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Birth:          ABT 1188 of London, England
Death:          2 Feb 1237 Aberconwy, Arllechwedd, Isaf, Caernarvonshire, Wales
Burial:         LLan-faes, Dindaethwy, Angelsey, Wales

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan,_Lady_of_Wales
Joan, Lady of Wales and Lady of Snowdon, also known by her Welsh name of Siwan, 
(c. 1191 – 2 February 1237) was the wife of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales and 
Gwynedd, effective ruler of most of Wales.
Early life[edit]

Joan was a natural daughter of King John of England. She should not be confused 
with her half-sister, Joan, Queen consort of Scotland.

Little is known about her early life. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's 
obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is called "Regina Clementina" (Queen 
Clemence); there is no evidence that her mother was in fact of royal blood. Joan may 
have been born in France, and probably spent part of her childhood there, as King 
John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in December 1203 in 
preparation for her wedding to prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.

Thomas Pennant, in "Tours in Wales", Volume 2, published London, 1810, writes : "It 
is said that Llewelyn the Great had near this place [Trefriw] a palace; ... The church 
of Trefriw was originally built by Llewelyn, for the ease of his princess, who before was 
obliged to go on foot to Llanrhychwyn, a long walk among the mountains."

Marriage[edit]

Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204. The 
wedding was celebrated at St Werburgh's Abbey in Chester. She 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. 1212–1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at 
Abergwyngregyn.

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 de 
Mortimer (had issue).
2.Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
3.Angharad ferch Llywelyn
4.Margaret, who married (1) Sir John de Braose (called 'Tadody'), the grandson of 
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. She married (2) Sir Walter de Clifford and had 
children by both husbands.[1]

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.[2]

Adultery with William de Braose[edit]

At Easter 1230, William de Braose, who was Llywelyn's prisoner at the time, was 
discovered with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged on 2 
May 1230, according to local folklore at Abergwyngregyn; the place was known as 
'Gwern y Grog'. A letter from Nicholas, Abbot of Vaudy, suggests that the execution 
took place at Crogen near Bala (crogi = to hang).[3]

Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months after the incident. She was 
then, according to the Chronicle of Chester, forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored to 
favour. She may have given birth to a daughter early in 1231.

Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales".

Death and burial[edit]

She died at the royal home at Abergwyngregyn, 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 destroyed in 1537 by Henry 
VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. A stone coffin originally 
identified as Joan's can be seen in St Mary's and St Nicholas's parish church, 
Beaumaris, 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 Llewelyn 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 preservation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of 
all sublunary distinctions. By Thomas James Warren Bulkeley, Viscount Bulkeley, Oct 
1808"

In recent years, doubt has been cast on the identity of the woman depicted on the 
coffin lid, which is not thought to belong to the coffin on which it now rests. Experts 
have suggested that the costume and style of carving belong to a much later decade 
than the 1230s when Joan died, although the coronet suggests a member of the royal 
family. Eleanor de Montfort is considered the most likely alternative.[4]

Fiction[edit]
Joan and her affair with William de Braose is the subject of Saunders Lewis's Welsh 
verse play Siwan.
Edith Pargeter's novel The Green Branch is set in Wales and the Welsh Marches in 
1228–31, when Llewelyn ruled Gwynedd and most of the rest of Wales.[5]
Although named Joanna, Joan is the main character of Sharon Kay Penman's novel 
Here Be Dragons.[6]

Parents
PLANTAGENET John "Lackland" (24 Dec 1166 - 19 Oct 1216)
DE FERRERS Agatha (ABT 1168 - )

Siblings
____ Joan (ABT 1188 - 2 Feb 1237)

Marriage To AP IORWERTH Llewelyn (1173 - 11 Apr 1240)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
AP OWAIN Iowerth "Drwyndwn" (1145 - 1174)
VERCH MADOG Margred (ABT 1129 - )

Children by AP IORWERTH Llewelyn 1173 - 11 Apr 1240
VERCH LLYWELYN Margaret (ABT 1210 - AFT 1263)
VERCH LLEWELLYN Elen (Helen) (ABT 1218 - BEF 24 Oct 1253)
VERCH LLEWELYN Helen (ABT 1230 - )

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