By Blythe Gifford
Cinderella aside, until the
twentieth century, most royals married for duty, not love. Particularly in the medieval time period,
marriage meant a political alliance, joining countries as well as individuals.
One of the notable exceptions
was the oldest son of Edward III of England, also
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| Edward, Prince of Wales This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired |
Edward, and remembered by
history as the Black Prince. (That
moniker came after his death. He was
called Edward of Woodstock during his lifetime.) And his choice of bride came with more
complications than most.
It was not for lack of trying
that the prince was still unmarried at 31.
From his birth, his father had sought advantageous matches with
dynasties from France, Brabant (now part of Belgium), Castile (Spain), and
Portugal. Meanwhile, the heir to the
throne, first to bear the title of Prince of Wales, distinguished himself as a
warrior talented as his father during the war with France.
He also fathered an illegitimate
son or two along the way. |
| The only known image of Joan of Kent. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired |
But when the time came to
marry, he chose an English woman older than he, already twice married, with a
bit of a scandalous past. Worse, he did
not wait for permission from his father or the church, but joined with her in a
secret ceremony, the medieval version of elopement.
The lady in question, Joan,
Countess of Kent, was considered one of the most beautiful women in
England. They were no strangers, but had
played together as children. They were
both descended from King Edward I, so “cousins” in the church’s eyes,
prohibited from marrying without dispensation.
In addition, the prince was godfather to some of her children, so there were two strikes against their marriage, a fact they conveniently flouted by
marrying without permission in a clandestine ceremony.
Joan was beautiful and of
noble lineage, but she had a marital past that might have made Elizabeth Taylor
blink. She was married at thirteen (not
unusual at the time) to the Earl of Salisbury, younger than she. But it seemed that when she married
Salisbury, she was already married to Thomas Holland, a reputable knight, but
no earl.
Exactly when this previous
marriage came to light and how she was pressured into a second one is a matter
for debate, but it seemed that in the eyes of the church, the lady had, not to
put too fine a point on it, two husbands.
After a lengthy wrestling match with the church, all the way up to the Pope, the marriage to Holland was upheld and the marriage to Salisbury set aside. Joan and Holland lived as man and
wife, and had a brood of children.
Upon Holland's death, Joan was an eligible,
beautiful, titled widow in need of a husband.
But there were lingering whispers about how “amorous” she was. History may have called her the Fair Maid of
Kent, but the chroniclers of the time used a more satiric nickname: The Virgin of Kent.
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| Tomb of The Black Prince (c) Klotz CC-A.A. 3.0 |
The fairy tale version of her
marriage to the prince is that he was sent by a friend to plead the friend’s
case for her hand. Alas, Joan said, she
was in love with another and would never marry.
“I have given my heart to the most gallant gentleman under the firmament…it
is impossible that I should marry him.
So, for love of him, I wish to shun the company of men.”
Pressured by the prince, who
vowed to try to make it possible for her to marry the one she loved, she finally
confessed she loved him. His
response? “As long as I live, no other
woman shall be my wife.”
An unlikely story, but
regardless, they finally received blessings of church and family, and Joan became
the first Princess of Wales. She and the
prince lived happily together until his death.
He died before his father and so never sat on the throne, but their son,
Richard, succeeded his grandfather as Richard II.
SECRETS AT COURT, my current
release from Harlequin Historical, is set amidst the intrigue surrounding the
marriage of Edward and Joan. My hero,
Nicholas, is charged with clearing the path for an official church wedding, but
that is bringing him too close to secrets about Joan’s past – secrets my
heroine, Anne, is bound to protect.
After
many years in public relations, advertising and marketing, Blythe Gifford
started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff
later, she became an overnight success when she sold her first book to the
Harlequin Historical line. Since then,
she has published eight romances set in England and on the Scottish Borders. SECRETS AT COURT, a Royal Wedding story, is a
March release from the Harlequin Historical line. For more information, visit www.blythegifford.com
Author
photo Jennifer Girard
