Biography of Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey 1296-1361

Paternal Family Tree: Bar

Maternal Family Tree: Etienette Countess Provence and Arles

On 20 Sep 1293 [her father] Henry of Bar III Count of Bar (age 34) and [her mother] Eleanor Plantagenet (age 24) were married. She the daughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England (age 54) and Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England. He the son of Theobald of Bar II Count of Bar and Jeanne Toucy Countess Bar. He a great x 5 grandson of King William "Conqueror" I of England.

Around 1296 Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey was born to Henry of Bar III Count of Bar (age 37) and Eleanor Plantagenet (age 26). She a granddaughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England.

On 29 Aug 1298 [her mother] Eleanor Plantagenet (age 29) died at Ghent [Map]. She was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map].

On 29 Sep 1304 John Warenne 6th Earl Surrey (age 73) died at Kennington, Kent. He was buried at Lewes Priory [Map]. His grandson [her future husband] John Warenne 7th Earl Surrey (age 18) succeeded 7th Earl Surrey and inherited his estates including Conisbrough Castle [Map].

On 25 May 1306 John Warenne 7th Earl Surrey (age 19) and Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey (age 10) were married. She by marriage Countess Surrey. She the daughter of Henry of Bar III Count of Bar (age 47) and Eleanor Plantagenet. They were half second cousin once removed. She a granddaughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England.

In 1316 [her husband] John Warenne 7th Earl Surrey (age 29) attempted to divorce his wife Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey (age 20). He blamed Thomas Earl of Lancaster (age 38) for his failure to obtain a divorce so kidnapped Thomas' wife Alice de Lacy (age 34) Thomas retaliated by capturing Conisbrough Castle [Map]; King Edward (age 31) confirmed Thomas as the new owner. Thomas subsequenly rebelled against the King and was executed and King Edward took possession of Conisbrough Castle [Map]. Following the usurption of King Edward the castle was returned to John Warenne 7th Earl Surrey (age 29).

In Jun 1347 [her husband] John Warenne 7th Earl Surrey (age 60) died. His nephew Richard Fitzalan 10th Earl Arundel 8th Earl Surrey (age 41) succeeded 8th Earl Surrey. Eleanor Plantagenet Countess Arundel and Surrey (age 28) by marriage Countess Surrey. Conisbrough Castle [Map] reverted to the Crown.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. Oct 1357. It appears, then, that at the beginning of October, when the Account opens, the Queen (age 62) was residing at her Castle of Hertford [Map], having not very long before been at Rising. The first visitor we have mention of is the "Comitissa Garenniæ," who sups with her on the fourth. The lady thus designated was Joan (age 61), daughter of Henry Earl of Barr (age 98), and Eleanor, daughter of Edward I. of England; niece, therefore, to Queen Isabella. She was married to John Earl of Warren and Surrey, in the year 33 Edward I., but appears to have been divorced from her husband, on the plea, of a previous marriage on his part, in the year 1345; and, as Dugdale tells us, she had leave to go beyond sea, in the same year, on some special employment for the King. She was one of the ladies, according to Froissart, who accompanied Isabella to England when she sailed from Flanders to the English shore on the expedition so fatal to her husband; and the frequent mention of her in the Account shows that she was in the closest intimacy with Isabella at this time. She visited her constantly, and nursed her in her last illness.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 24th of February [1358] the Countess of Warren (age 62) repeats her visit, and sleeps in the castle.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. The following visits, during her [Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 63)] stay in London, are recorded. On the 30th of April, the Countess of Warren to supper (age 62). On the 1st of May, the Countess of Pembroke (age 41) to dinner; and the King after dinner. On the 2nd of May, the Countesses of Warren (age 62) and Pembroke (age 41) to dinner; and the King (age 45), the Prince of Wales (age 27), the Earl of March (age 29), and others, after dinner. On the 3rd of May, the Countess of Pembroke (age 41) and the Maréchal D'Audenham to dinner; and the Earl of Arundel (age 52), "et plures magnates Franciæ1," after dinner. On the 4th, the Count of Tancarville to dinner. On the 5th, the Countesses of Warren and Pembroke and the Maréchal D'Audenham again to dinner; and the Chancellor of England and many French noblemen after dinner. On the 6th the Chief Justice and the Barons of the Exchequer to dinner. On the four following days, the Countesses of Warren, Kent, and Pembroke dine with the Queen; and on the last of the four Sir John de Wynewyk comes to supper. On the 11th, Queen Philippa (age 43) appears to have dined with Isabella, but the entry is partially obliterated; the Earl Marshal and other noblemen came after dinner. On the 12th, the Countess of Pembroke dined, and the Cardinals ( of Périgord and St. Vitalis ), the Archbishop of Sens, and some French noblemen came after dinner. On Sunday the 13th, the Countess of Warren and others from London, as it is expressed, dined; and the King of France, the Chancellor of England, and others, visited the Queen after dinner.

