7

A Soldier’s Wife
1352–1360

Un gentil chevalier …

Froissart

In spite of their newfound wealth and responsibilities as a result of John’s death, it was not long before Joan discovered that Thomas’ energy and enthusiasm remained focussed on his military career. He showed no interest in politics, and there is no record of him even attending Parliament on a single occasion, although he was summoned there in his new capacity. Far from showing ambitions at home, for the next eight years, from 1352 up to his death in 1360, Thomas spent long periods of time away from England on military duties in France. He was by no means the only committed career soldier among the nobility, and, like other similarly placed noblewomen, Joan’s place in her husband’s absence should have been to run the estates with the assistance of their council. She could have used their increased wealth, and Thomas’ absences, to extend her personal influence, exert her own control over her family estates and enhance their status by re-establishing her position within the royal circle. Instead, the records show that Joan accompanied Thomas to France on at least four occasions between 1354 and 1359, each for months at a time. The war in France would set the agenda for the remainder of Joan’s marriage to Thomas. Away from England for extended periods, she could have had little involvement in court circles, or local affairs. Joan was extremely unusual among her peers in choosing to accompany her husband, and it is not clear why she did so. To gain some insight into what happened to her during these years it is necessary to examine Thomas’ career in more detail.

Edward III was a shrewd judge of character and realised that despite his changed circumstances Thomas’ priorities remained his military career. He did not even make Thomas a justice of the peace, a quite extraordinary omission for a man of his position. It was the king, rather than Thomas, who took advantage of his change of circumstances. With the continuing conflict with France there would be ample opportunity to pursue military ambitions. On 18 March 1354 Edward III formally appointed Thomas as his royal lieutenant in Brittany and Poitou. This was a significant career advancement for Thomas, now aged about thirty-eight, and the command put him in charge of an entire region rather than a single castle garrison, and gave him administrative as well as military duties. He was to be paid by the exchequer for the first quarter and thereafter to receive all the profits and rents from Brittany from Easter 1354.¹ The intention was that he would be financially independent from the English Treasury, relying on Brittany to fund his costs, and he would be expected to make up any shortfall from his own money. The king would not have contemplated Thomas for this appointment before John’s death, for the simple reason that Thomas had lacked the private wealth to support the position. This promotion meant that Thomas was back serving in Brittany within a few months; once again he would be leaving Joan behind.²

Thomas’ new appointment was important because of the significance of Brittany for Edward III. Since the fall of Calais in 1347 there had been an uneasy peace between England and France, broken by intermittent skirmishes, raids and sieges in northern and north-eastern France, with the only major engagement being the sea battle off Winchelsea in 1350. The devastating effect of the Black Death in both countries was to a large extent responsible for the inability and unwillingness of both sides to engage in active campaigning, but the basic elements of the conflict remained unresolved. In August 1350, just weeks after Winchelsea, Philip VI died and was succeeded by his son, John. Faced with English supremacy in the field and the unreliability of some of his more senior nobles, such as his son-in-law, Charles of Navarre, the new King of France, John II (known as John the Good), showed more willingness than his father to reach an agreement with Edward III in order to end the war. Renewed negotiations resulted in a draft treaty concluded at Guines in April 1354, although as it was not due to be made public until October the provisions were kept secret for several months. The terms of the draft treaty were distinctly favourable to Edward III. In exchange for giving up his claim to the French throne, he was to be given full sovereignty of the duchy of Aquitaine, with significant territorial concessions, including Calais and its environs. Until the treaty was ratified and published there was to be a truce suspending hostile activities.

With the alluring prospect of achieving his ambitions in France within his grasp, Edward III naturally ordered his supporters to observe the truce. However, this did not prove to be a simple matter. There were many soldiers still in France, including several of the king’s captains and other commanders, and not all of them were prepared to obey. Some saw it as their right to take advantage of the weakness of France and seize goods and lands for profit. The duchy of Brittany was an area of particular difficulty. Succession to the dukedom had been in dispute since Duke John III died in 1341, and although Edward III had both claimants in his hands (Charles of Blois, who was supported by France, had been his captive since 1347, and he was guardian to Charles’ rival, Duke John’s heir), exercising control in the duchy proved difficult. With support from France, Charles of Blois’ wife Jeanne retained control of large parts of the duchy including the towns of Rennes and Nantes, despite the valiant efforts made by the Countess of Montfort on her son’s behalf. Edward III’s influence in the duchy depended on a loose alliance of local lords and English captains in command of individual garrisons whose tendency to look after their own interests blurred their allegiance to the English Crown. As the peace negotiations advanced throughout 1353 Edward III was increasingly conscious that his lieutenant in Brittany, Sir John Avenel, was failing to keep control of the duchy. By November 1353 the king had decided he needed to replace Avenel, and chose Thomas as his replacement.

