The Clandestine Marriages of the Fair Maid of Kent
- Author / Editor
- Wentersdorf, Karl P.
The Clandestine Marriages of the Fair Maid of Kent
- Published
- Journal of Medieval History 5 (1979): 202-31.
- Description
- The obscure circumstances surrounding the three marriages of Joan of Kent are clarified by reference to the original documents. In 1340, at age 12, she secretly married Sir Thomas Holland. In 1341, while Holland was crusading in Prussia, she was compelled to marry William Montague, son of the Earl of Salisbury.
- In 1349, after protracted litigation, Holland secured a curial verdict annulling the marriage of Joan and Montague. When Holland died in 1360, Joan secretly married Edward, Prince of Wales, to the annoyance of his father who was trying to arrange a dynastic wedding.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Background and General Criticism.
- Chaucer's Life.