan was taken on her father's journey to Coblence, 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 had formed an alliance with Louis against Philip VI of France, but in 1341 the emperor deserted him.
It is possible that Joan was betrothed to one of the sons Louis had with his wife Margaret of Holland, Philippa's older sister, and actually stayed in their court to be educated there. However, Edward III withdrew her in 1340.
In 1345, she was betrothed to Peter of Castile, son of Alfonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal. A few years later, in the summer of 1348, Joan 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.
Travel to Castile
Edward III had spared no expense in the preparations for Joan's journey and marriage, equipping her in the most impressive manner he could. The King loved his daughter, but it's very likely that he also wanted to make a display of power and wealth before his allies in Castile.
The fleet that carried Joan and her retinue consisted of four English ships, which departed from Portsmouth and were received in Bordeaux by the awestruck mayor Raymond de Bisquale. Some say that he immediately warned Joan and her companions of the plague but that they didn't listen and proceeded to settle in the royal castle overlooking the estuary of the Gironde.
Joan's entourage included three leading officials: Robert Bouchier, the former royal chancellor; Andrew Ullford, a diplomatic lawyer; and the cathedral priest of Bordeaux, Gerald de Podio, who was to see to the Princess's spiritual needs. Joan also had a remarkable Castilian minstrel, Gracias de Gyvill, who had been dispatched to England by Prince Pedro in order to entertain her with music and songs of the land of which she was to be queen.
Joan was also escorted by over a hundred formidable English bowmen, some of them veterans of the Battle of Crecy, and she even travelled with a luxurious portable chapel, so that she could enjoy Catholic services without having to use the local churches all along the way to Castile. The chapel featured a couch decorated with fighting dragons and a border of vines, powdered with gold Byzantine coins, while the altar cloth was decorated with dragons and serpents.
Joan's wedding dress was made with more than 150 metres of rakematiz, a thick imported silk, but she also had a suit of red velvet, two sets of twenty four buttons made of silver gilt and enamel, five corsets woven with gold patterns of stars, crescents and diamonds and at least two elaborate dresses with an inbuilt corset. These dresses were also made of rakematiz, one in green and the other in dark brown. The green was embroidered all over with images of rose arbors, wild animals and wild men, while the brown had a base of powdered gold and displayed a pattern of circles, each enclosing a lion as a symbol of monarchy.
Additional items in Joan's trousseau included beds and bed curtains, ceremonial garments, and clothes for everyday wear and for riding. Information concerning these can be found in her wardrobe account of 1347.
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 moved probably to a small village called 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 and 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.
Aftermath
Andrew Ullford, the diplomatic lawyer, was not affected by the plague and traveled to England in October, in order to inform the king of his daughter's death, which shocked the English. Not only was she one of the earliest English victims of the epidemic, which by then had begun attacking England, but her death also seemed to prove that even royalty would not be spared.
On 15 October 1348, Edward III sent a letter to King Alfonso of Castile terminating the marriage arrangements and describing the sorrow that he and his family were suffering after Joan's sudden death. He described her as a martyred angel looking down from Heaven to protect the royal family, and concluded with traditional and formal piety:
"We have placed our trust in God and our life between his hands, where he held it closely through many dangers"
On 25 October, Edward III sent an expedition to Bordeaux to retrieve Joan's body and return it for burial in London. The leader was a northern ecclesiastical lord, the bishop of Carlisle, who was overpaid by the King because of the high risk involved. It is unknown what happened next. There is no record of Joan's remains being returned to England nor any account of a funeral of any kind. According to medievalist Norman Cantor, in his book The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era (2004), Joan actually died in Bordeaux, where the mayor, in an effort to arrest the plague, set fire to the port, burning the Plantagenet castle there as well. Joan's body, inside the castle at the time, could not be recovered.
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"
Joan of England (1335-1348)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [2014-04-06]
Joan of England (December 19, 1333 or January 28, 1334 - July 1, 1348[1] ) was a daughter of Edward III and his wife, Philippa of Hainault. Joan, also known as Joanna, was born on either December 19, 1333 or January 28, 1334 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 together with her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their cousin Joan of Kent. Joan died in the Black Death that struck Europe in 1348.
