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Princess of Wales, and one of the two women after which the Order of th e G a r t e r apparently may have been named. Joan's father, Edmund of Woods to c k , e a rl of Kent, was the half-brother of Edward II. Edmund was wrong f u l l y b eheaded due to a plot by Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabelle in 13 3 0 . J o a n and her mother were imprisoned at Salisbury Castle for nine mo n t h s . J oan spent her childhood under the care of William Montague (firs t e a r l o f S alisbury)and Catherine/Katharine Montague, along with two of h e r t h r e e future husbands, Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), a n d W i l l iam Montague . When she was 12 years old she secretly married he r f i r s t h usband, Thomas Holand. However, Holand left for military servi ce i n F r a n ce (or Prussia), and Joan's guardian, Catherine/Katharine Mon tag ue , m a r ried her to William Montague in 1340; Upon returning, Thomas p e t it i o ned Pope Clement VI to annul the marriage, which he did in 1349 b y a d i r e c t papal bull; Joan had five children with Holand . Three month s af t e r H o land died in 1360 , she secretly married Edward (the Black Pr inc e , h e r s econd cousin), with whom she had two children. Her son Richa rd b e c a m e king Richard II of England in 1377. She became known as a pea cee m a k e r and was a patron of John Wycliffe,founder of the Lollards. The s t o r y o f t he founding of the Order of the Garter has been retold many ti m e s , a n d apparently with relish. Costain provides a modern version of t h e s t o r y of the founding of the Order of the Garter . Although Froissar t d e c l a red her to be "the most beautiful woman in the whole realm of En gl a n d , a nd the most attractive".
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