Note 1. and several magnates of France.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 14th of May [1358], Isabella (age 63) left London and rested at Tottenham, on her way to Hertford. She was accompanied as far as Tottenham by the Countess of Warren (age 62), who dined with her there. She arrived at Hertford the following day; and a payment is recorded of a gift of six shillings and eight pence to the nuns of Cheshunt, who met the Queen at the Cross in the high road, in front of their house.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 4th of June [1358], Isabella (age 63) set out on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, and a visit of nearly three weeks' duration to Leeds Castle [Map]. She rested at Tottenham on the 4th, at London on the 5th and 6th, where she received the Countess of Warren (age 62) to dinner, and many noblemen after dinner. At Dartford on the 7th; at Rochester on the 8th, the Countess of Warren again dining with her. At Ospringe on the 9th, and at Canterbury on the 10th and 11th; entertaining there the Abbot of St. Augustine's both days. Under the division of "Alms" are recorded the Queen's oblations at the tomb of St. Thomas; the crown of his head ( the part having the tonsure, cut off by his assassins ), and point of the sword (with which he had been slain); and her payment to minstrels playing "in volta;" as also her oblations in the Church of St. Augustine, and her donations to various hospitals and religious houses in the city.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On Monday the 2nd of July [1358], Isabella (age 63) left Leeds on her return to Hertford; which she reached on the 6th; making the daily stages of Rochester, Dartford, London, and Tottenham. Sir John de Wynewyk supped with the Queen in London, and the Countess of Warren (age 62) and the Maréchal D'Audenham at Tottenham. She was accompanied to Hertford by the Queen of Scotland (age 36). Isabella remained without visitors for some days after her return to Hertford. A memorandum is entered that the King was expected on the 13th of July; and on the 17th, strangers were entertained during the day, but they are not named.

Death of Isabella of France Queen Consort

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 21st [Aug 1358] the Countess of Warren (age 62) arrived at the Castle [Map], and remained during the following day, to attend at the death-bed of Queen Isabella (age 63), who expired on the 22nd of August. Sir John de Wynewyk also supped at the castle on the day of the Queen's death.

Respecting Isabella's death, she is stated by chroniclers to have sunk, in the course of a single day, under the effect of a too powerful medicine, administered at her own desire. From several entries however in this account, it would appear that she had been in a state requiring medical treatment for some time previous to her decease.

As early as the 15th of February a payment had been made to a messenger going on three several occasions to London, for divers medicines for the Queen, and for the hire of a horse for Master Lawrence, the physician; and again for another journey by night to London. On the same day a second payment was made to the same messenger for two other journeys by night to London, and two to St. Alban's, to procure medicines for the Queen. On the 1st of August a payment was made to Nicholas Thomasyn apothecary, of London, for divers spices and ointment supplied for the Queen's use. On the 12th of August messengers were paid for several night journeys to London for medicines. On the 20th of August, two days only before the Queen's death, payment was made to a messenger who had been sent to London to fetch Master Simon de Bredon "ad videndum statum Reginæ1." Increased alarm for the Queen's health is now visible, for by a payment made on the 24th of August, two days after her death, it appears that a messenger had been sent to Canterbury "cum maxima festinatione2" with letters of the Queen, to bring Master Lawrence, the physician, to see the Queen's state. And another entry occurs of a payment made on the 12th of September to Master Lawrence, of forty shillings, for attendance on the Queen and the Queen of Scotland, at Hertford, for an entire month. Finally an allowance is made to the accountant, on the 6th of December, in terms which, as they are somewhat obscure, I prefer to quote in the original words, "Magistro Johanni Gateneys, de dono, in precio xv. florenorum de xl. denariis, sibi liberatorum in vita Reginæ, ad decoquend' cum medicinis pro corpore Reginæ3, l. s."

It is evident that the body of the Queen remained in the chapel of the Castle until the 23rd of November, as a payment is made to fourteen poor persons for watching the Queen's corpse there, day and night, from Saturday the 25th of August to that date, each of them receiving two pence daily, besides his food. The body was probably removed from Hertford Castle on the 24th of November, as we find, by the continuation of the Account of the expenses of the household, that on the 22nd and 23rd the Bishop of Lincoln, the Abbot of Waltham (? ), the Prior of Coventry, and "plures extranei4" were there for the performance of a solemn mass in the chapel; and the daily expenditure on those days, and on the 24th, rises from the average of six pounds to fifteen and twenty-five pounds. Moreover, from the 25th to the 28th of November the household is in London, after which it returns again to Hertford. The statement, therefore, of chroniclers that the Queen's funeral took place on the 27th is confirmed. She was interred in the choir of the church of the Grey Friars [Map], within Newgate, now Christ Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating, and the King (age 45) himself being present at the ceremony. Just twenty-eight years before, on nearly the same day, the body of her paramour Mortimer was consigned to its grave in the same building

Note 1. "to see the state of the Queen".

Note 2. "with the greatest haste".

Note 3. "to see the state of the Queen's Master John Gateneys, of the gift, at the price of xv. 40 florins denarii, which had been delivered to him during the Queen's lifetime, to be decoctioned together with the medicines for the Queen's body".

