Joan of Kent

Joan of Kent
4th Countess of Kent suo jure
5th Baroness Wake of Liddell
Princess of Wales and of Aquitaine
Bornc.1328
Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire, England
DiedAugust 1385 (aged about 56)
Wallingford Castle, Berkshire (present-day Oxfordshire), England
Burial27 January 1386
Spouse
(m. 1340; died 1360)
(m. 1361; died 1376)
Issue
among others
HousePlantagenet
FatherEdmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
MotherMargaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell

Joan, Countess of Kent suo jure (c.1328 – August 1385), known as the Fair Maid of Kent, although this appellation does not appear to be contemporary. Joan of Kent was the first Princess of Wales and mother of King Richard II of England, her son by her third husband, Edward the Black Prince. Also known as Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince was the son and heir apparent of King Edward III by his wife Philippa of Hainault. The French chronicler Jean Froissart described her as 'in her time the most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, and the most loved', and, Chandos Herald wrote that she was 'beautiful, pleasant and wise. After the death of her brother John, 3rd Earl of Kent, in 1352, Joan inherited the titles 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell. Joan was made a Lady of the Garter in 1378.