Now that Thomas had become sufficiently wealthy to support the position, he was a logical choice. He was one of the king’s more senior captains, and had a proven track record as a strong and forceful commander. He had previous experience of service in Brittany, having served in the 1343 summer expedition to the duchy led by the Earl of Northampton with Robert d’Artois. At Calais Thomas had been an outstanding captain, proving that in addition to his worth as a fighting knight and his leadership abilities on campaign he was also capable of using his abilities to secure long-term strategic aims. During his command Calais’ defences had been consolidated, and the surrounding regions secured, with the nearby local forts strengthened and an efficient supply line secured, thus preparing the port for its use as a long-term base.³ Thomas’ new position would put him in overall command of one of the main theatres of the conflict with France. Although the appointment in Brittany was not formalised until the spring, Thomas immediately threw his energies into planning for his new command, and by December 1353 had assembled a small force at Plymouth of 160 men – 60 men-at-arms and 100 archers – including Otto as his lieutenant, his brother Robert, and his nephews John Holand and his sister Margaret’s son, John de la Warr.⁴ Adverse sailing conditions delayed their departure until March 1354, incurring expenses for Thomas of £200, a sum which only two years earlier would have equated to the whole of his income from his estates.

In Thomas’ absence, the obvious role for Joan was to manage their affairs at home and to be involved in running the great estates they now owned. Shortly before he departed Thomas appointed attorneys to act on his behalf in his absence. Conscious of his newly enhanced status, he chose carefully: Roger Mortimer, Earl of March; the knights Sir Richard Pembridge, Sir Edward Bereford, Sir John Wingfield and Sir Henry Green; and clerks Gervase Wilford, John Winwick, David Wollore, Randolf Saleby and John Raynford.⁵ Most of these were men he had either served with or knew because of his royal service. Roger Mortimer, like Thomas, had distinguished himself during the Crécy campaign, and had only recently been granted his grandfather’s title. Sir Richard Pembridge was a fellow household knight whom Thomas had known for many years, having served together under Robert d’Artois in 1338.⁶ Sir Henry Green was a member of Prince Edward’s council and Sir John Wingfield was one of the prince’s household knights, Thomas would have known both men well from their joint military service under the prince’s command during the Crécy campaign. Sir John Wingfield had also been a close friend of the Earl of Salisbury and served as one of the earl’s executors; subsequently he became William Montague’s guardian and in 1351 had been William’s attorney.⁷ It is remarkable that Thomas chose Wingfield given the latter’s close ties to the Montagues. Gervase Wilford, John Winwick and David Wollore were all senior royal clerks, Wollore the keeper of the chancery rolls, Winwick the keeper of the privy seal and Wilford having acted as Queen Philippa’s attorney but also bearing a family connection as he had acted for Thomas’ mother, Maud, in 1335.⁸ Although Thomas had appointed ten attorneys, the only ones who would actually have been expected to have much to do with the day-to-day running of the estates were his own clerks. Randolf Saleby and John Raynford were almost certainly members of Thomas and Joan’s household. In July 1353 John Raynford had become parson of Tinwell church in Rutland on an exchange of benefices from St Clement’s church in Hastings, an arrangement made by Edward III presumably at Thomas and Joan’s behest.⁹ Otto Holand also appointed John Raynford as his attorney.¹⁰

It is curious that Thomas did not choose to appoint Joan as one of his attorneys. He could easily have done so, as it was certainly not uncommon for women in her position to be appointed by their husbands. Indeed, bearing in mind that the estates were Joan’s, it would have been natural to do so. He was leaving her in charge of their great household and the supervision of their children’s care. Even though Joan was not his attorney, she would still be involved in overseeing their estates. Her role in running them would be important, as she would be consulted regularly by the stewards about their management and would assist in important decisions. Possibly Thomas expected Joan to further their interests by strengthening her relationships with her aunt Blanche, and her sister-in-law Elizabeth (with their dower interests), and re-establish her place within the royal circle. Yet it seems that Thomas was uneasy about leaving Joan behind. Pope Clement VI, who had issued the papal bull confirming their marriage, had died in December 1352. Shortly before his departure in the spring of 1354 Thomas petitioned the new pope, Innocent VI, requesting confirmation of Clement VI’s 1349 papal bull.¹¹ In July 1354 Thomas received his reassurance when Innocent VI duly reaffirmed the 1349 judgment. Although there is no evidence to suggest that William Montague ever considered doing so, Thomas was evidently alert to the possibility that his erstwhile rival, now Earl of Salisbury, might take advantage of his absence and press the Pope to review the decision confirming the validity of their marriage. His brother-in-law’s death had made Joan a more desirable prize than ever before. Thomas may have been prudent to do so, as it was not unknown for a new pope to revoke his predecessor’s decision.

Thomas was initially away for several months. His orders in Brittany were to secure all the captured towns, execute grants of Breton castles by Edward III to English nominees and, most importantly, ensure the truce was observed. Shortly before his arrival in late April 1354, Hugh Calverley, the English commander of the garrison at Becherel, was defeated and captured in a fight with the French marshal, d’Audrehem. This threatened the English position in the north-east of the duchy. Thomas’ first act on arriving was to join his own force with that of local allies and to launch a counter-attack, sweeping through north-eastern Brittany and into Lower Normandy. By June Thomas was satisfied that he had restored English authority in the area and drew his campaign to a close.¹²Edward III must have viewed his activities with a mixture of irritation and satisfaction. Thomas’ aggressive actions had flouted the truce, but he had swiftly and successfully protected the English position. Having exerted his authority decisively Thomas returned to England, possibly for further reinforcements and supplies but probably in response to orders from the king. Pleased that English dominance in the duchy had been reasserted, in November Edward III entrusted Thomas with the custody of the young heir to the duchy, John Montfort, now aged about fifteen. The boy had reached an age where it was more appropriate for him to return to his own land rather than remain with the royal household, and the king now had a competent lieutenant on whom he could rely to keep the boy safe.

