Joan Fitzalan

Joan Fitzalan, Countess of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton (1347/1348- 7 April 1419), was the wife of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, and 2nd Earl of Northampton. Joan was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry of Bolingbroke who later reigned as King Henry IV of England, and Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester.

Family

Joan was born c.1347/1348 at Arundel Castle, Sussex, one of seven children, and the eldest daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster. [Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Arundel (1289-1580) Fitzalan] Her paternal grandparents were Edmund Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel and Alice de Warenne. Her maternal grandparents were Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

List of siblings

# Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel (1346- 21 September 1397 Tower Hill, Cheapside, London), married firstly Elizabeth de Bohun, sister of Humphrey de Bohun, by whom he had seven children, and secondly Philippa Mortimer. He was beheaded on charges of high treason against King Richard II.
# John Fitzalan 1st baron of Arundel, 1st Baron Maltravers (1351-16 December 1379), married Eleanor Maltravers, by whom he had issue. He drowned in the Irish Sea, having been shipwrecked after defeating the French off the Cornish coast.
# Alice Fitzalan (1352- 17 March 1416), married Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, by whom she had issue.
# Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury (1352- 19 February 1414)
# Mary Fitzalan (died 29 August 1396), married John Le Strange, 4th Baron Strange of Blackmere, by whom she had issue, including Ankaret Le Strange who married Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot. These were the parents of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
# Eleanor Fitzalan (1356- before 1366)Joan had a half-brother from her father's first marriage to Isabel le Despenser:
# Edmund of Arundel (1327- after 1377), he was bastardised by his parents annullment. He married Sybil Montagu, by whom he had two daughters.Joan had two uterine half-siblings from her mother's first marriage to John de Beaumont, 2nd Lord Beaumont (died 14 April 1342):
# Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Lord Beaumont (4 April 1340- 17 June 1369)
# Matilda de Beaumont (died July 1367), married Hugh de Courtney.

Marriage and children

Sometime after 9 September 1359, Joan married Humphrey de Bohun, one of the most powerful noblemen in the kingdom. His titles included 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, and he was the hereditary Constable of England.He was the son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. The marriage produced two daughters, whom upon the death of their father, divided his vast estates between them:
# Eleanor de Bohun (c.1360- 3 October 1399), co-heiress of her father. In 1376 she married Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. The marriage produced five children, including Anne of Gloucester. Eleanor died as a nun at Barking Abbey.
# Mary de Bohun (1369- 4 June 1394), co-heiress of her father. On 27 July 1380 she married Henry of Bolingbroke, who would later be crowned King Henry IV. She died before he ascended the throne. The marriage produced six chidren including King Henry V.

Death

Joan Fitzalan died on 7 April 1419 and was buried in Walden Abbey with her husband who had died in 1373.

In fiction

Joan appears as a character in Georgette Heyer's last book "My Lord John", which is set in the reign of King Henry IV.

References