Editing Joan of Kent (section)

==Early marriages==
[[File:Arms of Holland.svg|thumb|Arms of Holland of Upholland: ''[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]] [[semée]]-de-lys [[argent]], a lion [[rampant]] of the second''. Joan's descendants by her husband Thomas Holland were granted in lieu of their paternal arms the [[Royal arms of England|royal arms]] of her father [[Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent]], a [[Cadency|difference]] of the arms of King Edward I.]]
In 1340, at the age of about twelve, Joan secretly married 26-year-old [[Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent|Thomas Holland]] of [[Up Holland]], Lancashire, without first gaining the royal consent necessary for couples of their rank.{{Sfn|Wentersdorf|1979|page=205}} Shortly after the wedding, Holland left for the continent as part of the English expedition into [[Flanders]] and France. The following winter (1340 or 1341), while Holland was overseas, Joan's family arranged for her to marry [[William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|William Montagu]], son and heir of [[William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury]]. It is not known if Joan confided to anyone about her first marriage before marrying Montagu, who was her own age. Later, Joan indicated that she had not announced her existing marriage with Thomas Holland because she was afraid it would lead to Holland's execution for treason. She may also have been influenced to believe that the earlier marriage was invalid.{{Sfn|Wentersdorf|1979|page=206}} Montagu's father died in 1344, and he became the 2nd Earl of Salisbury.

When Holland returned from the French campaigns in about 1348, his marriage to Joan was revealed. Holland confessed the secret marriage to the king and appealed to the Pope for the return of his wife. Salisbury held Joan captive so that she could not testify until the Church ordered him to release her. In 1349, the proceedings ruled in Holland's favour. [[Pope Clement VI]] annulled Joan's marriage to Salisbury and Joan and Thomas Holland were ordered to be married in the Church.{{Sfn|Wentersdorf|1979|page=212}}

Over the next eleven years, [[Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent]]  ''[[jure uxoris]]'' and Joan had five children:<ref>{{Cite book |first=Mary Beacock |last=Fryer |first2=Arthur |last2=Bousfield |first3=Garry |last3=Toffoli |title=Lives of the Princesses of Wales |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=26 July 1996 |orig-date=1983 |ol=8352112M |page=11 |isbn=9781459715103}}</ref>
[[File:Arms of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent.svg|thumb|Arms of [[Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent]]: ''Arms of [[Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent]]'', being the arms of his maternal grandfather which he was granted in lieu of his paternal arms]]
# [[Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent]] (1350 – 25 April 1397), who married Lady [[Alice Holland, Countess of Kent|Alice FitzAlan]] ({{c.}} 1350 – 17 March 1416), daughter of [[Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel|Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and 8th Earl of Surrey]], and Lady [[Eleanor of Lancaster]].
# [[John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter|John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter and 1st Earl of Huntingdon]] (c. 1352 – 16 January 1400), who married [[Elizabeth of Lancaster, Duchess of Exeter|Lady Elizabeth of Lancaster]] (c. 1363 – 24 November 1426), daughter of [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster]], and Lady [[Blanche of Lancaster]].
# Lady [[Joan Holland, Duchess of Brittany|Joan Holland]] (1356 – October 1384), who married [[John IV, Duke of Brittany]] (1339 – 1 November 1399).
# Lady [[Maud Holland]] (1359 – 13 April 1392), who married, firstly, [[Hugh Courtenay (died 1374)|Hugh Courtenay]] (c. 1345 – 20 February 1374), [[heir apparent]] to the [[earldom of Devon]], and, secondly, [[Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny|Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Saint-Pol]] (1355 – 12 April 1415).
# Edmund Holland (c. 1354), who died young. He was buried in the church of [[Austin Friars, London]].

When the last of Joan's siblings died in 1352, the lands and titles of her parents devolved upon her, and she became the 4th [[Earl of Kent|Countess of Kent]] and 5th [[Baroness Wake of Liddell]]. Her husband Holland was created Earl of Kent in right of his wife in 1360.