Thomas returned to England in the early autumn of 1354, but he was only in England for a matter of weeks. When he returned to Brittany at the end of November Joan sailed with him. They evidently anticipated that Joan’s sojourn in the duchy would be commensurate with her husband’s, as they appointed Randolf Saleby and John Raynford jointly to act as their attorneys in their absence.¹³ Joan was unusual among her contemporaries in accompanying her husband to his military command in Brittany. In this she followed the example set by Queen Philippa, who notably escorted her husband on campaign whenever she could, but few noblewomen did so. The majority stayed in England tending to their family and their estates, and they were not encouraged to do otherwise. It would hardly have been practical if all of the English nobility participating in the French campaigns had taken their wives with them. It was possibly unwise, and certainly rare, for a noblewoman of Joan’s standing to accompany her husband, even to a securely held command. Although hostilities between France and England were theoretically in abeyance, and Thomas had successfully established military superiority in the duchy, the situation could change at any time. Thomas was a hard-headed soldier and it is most unlikely that he brought Joan because he could not bear to be parted from her. The king may have encouraged Thomas to take his wife, as Joan’s presence added to the care which would be provided to John Montfort. However, there is no evidence that Edward III made this a requirement of placing the boy in Thomas’ custody. Why, therefore, did Thomas take her, and why did Joan agree? The likelihood is that this was a further precautionary step in safeguarding his marriage. Joan’s inheritance from her brother had made her an even more desirable match than when Thomas had married her in 1341. The legal validity of their marriage remained questionable. While Joan was with him, Thomas was confident of being able to deal with any renewed threat. Leaving her behind when he took up the Brittany command was unavoidable, but he had done what he could to secure his position by applying to the Pope for ratification of the papal bull confirming the validity of their marriage. Nevertheless, the threat remained. Once he had secured his position in the duchy, it probably seemed to Thomas that it was safer for Joan to accompany him rather than stay in England.

Thomas was also well aware that despite Edward III’s tacit support in helping him to legitimise his marriage the king did not regard it with unqualified approval. Since John’s death the king had given Joan due recognition of their relationship, by referring to her in official records as ‘the king’s kinswoman’, but there was a lack of warmth.¹⁴ Although there was no set pattern for the transference of a title through the female line, Thomas could reasonably have expected the earldom of Kent to be conferred on him when John died, and Edward III had signally failed to do so. The king clearly felt that he had done enough to support Thomas. The marriage debacle had not reflected well on Edward III, and he was not yet prepared to give Thomas the public endorsement which elevating him to the earldom would have given. Ambitious for his sons as well as himself, Thomas naturally hoped to change the king’s mind. Taking Joan with him to Brittany gave a public demonstration of the consolidation of their marriage, and Thomas no doubt hoped that in the process Edward III would fully restore him to favour; this, for him, far outweighed any advantage that might have been gained by Joan remaining in England.

However, Thomas and Joan would not have taken their two sons with them to Brittany. They were no more than four and two years old, and far too young to have provided companionship for John Montfort. In their absence it is probable that they were placed with a relative rather than left in the care of family servants. Thomas was notably close to his own family, with his brother Otto as his invariable lieutenant, while his brothers Robert and Alan and his nephews John Holand and John de la Warr all served with him, but there was a marked lack of suitable female members to take on the role of caring for his sons. Among his brothers the only suitable candidate was Robert’s wife, at Thorpe Waterville in Northamptonshire. But there were other, arguably more appropriate, alternatives. As Joan’s inheritance secured his sons’ future it would be natural for Thomas to look to his wife’s side of the family, and although his sister-in-law Elizabeth, John’s widow, had entered a convent and taken the veil shortly after John’s death, his formidable and immensely capable aunt-in-law Lady Blanche Wake was available to assist. Blanche Wake was the widow of Joan’s uncle Thomas Wake, sister to the Duke of Lancaster, and the king’s cousin. Her main residence was at Bourne Castle in Lincolnshire. She had no children of her own, and the substantial estates she enjoyed were all Wake properties which would pass to Joan on her death. Although Blanche may have had no great liking for Thomas Holand, Joan’s children were her family and this was extremely important. Blanche was resolute in her determination to protect her family’s interests, and had no hesitation in using her Lancastrian influence to do so. She demonstrated this in July 1354 when her dower manor at Colne in Huntingdonshire was burned down by the Bishop of Lisle’s officials. Undaunted by the identity of her antagonist, Blanche embarked on a spirited two-year legal battle, demanding Edward III’s support by invoking their familial relationship. The bishop was comprehensively defeated despite appealing for the Pope’s intervention.¹⁵ None of the family could doubt Blanche’s tremendous energy and abilities, and when her brother Henry, Duke of Lancaster, made his will in March 1360 he had no hesitation in appointing his ‘very dear sister Lady Wake’ as his principal executor.¹⁶ Blanche would have relished the opportunity to school the young Thomas, as he would eventually inherit the Wake estates. Even in old age she showed a willingness to look after the children of her relatives, caring for John of Gaunt’s young family in the early 1370s after the death of his wife, Blanche, while John was abroad. An indication of the ties forged between Blanche, Joan and Thomas Holand is their common interest in Stamford and its Franciscan Grey Friars church, where they all chose to be buried. Joan’s eldest son, and her heir, Thomas, also developed a special affection for Bourne, as he chose to be buried there rather than in any of the other resting places on his estates, ignoring Stamford, where his parents were buried.¹⁷ The other possible guardian for their two sons was Lady Elizabeth de Burgh, who, although now elderly, was notably sociable. Elizabeth’s household accounts record a visit by the Countess of Kent in October 1355; this could have been Joan returning from Brittany and collecting her sons from her cousin’s care.¹⁸

