Biography of Joan Plantagenet 1333-1348

Rymer's Fœdera Volume 3. [15th September 1348] Concerning the tragic death of Joanna (deceased), the King's daughter, who had been sent to Bordeaux to be married to the firstborn son of the King of Castile.

To the Most Serene Prince, Lord Alfonso, by the grace of God, King of Castile, León, Toledo, Galicia, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Algarve, and Algeciras, the Illustrious, and Lord of the County of Molina, his most dear kinsman: Edward, by the same grace, King of France and England, and Lord of Ireland, sends greeting and ever-glorious wishes for your continued success.

To contract our most beloved daughter in marriage, for the good of perpetual peace and the fostering of an unbreakable union between our royal houses, we at length sent our said daughter to Bordeaux, to be conveyed further to your regions in Spain.

And although, according to the matters that were most recently negotiated, agreed upon, and settled between your envoys and ours concerning this transfer and the payment of the money by way of dowry or marriage portion, we had prepared all and everything that was to be done by us within the terms set for that purpose, not without serious loss and no small diminution of our treasury,

Behold! yet (which we recount with deep bitterness of heart) cruel Death, who strikes down the young as well as the old, and spares no one until the rich and the poor alike meet together, has now, to our sorrow and to yours, taken from us our most beloved daughter (whom, above all others, we sincerely loved, as her most excellent qualities so rightly demanded);

For which reason, if we are inwardly pierced by the sting of bitter sorrow according to the flesh, no mortal can wonder at it.

But we, who have placed our trust in God and in whose hands, in many grave perils, our life has often been enclosed, give thanks to Him that He has taken one of our own, free from every stain, whom we loved so purely, and has sent her before us to Heaven, to reign among the choirs of virgins, that she may be both willing and able to intercede with Him for our sins.

Wherefore, we earnestly and unceasingly beseech Your Royal Highness that,

Since it is not through any fault of ours that the completion of so renowned a marriage and the previously arranged bond of alliance has failed, and because, beyond the grievous loss of our daughter, we have also incurred excessive expenses on that account,

To these things we direct the eyes of your just consideration,

At the very least, may the ancient bonds of friendship and true affection be renewed between our royal houses, which are joined by right of blood; and may the bond of alliance, which was wisely confirmed by Golden Letters between our forebears, for themselves and their descendants, now be strengthened with greater favor between us, who are bound by a tie of similar kind.

For among earthly princes, because of the most illustrious fame of your name, we desire to incline ourselves to your wishes, and to take delight in your successes (which may God ever increase); and we invite you to write back to us with confidence your desires in these and other matters that may please you.

Given at the King's Palace at Westminster, on the fifteenth day of September.

De Morte sunesta Johannæ, Filiæ Regis, Burdegalis transmissæ, Primogenito Regis Castellæ maritandæ.

Serenissimo Principi, Domino Alfonso, Dci gratiâ, Castellæ, Legionis, Toleti, Galiciæ, Sibiliæ,Cordubæ, Murcii, Giennii, Algarbiæ, & Algeziræ Regi Illustri, ac Comitatûs Molinæ Domino, Consanguineo suo carissimo, Edwardus, eâdem gratiæ, Rex Franciæ & Angliæ, & Dominus Hiberniæ, Salutein & votivis semper Successibus gloriari.

Magnficentiam vestram Regiam latere non credimus quòd,post multos & varios Tractatus, habitos super Matrimonio, inter Inclitum Infantem Petrum Filium vestrum Primogenitum & Johannam

Filiam nostram dilectissimam contrahendo, pro bono Pacis perpetuæ & Unionis indissolubis inter Domos nostras Regias confovendo, tandem præfatam Filiam nostram Burdegalis transmisimus, ulteriùs ad partes vestras Ispanniæ traducendam:

Et licet, juxta ea, quæ inter Procuratores & Nuncios vestros & nostros, super hujusmodi Traductione, & Pecuniæ, Dotis seu Dotalitii nomine, solutione, novissime tractata, consensa, & concordata suerant, omnia & singula, quæ per nos in Terminis, ad hoc statutis, fieri debebant, non sine jacturâ gravi, & Ærarii nostri extenuatione non modicâ, parassemus,

Ecce! tamen(quod cum intensâ cordis amaritudine dolenter referimus) Mors funesta (quæ sicut Senem, sic Juvenem intercipit, & nemini parcit, donec insimul & in unum conveniant Dives atque Pauper) carissimam Filiam nostram (quam, præ cæteris, Conditionibus suis celeberrimis id poscentibus, sinceriter dileximus) a nobis pariter & a vobis lamentabiliter jam subtraxit;

Pro quo, si pungentis Mœroris aculeo secundum carnem interiùs perfundamur, nemo mortalis poterit admirari.

Set Nos, qui in Deo posuimus fidem nostram, & inter cujus manus sæpius, in arduis periculis,concluserat Vitam nostram, gratias fibi reddimus quòd unam de nostris, ab omni maculâ liberam, quam sic pure dileximus, ad Cœlos præmisit inter Choros Virginum regnaturam, quæ pro nostris reatibus velit & valeat intercedere penes eum.

Quamobrem Celstudini vestræ Regias quæsumus incessanter ut,

Ex quo per nos non stat quo minus compleatur, ratione tam celebris Matrimonii, Alligationis vinculum prælocutum, set propterea, prætcr duram Amissionem Filiæ nostræ, Sumptus fecimus excessivos,

Ad hæc vestræ justæ considerationis oculos dirigentes,

Saltem inter Domos nostras regias, quæ jure Sanguinis conjunguntur, Amicitiæ & veræ dilectionis antiqua Fœdera renoventur; & Alligationis vinculum, quod inter Progenitores nostros, pro eis & suis Posteris Liceris Aureis prudenter suerat confirmatum, inter Nos, simili Genetis forcitudine colligatos, majori gratiâ roboretur.

Inter etenim Terrenos Principes, propter Famam vestri nominis clarissimam, vestris cupimus desideriis inclinare, & in vestris Profectibus (quos Deus semper amplificet) delectari; rescribentes nobis in hiis, & cæteris, qux vobis piacuerint, siducialiter vota vestra.

Dat. in Palatio Regis Westm. decimo quinto die Septembris.