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Historical person
1328–1385
Joan was a granddaughter of Edward I and grew up within the extended royal family. While still young, she secretly married Thomas Holland. During his absence abroad, her family arranged a second marriage to William Montagu, heir to the Earl of Salisbury.
A papal investigation ultimately upheld the earlier marriage and ordered Joan to return to Holland. Her marriage case tested canon law against aristocratic authority, while her later marriage made her Princess of Wales and mother of Richard II. Joan of Kent was born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire and died in Wallingford Castle, Oxfordshire.
In Colin Falconer’s A Vain and Indecent Woman, Joan of Kent has secretly married the soldier Thomas Holland, but while he is abroad her royal family compels her into a second union with William Montagu. In Paul Bannister’s Havoc, after fighting in the Black Prince’s vanguard at Crécy, Thomas Holland secretly marries Joan of Kent, Edward III’s ward. Joan of Kent is treated fictionally in Anne O’Brien’s The Shadow Queen, Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Crownless Queen, and Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Royal Rebel.
Series
The Jeanette of Kent Duology tells the story of Joan of Kent, presented as Jeanette: a royal cousin whose private choices repeatedly become matters of dynastic importance. The Royal Rebel follows her forbidden marriage to Thomas Holland and the long legal battle to have that marriage recognised. The…
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Epic Historical Adventure is Colin Falconer's publisher-defined collection of stand-alone historical thrillers rather than a continuous narrative sequence. The novels range from Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and the Mongol Empire to the Ottoman court, the conquest of Mexico, colonial India, shipwreck and twentieth-century Palestine. Most volumes can be…
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The Storm of Arrows sequence follows Sir Thomas Holland from Edward III’s seizure of power to the opening campaigns of the Hundred Years’ War. Storm of Arrows places the young archer and baron beside the king during the overthrow of Roger Mortimer, the wars in Scotland, the naval…
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Standalone books
