Joan of Acre

English Royalty
House of Plantagenet

Henry II
Children
   William, Count of Poitiers
   Henry the Young King
   Richard I
   Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany
   King John
   Matilda of England
   Leonora of England
   Joan of England
Richard I
John
Children
   Henry III
   Richard, Earl of Cornwall
   Joan of England
   Isabella of England
   Eleanor of England
Henry III
Children
   Edward I
   Margaret of England
   Beatrice of England
   Edmund, Earl of Lancaster
Edward I
Children
   Joan of England, Countess of Gloucester
   Alphonso, Earl of Chester
   Edward II
   Thomas, Earl of Norfolk
   Edmund, Earl of Kent
Edward II
Children
   Edward III
   John, Earl of Cornwall
   Eleanor of England
   Joan of England
Edward III
Children
   Edward, Prince of Wales
   Lionel, Duke of Clarence
   John, Duke of Lancaster
   Edmund, Duke of York
   Thomas, Duke of Gloucester
   Joan of England
   Isabella of England
Grandchildren
    Richard II
    Philippa, Countess of Ulster
    Philippa of Lancaster
    Elizabeth of Lancaster
    Henry IV
    Catherine of Lancaster
    Edward, Duke of York
    Richard, Earl of Cambridge
    Constance of York
    Anne of Gloucester
Richard II

Joan of Acre (May 1271April 7, 1307) was a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290).

Joan got her name from her birthplace, Akko (Acre), Hazofan, Palestine. It differentiates her from an earlier Joan born to the couple, who died in infancy. Joan of Acre was born while her parents were traveling to the Middle East on the Ninth Crusade. At least part of her childhood she spent in France with her maternal grandmother, Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu. She was betrothed as a child to Hartman, son of King Rudolph I of Germany, but he died in 1282 after drowning in the Rhine.

In 1290, at Westminster Abbey, Joan married Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford. He was nearly thirty years her senior. Their four children were:

  1. Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Hertford
  2. Eleanor de Clare
  3. Margaret de Clare
  4. Elizabeth de Clare

Following her husband's death in 1295, Joan clandestinely married Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, a knight in her household, in 1297. Her father, King Edward I, was enraged by this lowly second marriage, especially since he was arranging a marriage for her to an Italian nobleman. He had Monthermer thrown in prison, and Joan had to plead for the release of her husband. According to the St. Albans chronicler, she told her father, "No one sees anything wrong if a great earl marries a poor and lowly woman. Why should there be anything wrong if a countess marries a young and promising man?" At last her father relented, released Monthermer from prison in August 1297, and allowed him to hold the title of Earl of Gloucester and Hereford during Joan's lifetime. Monthermer and Joan had four children:

  1. Mary de Monthermer, born October 1297. In 1306 her grandfather King Edward I arranged for her to wed Duncan Macduff, 8th Earl of Fife.
  2. Joan de Monthermer, born 1299, became a nun at Amesbury.
  3. Thomas de Monthermer, 2nd Baron Monthermer, born 1301.
  4. Edward de Monthermer, born 1304 and died 1339. He fought in the Scottish campaign in 1335, but spent much of his life in service to his half-sister Elizabeth, who provided for him during his last illness and buried him next to their mother.

Joan died in childbirth in 1307 at the manor of Clare in Suffolk, England, a family possession, and was buried at the Augustinian priory there. Her child was stillborn. Miracles were said to occur at her grave, especially the healing of toothache, back pain, and fever.

Sources

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