Joan left England in November 1354 and sailed to Brittany with Thomas. She had not been to the duchy before, and there is no record of where she stayed. The main centres of English administration in Brittany were the town of Vannes, in the south, and the port of Brest, on the north-west coast. Vannes had been in English hands since 1343 and Thomas’ predecessors as lieutenant had sited their council and administrative headquarters in the town, with the mint. Edward III had a high regard for Vannes, describing it as the best town after Nantes, which remained under the influence of the French king.¹⁹ In all probability Thomas also chose to be based in Vannes, and occupied the same buildings as the previous king’s lieutenants. What was life like for Joan in Brittany? As there are no records or accounts of her stay there it is only possible to speculate. As a child in the queen’s household she had spent many months abroad, in Ghent where she had married Thomas and then outside Calais while it was besieged. As the wife of the king’s lieutenant in Brittany, her position was quite different. Although it is unlikely she enjoyed many luxuries, Joan would have brought several servants with her, and quite possibly a few of the wives of her husband’s knights to keep her company. It was usual for a commander to regularly spend time with his leading knights, especially over meals, and as Thomas’ wife Joan may have presided over dinners. Apart from his own relatives, Thomas’ retinue consisted of knights with a gentry background, all of whom were serving soldiers looking for advancement in their chosen profession. They were largely separated from their families, and Joan would have been one of very few women with whom they had contact overseas, as well as being in a position of seniority because of her husband’s position and her royal birth. It is also likely that Thomas and Joan had occasion to entertain the local nobility who supported the English cause. Joan’s responsibilities would also have included caring for John Montfort; quite possibly she had a hand in ensuring his continuing education while he was with them.

Accompanying Thomas to Brittany inevitably brought Joan into much closer contact with the war, even if he was careful to keep her well away from any actual fighting. With the progress of the war as an everyday topic of conversation, she would have at least become familiar with aspects of it. The war in France was an everyday fact of life for Joan, brought up in the English court, but her experience hitherto had been limited. Now she was seeing a different side of war, more able to appreciate the grim purpose and necessity of the skills and practice gained by knights participating in the colourful jousting tournaments she had watched and enjoyed. Living in a war-torn land, Joan cannot have been entirely sheltered from the harsh truths of conflict, and when travelling within the duchy she may have seen at first hand the effect on the local population. Joan’s experiences with Thomas gave her a more intimate knowledge and greater understanding of the realities of warfare than most of her peers would have had, and probably made her more at ease with the men around her, while they may have come to hold her in greater respect for being a part of their working lives.

It is likely that Joan was occasionally left in Vannes when Thomas needed to travel. Although he had exerted his authority in his first few months in Brittany, there remained a number of individual fortresses held by different commanders who were refusing to acknowledge the authority of the English Crown. Thomas’ personal presence was probably required to extend his control and fulfil his orders, necessitating leaving Joan behind. Whatever sympathies Thomas might have had for the defiant captains, he achieved considerable success in bringing them into line and also proved remarkably adept at exerting financial control in the duchy, appointing officials to collect the local taxes in a methodical way.²⁰ Edward III was obviously satisfied with his lieutenant, as he renewed Thomas’ appointment in February 1355 to run for another year, once again with the revenues from the duchy being assigned to him in June 1355.²¹ Thomas returned to England with Joan in July 1355 to get reinforcements, and they sailed back to Brittany almost immediately, in August.²² By July Joan had been away from England for eight months, a long time to have been separated from her two boys, and she may not have had the opportunity to see them in her short stay. Joan was nevertheless willing to accompany Thomas back to Brittany, although she must have known that she might not be able to see her sons for several more months. However, in September, within weeks of arriving back in Brittany, Thomas received news that he was to be replaced as lieutenant in Brittany by Henry, Duke of Lancaster. This would mean that Joan would be returning to England much sooner than she had anticipated.

Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, had succeeded to his father’s dignities in 1345, and he had been Edward III’s principal adviser and his leading commander for some years. Henry was also the king’s cousin. His appointment heralded a change of policy in the conduct of the war with France rather than any royal dissatisfaction with Thomas. Shortly before Christmas 1354 the king had sent an embassy, led by Lancaster and the Earl of Arundel, to Avignon, to formally sign the draft treaty of Guines. In the Pope’s presence Lancaster had duly pronounced the terms of the peace, and confirmed Edward III’s willingness to sign the treaty, but to his consternation the French ambassadors had refused to do likewise, saying they could not consent to it.²³ Considering how favourable the proposals were to Edward III, the French refusal to honour the terms of the agreement was not entirely surprising. Nevertheless their action does not seem to have been anticipated and Edward III reacted angrily when he heard the news. According to Froissart he declared that since peace could not be made at Avignon he would wage war more strongly in France than ever before. In the early months of 1355 the king conferred with his council and his leading commanders, devising a new strategy. The decision was made to launch a fresh attack in France, this time in the form of two major expeditions which would commence when the truce expired in June 1355. Edward III, with Lancaster at his side, was to lead the main expedition into Normandy, relying on the support of Charles of Navarre, the Count of Evreux, who controlled the Cotentin and parts of Normandy. Navarre was John II’s son-in- law, and had fallen out with the French king. The second expedition was to be into Gascony, in response to a plea for help from the Gascons, who had suffered repeated French raids which had weakened English control of the duchy. At Westminster in April 1355 the council agreed that Prince Edward would lead the Gascon expedition, supported by the earls of Warwick, Suffolk and Oxford – and William Montague, Earl of Salisbury.²⁴ Both expeditions were to be large-scale mounted raids intended to devastate the countryside, so emphasising the weakness of the French king and his inability to protect his subjects in the hope that John II might be enticed into battle.

Edward III had planned to leave England in August, but was delayed at Portsmouth by bad weather. When he received news from spies that Charles of Navarre had made peace with John II, and that French troops were being sent to the ports in Normandy to ambush him when he arrived, he called the expedition off on 12 September. In the meantime, Prince Edward had already embarked from Plymouth for Bordeaux. A change of plan was needed, and the king decided the Duke of Lancaster should take command of the Anglo-Navarrese army and launch a new attack from Brittany. It was therefore appropriate to appoint Lancaster lieutenant in Brittany, replacing Thomas Holand.²⁵ But almost immediately the king and his advisers had second thoughts, and the Brittany project was deferred in favour of an expedition from Calais, making use of the originally mobilised army and arrangements. In late October Edward III and his reassembled army sailed to Calais with Lancaster at his side, and on landing they were joined by troops from Flanders, Brabant and Germany. Their resulting campaign through Picardy was closely shadowed by the French king and his much larger army, while in Gascony the prince led his small force on a devastating eight-week chevauchée to the Mediterranean and back. Sir John Wingfield, one of the prince’s knights, and a member of his council, reported that the countryside and towns which were destroyed in the prince’s raid produced more revenue for the King of France than half his kingdom.²⁶Edward III’s efforts were less obviously successful, as he was unable to engage John II in battle, despite giving the French king ample provocation and several opportunities to attack him, even sending him a personal challenge for single armed combat. After a campaign of only three weeks Edward III realised that he was not going to draw John II into battle, discharged his foreign support and returned to England in November 1355.

Thomas’ whereabouts during these two campaigns is not known. His absence from the record of the list of commanders in each campaign is distinctly curious, considering his reputation and loyal service. Conducting two major offensives against France, Edward III had need of every able-bodied knight and there is no obvious reason why he would not have made use of the talents of one of his best commanders. As Lancaster’s commitments with the king delayed his departure for Brittany, Thomas would not have immediately relinquished his command in September, thus ensuring that he would have been unable to join the prince in time to take part in the Gascony campaign.²⁷ This might also explain why he was not given a senior command in the king’s campaign. His charge, John Montfort, is known to have been with Edward III during the Picardy campaign, in the company of the king’s two younger sons, and it seems likely that the king ordered Thomas to bring the boy in person rather than delegate this duty. Once back in England Edward III was almost immediately engaged in a fresh campaign against the Scots, who had taken advantage of his absence to seize Berwick, but again there is no record that Thomas was part of his army.

Back in England for Christmas, Thomas and Joan were reunited with their two young sons, and it is probable that she was pregnant with their third child, whom they named Maud, after Thomas’ mother. It was an opportunity for Joan and Thomas to catch up on their own affairs on their many estates, although Thomas was not likely to be satisfied with that for long. He would have been very conscious of the fact that for the first time in his career he was not a part of an ongoing major campaign. Ironically, his promotion to Brittany had precluded him from being part of the prince’s company, and denied him the opportunity of being a part of that campaign. After the conclusion of his highly successful and destructive chevauchée, the prince remained in Gascony and spent the winter of 1355 and early spring of 1356 generally reasserting English control in the duchy. Many of Thomas’ old comrades in arms were with the prince, including his cousin Roger de la Warr. William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, was also with the prince, in joint command of his rearguard, with the Earl of Suffolk. On 2 April 1356 Thomas was appointed keeper of the Channel Islands, a post once held by Joan’s uncle Thomas Wake.²⁸ This was hardly a promotion but there does not seem to have been any real intention on the king’s part that Thomas should fulfil the duties in person. Thomas immediately delegated his command to Otto, as he was engaged elsewhere on the king’s orders, and in June 1356 Otto was authorised to act as his deputy, and duly rewarded by Thomas with the gift, for his lifetime, of the manors of Ashford and Chesterfield in Derbyshire.²⁹ Although there is no evidence of Thomas’ whereabouts over the next few months, it is a reasonable supposition that he had been ordered by the king to join in the fresh campaign planned for the summer of 1356. Building on the twin chevauchées of 1355, Edward III and his commanders planned an attack in France to start in the summer of 1356. Prince Edward was to progress from Bordeaux up into north central France, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, was to start with his army in Brittany, and the king would himself lead a third army from Calais.