Note 4. "many strangers".

In 1361 Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey (age 65) died.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 20th of April, at Shene [Map], the Earl of Tancarville, the Countesses of Pembroke and Warren, "et alii magnates1," dined with the Queen.

Note 1. "and other magnates".

Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey 1296-1361 appears on the following Descendants Family Trees:

King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England 1133-1189

King John "Lackland" of England 1166-1216

King Henry III of England 1207-1272

King Edward "Longshanks" I of England 1239-1307

Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England 1122-1204

Raymond Berenguer Provence IV Count Provence 1198-1245

Royal Ancestors of Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey 1296-1361

Kings Wessex: Great x 8 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings England: Grand Daughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England

Kings Scotland: Great x 6 Grand Daughter of Malcolm III King Scotland

Kings Franks: Great x 4 Grand Daughter of Louis VII King Franks

Kings France: Great x 4 Grand Daughter of Louis "Fat" VI King France

Ancestors of Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey 1296-1361

Great x 4 Grandfather: Renaud I Count of Bar

Great x 3 Grandfather: Renauld of Bar II Count of Bar

Great x 4 Grandmother: Gisele de Vaudémont

Great x 2 Grandfather: Theobald of Bar I Count of Bar 2 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Theobald Blois II Count Champagne IV Count Blois Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Agnes Blois Great Grand Daughter of King William "Conqueror" I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Matilda Carinthia Countess Champagne and Blois

Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry of Bar II Count of Bar 3 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Erminsende of Bar Sur Seine Countess Bar

GrandFather: Theobald of Bar II Count of Bar 4 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Louis "Fat" VI King France

Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert "Great" Capet I Count Dreux

Great x 4 Grandmother: Adelaide Savoy Queen Consort France

Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Capet II Count Dreux

Great x 3 Grandmother: Agnes Baudemont Countess Dreux

Great x 1 Grandmother: Philippa Capet Countess of Bar

Great x 4 Grandfather: Enguerrand Coucy

Great x 3 Grandfather: Raoul Coucy

Great x 4 Grandmother: Agnes Beaugency

Great x 2 Grandmother: Yolande Coucy Countess Dreux

Great x 4 Grandfather: Baldwin Flanders IV Count Hainault

Great x 3 Grandmother: Agnes Flanders

Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Namur Countess Hainault

Father: Henry of Bar III Count of Bar 5 x Great Grand Son of King William "Conqueror" I of England

GrandMother: Jeanne Toucy Countess Bar

Joan of Bar Countess of Surrey Grand Daughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Geoffrey Plantagenet Duke Normandy

Great x 3 Grandfather: King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Empress Matilda Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 2 Grandfather: King John "Lackland" of England Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Aenor Chatellerault Duchess Aquitaine

Great x 1 Grandfather: King Henry III of England Son of King John "Lackland" of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Peter Courtenay

Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Courtenay Countess Angoulême

Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Courtenay

GrandFather: King Edward "Longshanks" I of England Son of King Henry III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Alfonso II King Aragon

Great x 3 Grandfather: Alfonso Barcelona II Count Provence

Great x 4 Grandmother: Sancha Ivrea Queen Consort Aragon

Great x 2 Grandfather: Raymond Berenguer Provence IV Count Provence

Great x 4 Grandfather: Rainou of Sabran

Great x 3 Grandmother: Gersenda II Sabran Countess Provence

Great x 1 Grandmother: Eleanor of Provence Queen Consort England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Humbert Savoy III Count Savoy

Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Savoy I Count Savoy

Great x 4 Grandmother: Beatrice Macon Countess Savoy

Great x 2 Grandmother: Beatrice Savoy Countess Provence

Great x 4 Grandfather: William I-Count Geneva

Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Geneva Countess Savoy

Mother: Eleanor Plantagenet Daughter of King Edward "Longshanks" I of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Alfonso IX King Leon

Great x 1 Grandfather: Ferdinand III King Castile III King Leon Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Sancho III King Castile

Great x 3 Grandfather: Alfonso VIII King Castile

Great x 4 Grandmother: Blanche Ramirez Queen Consort Castile

Great x 2 Grandmother: Berengaria Ivrea I Queen Castile Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Plantagenet Queen Consort Castile Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

GrandMother: Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Alberic Dammartin

Great x 2 Grandfather: Simon Dammartin

Great x 4 Grandfather: Renaud II Count Clermont

Great x 3 Grandmother: Mathilde Clermont

Great x 4 Grandmother: Adelaide I Countess Vermandois

Great x 1 Grandmother: Joan Dammartin Queen Consort Castile and Leon

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Montgomery I Count Ponthieu

Great x 3 Grandfather: William Montgomery IV Count Ponthieu

Great x 4 Grandmother: Beatrice St Pol Countess Ponthieu

Great x 2 Grandmother: Marie Montgomery Countess Ponthieu

Great x 4 Grandfather: Louis VII King Franks

Great x 3 Grandmother: Alys Capet Countess Ponthieu

Great x 4 Grandmother: Constance of Castile