This memorial is a cenotaph of Joan of Wales memorial in St Mary's at Beaumaris
Joan (Joanna) was an illegitimate daughter of King John of England and a woman named Clemence Pinel.She should not be confused with her legitimate half-sister Joan, Queen Consort of Scotland.
Little is known about her early life; she was possibly born before her father, King John of England, married his first wife in 1189. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is mysteriously called "Regina Clementina" (Queen Clemence). Joan seems to have spent her childhood in France, as King John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in preparation for her wedding in December 1203 at 15 years of age or so.
Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204.
In April 1226 Joan obtained a papal decree from Pope Honorius III, declaring her legitimate on the basis that her parents had not been married to others at the time of her birth, but without giving her a claim to the English throne.
At Easter 1230, William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny, who was Llywelyn's nominal prisoner at the time, was discovered together with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged, probably at Crogen, on 2 May 1230. Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months. She was forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored as wife and princess. Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales". She died at the royal home, Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd in 1237. Llywelyn's great grief at her death is recorded; he founded a Franciscan friary on the seashore at Llanfaes, opposite the royal home, in her honour. The friary was consecrated in 1240, shortly before Llywelyn died. It was closed down in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Joan's stone coffin can be seen in Beaumaris parish church, Anglesey. Above the empty coffin is a slate panel inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of Joan, daughter of King John, and consort of Llywelyn ap Iowerth, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preseravation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions."
Joan and Llywelyn had at least two children together:
1. Elen ferch Llywelyn (Helen or Ellen) (1207-1253), married (1) John the Scot, Earl of Chester and (2) Robert II de Quincy
2. Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1215-1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, (Aber).
Some of Llywelyn's other recorded children may also have been Joan's:
1.Gwladus Ddu(1206-1251), married (1) Reginald de Braose and (2) Ralph Mortimer.
2. Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
3. Margaret, who married Sir John de Braose, the grandson of William de Braose, 7th Baron Abergavenny and had issue and secondly Walter III de Clifford
Joan (Joanna) was an illegitimate daughter of King John of England and a woman named Clemence Pinel.She should not be confused with her legitimate half-sister Joan, Queen Consort of Scotland.
Little is known about her early life; she was possibly born before her father, King John of England, married his first wife in 1189. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is mysteriously called "Regina Clementina" (Queen Clemence). Joan seems to have spent her childhood in France, as King John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in preparation for her wedding in December 1203 at 15 years of age or so.
Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204.
In April 1226 Joan obtained a papal decree from Pope Honorius III, declaring her legitimate on the basis that her parents had not been married to others at the time of her birth, but without giving her a claim to the English throne.
At Easter 1230, William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny, who was Llywelyn's nominal prisoner at the time, was discovered together with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged, probably at Crogen, on 2 May 1230. Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months. She was forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored as wife and princess. Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales". She died at the royal home, Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd in 1237. Llywelyn's great grief at her death is recorded; he founded a Franciscan friary on the seashore at Llanfaes, opposite the royal home, in her honour. The friary was consecrated in 1240, shortly before Llywelyn died. It was closed down in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Joan's stone coffin can be seen in Beaumaris parish church, Anglesey. Above the empty coffin is a slate panel inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of Joan, daughter of King John, and consort of Llywelyn ap Iowerth, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preseravation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions."
Joan and Llywelyn had at least two children together:
1. Elen ferch Llywelyn (Helen or Ellen) (1207-1253), married (1) John the Scot, Earl of Chester and (2) Robert II de Quincy
2. Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1215-1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, (Aber).
Some of Llywelyn's other recorded children may also have been Joan's:
1.Gwladus Ddu(1206-1251), married (1) Reginald de Braose and (2) Ralph Mortimer.
2. Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
3. Margaret, who married Sir John de Braose, the grandson of William de Braose, 7th Baron Abergavenny and had issue and secondly Walter III de Clifford
This memorial is a cenotaph of Joan of Wales memorial in St Mary's at Beaumaris
Joan (Joanna) was an illegitimate daughter of King John of England and a woman named Clemence Pinel.She should not be confused with her legitimate half-sister Joan, Queen Consort of Scotland.
Little is known about her early life; she was possibly born before her father, King John of England, married his first wife in 1189. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is mysteriously called "Regina Clementina" (Queen Clemence). Joan seems to have spent her childhood in France, as King John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in preparation for her wedding in December 1203 at 15 years of age or so.
Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204.
In April 1226 Joan obtained a papal decree from Pope Honorius III, declaring her legitimate on the basis that her parents had not been married to others at the time of her birth, but without giving her a claim to the English throne.
At Easter 1230, William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny, who was Llywelyn's nominal prisoner at the time, was discovered together with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged, probably at Crogen, on 2 May 1230. Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months. She was forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored as wife and princess. Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales". She died at the royal home, Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd in 1237. Llywelyn's great grief at her death is recorded; he founded a Franciscan friary on the seashore at Llanfaes, opposite the royal home, in her honour. The friary was consecrated in 1240, shortly before Llywelyn died. It was closed down in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Joan's stone coffin can be seen in Beaumaris parish church, Anglesey. Above the empty coffin is a slate panel inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of Joan, daughter of King John, and consort of Llywelyn ap Iowerth, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preseravation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions."
Joan and Llywelyn had at least two children together:
1. Elen ferch Llywelyn (Helen or Ellen) (1207-1253), married (1) John the Scot, Earl of Chester and (2) Robert II de Quincy
2. Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1215-1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, (Aber).
Some of Llywelyn's other recorded children may also have been Joan's:
1.Gwladus Ddu(1206-1251), married (1) Reginald de Braose and (2) Ralph Mortimer.
2. Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
3. Margaret, who married Sir John de Braose, the grandson of William de Braose, 7th Baron Abergavenny and had issue and secondly Walter III de Clifford
Joan (Joanna) was an illegitimate daughter of King John of England and a woman named Clemence Pinel.She should not be confused with her legitimate half-sister Joan, Queen Consort of Scotland.
Little is known about her early life; she was possibly born before her father, King John of England, married his first wife in 1189. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is mysteriously called "Regina Clementina" (Queen Clemence). Joan seems to have spent her childhood in France, as King John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in preparation for her wedding in December 1203 at 15 years of age or so.
Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204.
In April 1226 Joan obtained a papal decree from Pope Honorius III, declaring her legitimate on the basis that her parents had not been married to others at the time of her birth, but without giving her a claim to the English throne.
At Easter 1230, William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny, who was Llywelyn's nominal prisoner at the time, was discovered together with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged, probably at Crogen, on 2 May 1230. Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months. She was forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored as wife and princess. Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales". She died at the royal home, Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd in 1237. Llywelyn's great grief at her death is recorded; he founded a Franciscan friary on the seashore at Llanfaes, opposite the royal home, in her honour. The friary was consecrated in 1240, shortly before Llywelyn died. It was closed down in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Joan's stone coffin can be seen in Beaumaris parish church, Anglesey. Above the empty coffin is a slate panel inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of Joan, daughter of King John, and consort of Llywelyn ap Iowerth, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preseravation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions."
Joan and Llywelyn had at least two children together:
1. Elen ferch Llywelyn (Helen or Ellen) (1207-1253), married (1) John the Scot, Earl of Chester and (2) Robert II de Quincy
2. Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1215-1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, (Aber).
Some of Llywelyn's other recorded children may also have been Joan's:
1.Gwladus Ddu(1206-1251), married (1) Reginald de Braose and (2) Ralph Mortimer.
2. Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
3. Margaret, who married Sir John de Braose, the grandson of William de Braose, 7th Baron Abergavenny and had issue and secondly Walter III de Clifford
Gravesite Details
This is Joan of Wales original burial place
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