However, once again a campaign planned for Brittany was changed at the last moment. In May Navarrese envoys approached Edward III and implored his support. Charles of Navarre had been arrested and imprisoned by John II in a surprise attack in April, and his brother Philip of Navarre was desperately holding out. Edward III reacted swiftly to support his ally, and immediately ordered Henry of Lancaster to deploy his force to Normandy instead. On 18 June 1356 Lancaster set sail with his army for St Vaast la Hogue, taking with him the earls of March and Pembroke and John Montfort. Once in Normandy Lancaster was joined by Philip of Navarre and Sir Robert Knolles, who had brought a force from the garrisons of Brittany. The combined forces then advanced through Normandy, capturing fortresses, plundering the countryside, moving towards the beleaguered Navarrese strongholds at Pont Audemer, Breteuil and Verneuil. While Lancaster progressed through Normandy and then on into Brittany, Prince Edward mustered his forces at Bordeaux and in August started his campaign, taking a northerly route. With the prince were the earls of Warwick, Suffolk, Oxford and Salisbury. On 19 September the prince met the French king, John II, and his army at Poitiers. In the battle the earls of Warwick and Oxford commanded the vanguard, the prince the second division, and the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk commanded the rearguard.³⁰ Despite having a much larger army, the French were comprehensively and overwhelming defeated, the final humiliation being the capture of John II, along with his young son Philip and most of his nobles. The prince’s Poitiers campaign had ended with a stunning and unexpected victory.

Although Thomas’ whereabouts during this period are not known, it seems probable that in April 1356 he had been ordered to join the Duke of Lancaster. The intention at that time was for the duke to take his force to Brittany, and so Thomas would be on hand to supply his recent knowledge and experience of the duchy. When the duke was ordered to Normandy instead, Thomas would have remained with him. It is inconceivable that such an experienced and able commander would not have been part of one of the major campaigns, although it is curious that Thomas’ name is not mentioned among the duke’s entourage. The two men knew each other, as they had served together before (they were on crusade in Prussia in 1343), but it is possible that Henry had inherited his father’s antipathy towards the Holand family, reluctantly accepting Thomas’ presence but failing to accord him a prominent role among his retinue. By the winter of 1356/57 Lancaster’s forces had left Brittany and moved into Lower Normandy, bringing successive areas back under English control and establishing English commanders in some of the strategically important garrisons.³¹ Here his campaign stalled, and he spent six months trying to take the town of Rennes. It was not until July 1357 that the siege was resolved and Lancaster left Normandy. Thomas had had no opportunity in over twelve months to carry out his duties as keeper of the Channel Islands, leaving Otto to do so on his behalf. Recognising this, in June 1357 Edward III appointed Otto Holand to succeed Thomas as keeper.³²

During this period it is likely that Joan remained in England. Certainly, on the basis that Thomas was with Lancaster, the nature of the campaign would have precluded her accompanying him this time. Ostensibly there would be no reason for Thomas not to appoint Joan as his attorney, but there is no evidence to confirm this. While Joan was in England she had the opportunity to renew her friendship with Princess Isabella and other members of the royal family. In May 1357 Prince Edward arrived back in England with the French king, and made a triumphal entry into London where John II was temporarily installed in the Duke of Lancaster’s Savoy Palace. An outline of the peace treaty had been agreed as early as March, and in June papal envoys arrived to assist in the negotiations to agree terms for a lasting peace. In the meantime the court celebrated the prince’s victory jubilantly. Joan would have been among the ladies of the court attending the banquets, jousting and general festivities, congratulating her cousin on his achievement and updating him on his godson’s progress. The cousins would not have seen each other for some years, and it seems reasonable to suggest that it was during this period that the prince fell in love with his cousin, although he could only admire her from afar while she was married to Thomas.