Life
In 1338, Joan was taken on her father's journey to Coblence, 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 had formed an alliance with Louis against Philip VI of France, but in 1341 the emperor deserted him.
It is possible that Joan was betrothed to one of the sons Louis had with his wife Margaret of Holland, Philippa's older sister, and actually stayed in their court to be educated there. However, Edward III withdrew her in 1340.
In 1345, she was betrothed to Peter of Castile, son of Alfonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal. A few years later, in the summer of 1348, Joan 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.
Travel to Castile
Edward III had spared no expense in the preparations for Joan's journey and marriage, equipping her in the most impressive manner he could. The King loved his daughter, but it's very likely that he also wanted to make a display of power and wealth before his allies in Castile.
The fleet that carried Joan and her retinue consisted of four English ships, which departed from Portsmouth and were received in Bordeaux by the awestruck mayor Raymond de Bisquale. Some say that he immediately warned Joan and her companions of the plague but that they didn't listen and proceeded to settle in the royal castle overlooking the estuary of the Gironde.
Joan's entourage included three leading officials: Robert Bouchier, the former royal chancellor; Andrew Ullford, a diplomatic lawyer; and the cathedral priest of Bordeaux, Gerald de Podio, who was to see to the Princess's spiritual needs. Joan also had a remarkable Castilian minstrel, Gracias de Gyvill, who had been dispatched to England by Prince Pedro in order to entertain her with music and songs of the land of which she was to be queen.
Joan was also escorted by over a hundred formidable English bowmen, some of them veterans of the Battle of Crecy, and she even travelled with a luxurious portable chapel, so that she could enjoy Catholic services without having to use the local churches all along the way to Castile. The chapel featured a couch decorated with fighting dragons and a border of vines, powdered with gold Byzantine coins, while the altar cloth was decorated with dragons and serpents.
Joan's wedding dress was made with more than 150 metres of rakematiz, a thick imported silk, but she also had a suit of red velvet, two sets of twenty four buttons made of silver gilt and enamel, five corsets woven with gold patterns of stars, crescents and diamonds and at least two elaborate dresses with an inbuilt corset. These dresses were also made of rakematiz, one in green and the other in dark brown. The green was embroidered all over with images of rose arbors, wild animals and wild men, while the brown had a base of powdered gold and displayed a pattern of circles, each enclosing a lion as a symbol of monarchy.
Additional items in Joan's trousseau included beds and bed curtains, ceremonial garments, and clothes for everyday wear and for riding. Information concerning these can be found in her wardrobe account of 1347.
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 moved probably to a small village called 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 and 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.
Aftermath
Andrew Ullford, the diplomatic lawyer, was not affected by the plague and traveled to England in October, in order to inform the king of his daughter's death, which shocked the English. Not only was she one of the earliest English victims of the epidemic, which by then had begun attacking England, but her death also seemed to prove that even royalty would not be spared.
On 15 October 1348, Edward III sent a letter to King Alfonso of Castile terminating the marriage arrangements and describing the sorrow that he and his family were suffering after Joan's sudden death. He described her as a martyred angel looking down from Heaven to protect the royal family, and concluded with traditional and formal piety:
"We have placed our trust in God and our life between his hands, where he held it closely through many dangers"
On 25 October, Edward III sent an expedition to Bordeaux to retrieve Joan's body and return it for burial in London. The leader was a northern ecclesiastical lord, the bishop of Carlisle, who was overpaid by the King because of the high risk involved. It is unknown what happened next. There is no record of Joan's remains being returned to England nor any account of a funeral of any kind. According to medievalist Norman Cantor, in his book The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era (2004), Joan actually died in Bordeaux, where the mayor, in an effort to arrest the plague, set fire to the port, burning the Plantagenet castle there as well. Joan's body, inside the castle at the time, could not be recovered.
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"