Joan of Wales

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Johanna's sarcophagus in Beaumaris church

Johanna von Wales (English Joan of Wales , Welsh Siwan ) († 1237 ) was an illegitimate daughter of the English king Johann Ohneland . As the wife of the Welsh Prince Llywelyn from Iorwerth of Gwynedd , she was an important mediator between the English crown and her husband.

Life

The name of her mother and the year of her birth are unclear, according to various sources her mother was called Clementina, or she came from a relationship between the king and Agatha Ferrers. Around 1203 Johanna was brought to England from Normandy . For diplomatic reasons, her father engaged her to Llywelyn ab Iorwerth in 1204, whom she then married in the spring of 1205. Her husband's dowry was Ellesmere Castle in Shropshire , which was given to him on April 16, 1205. Unlike her husband, Lord Llywelyn, she was never referred to as a Welsh princess, but only as the Lady of Wales .

Llywelyn was brought into great distress by a campaign by his father-in-law in 1211. He was ready for peace at any price and sent Johanna to her father as a mediator. Johann made a peace with Llywelyn, in which Llywelyn had to cede four Cantrefi in north-east Wales, pay large herds of cattle as tribute and hold his son Gruffydd hostage, but in return could keep his independence. When Johann was preparing another campaign against Wales in September 1212, Johanna warned her father of a conspiracy by his own barons who were planning a rebellion against the king, whereupon the king broke off his campaign. Her husband used this to recapture much of his possessions. In 1214 Johanna campaigned for the Welsh hostages in England, who were released in 1215, including her stepson Gruffydd.

Even as her half-brother Heinrich III. When she became king in 1216, she continued to use her family connection to balance her husband and the king. In September 1224 she met Heinrich III. in Worcester , and in 1225 he gave her the rule of Rothley in Leicestershire and in 1226 Condover in Shropshire. In 1226 Pope Honorius III declared. their birth retrospectively considered legitimate. Her brother moved the two estates back in 1228 due to the Anglo-Welsh War , but Johanna met Heinrich in Shrewsbury and managed to have their estates returned to her in November. Her son Dafydd ap Llywelyn paid homage to Heinrich in 1229.

In 1230 there was a deep crisis between Llywelyn and Johanna. The Marcher Lord William de Braose was captured during the war of 1228 and was held at the court of Llywelyn until his release in 1229. A condition of his release was the engagement of his daughter Isabel to Johanna's son Dafydd. When Braose visited his daughter at Llywelyn's court as a guest at Easter 1230, Llywelyn is said to have caught Johanna and William together in their room. He accused her of adultery and had William humiliated by hanging . Johanna was held prisoner until 1231, but she managed to reconcile with her husband. In 1232 she belonged to a delegation that Heinrich III. met in Shrewsbury.

She died on February 2, 1237 in Aber bei Bangor and was buried in Llanfaes on the island of Anglesey . Llywelyn founded a small Franciscan monastery there in her memory, which was dissolved during the Reformation. Its ornate sarcophagus was lost after the Reformation and was rediscovered in the early 19th century when it was used as a horse trough. It is now in the porch of Beaumaris Church .

progeny

From her marriage to Llywelyn she had the following children:

  1. ⚭ 1222 John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon
  2. ⚭ 1237 or 1238 Robert de Quincy

She was also probably the mother of

  1. ⚭ 1219 John de Braose
  2. ⚭ after 1232 Walter Clifford of Bronllys and Clifford

Web links

Commons : Joan, Lady of Wales  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley 1978. ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 178
  2. ^ AJ Roderick: Marriage and politics in Wales, 1066-1282 . In: Welsh History Review , 4 (1968), p. 17
personal data
SURNAME Joan of Wales
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Joan of Wales; Joan Siwan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess of Gwynedd in North Wales
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1237
Place of death But (Wales)