Once back in England it was not long before Thomas was given another command. A truce had been agreed between the two sides until Easter of 1359 to give time for the peace negotiations to be concluded, but in the meantime Edward III wanted to safeguard his gains in France. He needed men like Thomas, and on 18 November 1357 entrusted him with the custodianship of the strategically placed Cruyk Castle in Normandy.³³ In a further demonstration of his faith in Thomas’ military capabilities, in December he appointed Thomas to assist Philip of Navarre, whom he had made lieutenant in Normandy in October 1356.³⁴ There is no record of Thomas taking up his appointment immediately, and in April 1358 he would have attended the annual Garter celebrations at Windsor with his fellow Garter knights. The Garter celebrations were particularly splendid that year, as the guests of honour included the captive King of France. Champions had been invited from all over England, Germany and the Low Countries and hundreds of knights, including the prince and his four brothers, competed in the lists. Shortly afterwards Thomas visited the Channel Islands in May to negotiate the ransom for one of the captured French nobles, the Viscount of Rohan.³⁵ Thomas did not leave for Normandy until October, and by this time he had additional responsibilities. Godfrey of Harcourt, a Norman lord with substantial lands in the Cotentin, including the thirteenth-century fortress at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, had willed these to Edward III before he died and despite the claim of his ally Philip of Navarre the king had taken possession of the castle by appointing one of his lieutenants and installing a garrison there. On 10 October 1358 the king appointed Thomas warden of the castle of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte.³⁶ The major fortress was at the heart of the Harcourt inheritance, and Thomas would have the delicate task of maintaining English control against the Navarrese claim while at the same time working with local Navarrese forces against the French. With occasional raids and intermittent fighting, his command was by no means purely administrative.

Thomas appointed attorneys – Roger Mortimer, John Oulton, Robert Thorpe (another on the prince’s council), David Wollore, John Winwick, Randolf Saleby and Gervase Wilford – and returned to Normandy with Otto, his nephews John de la Warr and John Holand, their clerk John Raynford and, this time, with his wife as well.³⁷ Thomas and Joan had spent much of the last two years apart, with Joan in England and Thomas abroad. This would be Joan’s first trip to Normandy. They now had three children (Thomas, John and Maud), and it is possible that Joan had just given birth to their last child, another girl, whom they named Joan.³⁸ It was not unusual to name children after their parents, but it is sad to note that while Thomas and Joan saw fit to name their elder daughter after Thomas’ mother, they did not honour the memory of Joan’s mother, Margaret, in this way. But although Margaret had been responsible for restoring most of the Kent estates, Joan and her mother had not had a close or easy relationship. We do not know if the children accompanied their parents to France. As they would have been an additional responsibility for Joan and required an increased household for support, Thomas and Joan may have decided to leave their young children behind in safety and called on the services of Joan’s relations again. Thomas’ appointment was a success, and four months later, in February 1359, his commission was renewed. Then, in May, Otto Holand was badly wounded on a raid, dying four months later.³⁹ This was a devastating loss for Thomas, as Otto had been at his side throughout his career and had faithfully acted as his deputy on so many occasions. Otto’s incapacity may explain why Thomas and Joan remained in Normandy, missing John of Gaunt’s marriage to Blanche of Lancaster in May. Although they would have been invited (especially as Joan was the groom’s cousin, and related by marriage to the bride through her aunt Blanche Wake), they are not listed as having given a gift, which suggests they did not attend. Held in Reading, the wedding was a magnificent display, the guests including the captive kings of France and Scotland, and was followed by two weeks of festivities and jousting, with a tournament in London in which Edward III and princes Edward, Lionel, John and Edmund participated, disguised as aldermen of London.

Thomas’ command in Normandy as one of the most senior English officers ensured he was closely involved in the next phase of the king’s campaign in France. By June 1359 it was apparent that Edward III would not obtain the settlement in France for which he had hoped. Despite English military dominance, and the captivity of John II, securing a lasting treaty of peace with the dauphin and the estates general in France was proving increasingly difficult. The king and his council determined on a major new campaign in France, with the principal objective of capturing the city of Rheims. Preparations for the invasion, planned to commence in August, began straight away. Then, in August, Charles of Navarre made his peace with the dauphin at Pontoise, turning his back on his alliance with Edward III. The Navarrese were torn between Charles and his brother, Philip, who remained loyal to Edward III. It was imperative to reinforce English support for Philip of Navarre, and the king had no hesitation in promoting Thomas to bolster English authority. In October Thomas was ordered to secure Barfleur, and he was appointed joint lieutenant of Normandy with Philip of Navarre.⁴⁰ Following his orders, Thomas reacted swiftly and occupied the harbour at Barfleur in the north-east of the Cotentin peninsula to secure it for his king.⁴¹ This renewed military activity brought with it a need for reinforcements, and this necessitated a return to England. Although Joan accompanied Thomas back to England, where she would have the opportunity to see their children, her stay was brief; she returned to Normandy with her husband the same month, appointing Randolf Saleby and Gervase Wilford as their attorneys.⁴² This was the fourth occasion on which Joan is known to have accompanied Thomas to France, and, as it is unlikely that Thomas had any continuing concern about the status of their marriage, indicates that it was her personal choice, and preference, to do so.

At the end of October Edward III and his invasion force of around 10,000 men left England and landed at Calais. The army was divided in three, with the king in personal command of the main body, and Prince Edward and the Duke of Lancaster commanding the other two sections. At the beginning of December the army arrived outside the walls of Rheims. Hopes were riding high, but the English found the French resistance more efficient than they had hoped, and their own supply trains, efficient though they were, were less adequate than they had anticipated. Barely four weeks later, in January 1360, the king was forced to abandon the siege, having failed to take the city by assault and diminished the supplies of food necessary to sustain his army. There followed four months of desultory campaigning in northern France, without any major engagement. The dauphin withdrew his forces in front of the English army, and successfully attacked the English supply lines. With inadequate supplies, dogged by poor weather, and unable to engage in a decisive action, and urged by the Duke of Lancaster and Prince Edward, at length Edward III agreed to settle terms.⁴³ By May 1360 the peace negotiators had reached an agreement. Although the Rheims campaign appeared to be a miserable failure after the previous stunning successes, the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny were immensely favourable to Edward III. In return for abandoning his claim to the French throne, Edward III received full sovereignty over the whole of the old Angevin duchy of Aquitaine (Gascony, Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, Perigord, Limousin, Quercy and Rouergue), based on the new boundaries defined by the successful English campaigns, with further territory in the north and west near the Pyrenees including Calais and the surrounding area and the county of Ponthieu, a landmass amounting to nearly a quarter of France.⁴⁴ Arrangements were agreed for the release of John II, including a ransom of 3 million écus to be paid in instalments over six years. On 19 May Edward III and his sons sailed for England from Honfleur while the rest of the army followed shortly afterwards from Calais.⁴⁵

Thomas served on the Rheims campaign, although it is not known in what capacity. As he left to join the army, perhaps arriving after the siege of the city had ended, Joan presumably returned to England. Her stay in Normandy had been short. Thomas returned to England in May 1360, relinquishing his command of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte to Sir John Chandos.⁴⁶ Joan might reasonably have expected and hoped that their stay in England would be extended now that peace had been agreed. That autumn held a surprise in store for Joan. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, Countess of Kent, left Waverley Abbey and on 29 September broke her vow of chastity by marrying the Hainaulter knight Sir Eustace d’Aubrichecourt at Wingham church in Kent.⁴⁷ How Elizabeth met d’Aubrichecourt is unknown but it is a reasonable supposition that it was through her brother-in-law Thomas. Eustace d’Aubrichecourt was, like Thomas, a founder member of the Order of the Garter, and within that close-knit elite fraternity the members all knew each other well.⁴⁸Eustace was also a professional soldier of considerable ability and had served with Prince Edward in Gascony and on the Poitiers campaign. Subsequently he had chosen to loosen his ties with the prince and operate independently in France with his company of Hainaulters, becoming another of the many bands of soldiers plundering the French countryside for their own advantage. After being captured by the French in 1359, he purchased his freedom in time to join the English army on the Rheims campaign in January 1360, serving in the Duke of Lancaster’s division.⁴⁹ Presumably he came to England in May with the remaining troops, as in August 1360 he was granted an annuity of 40 marks for his good service to the king.⁵⁰ He evidently became acquainted with Elizabeth during that summer and it seems likely that Elizabeth may have been visiting Joan when d’Aubrichecourt was Thomas’ guest. An ambitious and unscrupulous soldier, he lost no time in pressing his suit. Marrying the widowed Countess of Kent substantially augmented his social status, enabling him to enjoy Elizabeth’s dower and establishing a bond with Thomas, one of the king’s favoured captains.

Joan’s time back in England with Thomas was short-lived. Six months after he had returned, on 30 September 1360, Thomas was indented to serve as captain and lieutenant in Normandy and France for a quarter of a year with a retinue of sixty men-at-arms, including a banneret and ten knights, and 120 mounted archers.⁵¹ He immediately prepared to return to France, with ten ships commissioned for his passage, and on 24 October was instructed to publish the peace and to supervise handover of English fortresses as agreed at the Treaty of Brétigny.⁵² This new promotion was the highest point in Thomas’ career, and he was at last made Earl of Kent by the king, in due recognition of his services.⁵³ Thomas’ newfound confidence found expression in an unusually generous gesture on his part towards his nephew John Holand, granting him the manors of Northweald in Essex and Whissendine in Rutland for life.⁵⁴ Unfortunately Thomas did not live to enjoy the fruits of his labours. In December he was taken ill at Rouen, and he died on 28 December 1360.⁵⁵

Joan does not seem to have accompanied Thomas on this last trip, and she must have been devastated when news of his death reached her. As a career soldier, Thomas had survived many arduous and dangerous campaigns, and his death now, in his early forties, was unexpected. For twenty years his strong, dominant personality had been the centre of Joan’s life. There can be no doubt of her love for him. She had agreed to marry him when she was still a child, and had stoutly maintained her support for their marriage despite their separation for eight years and the opposition of her family. Their ten years of married life together had been fruitful and varied; Thomas had risen from humble household knight to being one of the king’s most trusted commanders, a respected and valued companion of the military elite as a knight of the Garter. When they married, Thomas had no more than £26 a year to his name; he died Earl of Kent with vast landed estates. Joan had been at his side throughout; unlike most of her peers she had accompanied Thomas on three tours of duties in France, her wifely devotion amply demonstrated by this and their four children. Initially Thomas was buried at the church of the Friars Minor in Rouen, but Joan arranged for his body to be brought back to England and for him to be reburied in the Franciscan church of which they had been patrons at Stamford in Lincolnshire.⁵⁶ Thomas’ body was laid to rest in the chapel adjoining the church. Mourning her loss, Joan gave instructions to her constable at Castle Donington for a chaplain to regularly sing for Thomas’ soul.⁵⁷