Joane de Geneville ★

1280s–1300s

Born 2 February 1286 at Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, daughter of Piers de Geneville and Jeanne de Lusignan, and heiress to Ludlow and wide Irish estates from about 1292. Married Roger Mortimer on 20 September 1301; they had twelve surviving children.

1310s–1320s

Became Baroness Geneville in her own right in 1314. When Mortimer rebelled and fled to France she was imprisoned at Skipton Castle from April 1324 to July 1326. After he and Queen Isabella took power she became Countess of March in 1328.

1330s–1350s

Mortimer was hanged in 1330 and she was imprisoned again until Edward III pardoned her in 1336. Died at King's Stanley, Gloucestershire, on 19 October 1356, and was buried beside Mortimer at Wigmore Abbey.

Family Background and Wealth

Joan de Geneville was born February 2, 1286, at Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, daughter of Piers de Geneville and Jeanne de Lusignan, whose own lineage traced back to Hugh XI de Lusignan, half-brother of Henry III. When her father died around 1292, Joan became one of the wealthiest heiresses in the Welsh Marches and County Meath, Ireland, inheriting Ludlow Castle, the lordship of Ewyas Lacy, and extensive Irish estates; on her grandfather Geoffrey de Geneville's death in 1314 she succeeded him as 2nd Baroness Geneville in her own right.

Marriage to Roger Mortimer

Joan married Roger Mortimer on September 20, 1301, at Pembridge manor, a match that brought Mortimer enormous influence and made Ludlow the capital of the Mortimer empire. He became Baron Mortimer in 1304 and was knighted at Westminster Abbey during the celebrated 1306 "Feast of the Swans." The couple had twelve surviving children.

Imprisonment During Mortimer's Rebellion

After Mortimer joined a baronial rebellion against Edward II and fled to France in 1323, the king retaliated against his family: Joan was imprisoned at Skipton Castle from April 1324 until July 1326, when she was moved to Pontefract Castle, surviving on just one mark a day, which she shared with her servants, while her daughters were confined to religious houses with even fewer resources.

Rise and Fall

When Mortimer and Queen Isabella invaded England in September 1326 and seized power, Joan's fortunes reversed dramatically; Mortimer became Earl of March in 1328, making Joan Countess of March. But their dominance collapsed after Mortimer ordered the execution of Edmund, Earl of Kent, and the now-adult Edward III moved against them — Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn on November 29, 1330.

Later Life and Death

Joan was imprisoned again after her husband's fall, this time in Hampshire, and her lands stayed confiscated until Edward III pardoned her fully in 1336; she recovered the Liberty of Trim in 1347. She died October 19, 1356, at King's Stanley, Gloucestershire, at age seventy, and was buried at Wigmore Abbey beside Roger Mortimer.