Clement-Jones family 12/22 - Person Sheet
Clement-Jones family 12/22 - Person Sheet
NameJoan DE GENEVILLE, 11077
Birth1286
Death1356
Spouses
Birth1267
Death1330
FatherEdmund de MORTIMER 2nd Baron Mortimer , 11085 (1251-1304)
MotherMargaret de FIENNES , 11089 (1269-1333)
ChildrenBlanche , 11074 (1320-1347)
 Edmund , 11078 (1302-1331)
 Katherine , 12240 (1314-1369)
Notes for Joan DE GENEVILLE
Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, Countess of March, Baroness Mortimer (2 February 1286 – 19 October 1356) was one of the wealthiest heiresses in the Welsh Marches and County Meath, Ireland. She was the wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, lover of Isabella of France, Queen consort of King Edward II of England. She succeeded to the title of suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville on 21 October 1314 upon the death of her grandfather, Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville.

As a result of her husband's insurrection against King Edward, she was imprisoned inside Skipton Castle for two years. Following his execution in 1330 for usurping power in England, Joan was once more taken into custody. In 1336, her lands were restored to her after she received a full pardon for her late husband's crimes from Edward II's son and successor, King Edward III.

She is also known as Jeanne de Joinville.

Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, the birthplace of Joan de Geneville

Family and inheritance

Joan was born on 2 February 1286 at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire.[3] She was the eldest child of Sir Piers de Geneville, of Trim Castle and Ludlow, whose father Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville, was Justiciar of Ireland. Her mother Jeanne of Lusignan was daughter of Hugh XII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and of Angoulême, and sister of Yolanda of Lusignan, the suo jure Countess of La Marche. Joan had two younger sisters, Matilda and Beatrice who both became nuns at Aconbury Priory.[4] She also had two half-sisters from her mother's first marriage to Bernard Ezi III, Lord of Albret: Mathe, Dame d'Albret (died 1283), and Isabelle, Dame d'Albret (died 1 December 1294), wife of Bernard VI, Count of Armagnac.

When her father died in Ireland shortly before June 1292, Joan became one of the wealthiest and most eligible heiresses in the Welsh Marches, with estates that included the town and castle of Ludlow, the lordship of Ewyas Lacy, the manors of Wolferlow, Stanton Lacy, and Mansell Lacy in Shropshire and Herefordshire as well as a sizeable portion of County Meath in Ireland.[5][6] She was due to inherit these upon the death of her grandfather, but in 1308, Baron Geneville conveyed most of the Irish estates which had belonged to his late wife Maud de Lacy to Joan and her husband Roger Mortimer. They both went to Ireland where they took seizen of Meath on 28 October of that same year. The baron died on 21 October 1314 at the House of the Friars Preachers at Trim, and Joan subsequently succeeded him, becoming the suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville.

]Marriage

Joan married Roger Mortimer, eldest son of Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore and Margaret de Fiennes on 20 September 1301 at the manor of Pembridge.[7] Marriage to Joan was highly beneficial to Mortimer as it brought him much influence and prestige in addition to the rich estates he gained through their matrimonial alliance.[8][9] Three years later in 1304 he succeeded as Baron Mortimer, making Joan Baroness Mortimer. He was knighted on Whitsunday 22 May 1306 by King Edward I. The knighting ceremony took place in Westminster Abbey and was known as the Feast of the Swan as all those present made their personal vows upon two swans.[10] Two hundred and fifty-nine other young men received knighthoods along with Mortimer including the Prince of Wales who would shortly afterwards succeed his father as Edward II. Following the ceremony was a magnificent banquet held at the Great Hall of Westminster.

Upon taking seizen of her Irish lands in 1308, Joan and Mortimer travelled back and forth between their estates in Ireland and those in the Welsh Marches. Given that Joan opted to accompany her husband to Ireland rather than remain at home, and that she produced 12 surviving children over a period of just 17 years led Roger Mortimer's biographer Ian Mortimer to suggest they enjoyed a closer and more affectionate relationship than was typical of noble couples in the 14th-century. He described their union as having been " a mutually beneficial secure medieval partnership".[12]
Last Modified 3 Mar 2013Created 4 Mar 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh