Princess Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton,"According to modern usage this lady would be titled princess, but the sons and daughters of the Kings of Scotland were seldom given that style of courtesy until after the union of the Crowns." Maxwell, ''House of Douglas'', Vol. 1, p. 239, note 2. also called Joanna (c. 1428 – 22 June 1493), was the daughter of James I, King of Scotland, and the wife of James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton. She was known, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, as the ''muta domina'' ute ladyof Dalkeith.

Life

Born in Scotland ,It is not known exactly when and where was Joan born. But Maxwell believed that she “must have been of at least marriageable age at the time of her nuptials, because, 18 years before, she had been

betrothed An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

to James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus . . . ” See: Maxwell, ''House of Douglas'', Vol. 1, p. 238, note 1. In the 1440s, it was common for noble daughters to be married at 13, 14 or 15. (See: Elizabeth Ewen
'The Early Modern Family'
in T omas M rtin Devine and Jenny Wormald, eds., ''The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 271 ). Marriages could be arranged even when children were still in their cradles. The actual marriage required consent which could be given as early as age 7, but could also be voided until the girl was 12 and the boy 14. See: Eileen Power, Maxine Berg, ''Medieval Women'' (Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 31–32 she was the third daughter of

James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...

and Joan Beaufort.'' The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', Vol. I, ed.

James Balfour Paul Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926. Life James Balfour Paul was educated at Royal High School, Edinbur ...

(Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904), p. 18 Joan had two younger brothers, including the future King of Scotland, James II, and five sisters. She had “the misfortune to be deaf and dumb”,'' The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', Vol. VI, ed.

(Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1909)
p. 356
/ref> and was known as ''muta domina'' or “the mute lady”. Joan was reported to have used sign language to communicate, even in public (although it was considered at that time to be impolite).Anonymous, “Deaf People in History: Joanna Stewart, Countess of Morton”, ''Deaf Life'', Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (February 2013), pp. 12-15 Joan was originally contracted to marry her cousin, James Douglas, The 3rd Earl of Angus, when she was 13 years old. James was born on 18 October 1440, but he died (without issue) in 1446 before the marriage could take place. In 1445 Joan was sent to France and did not return home to Scotland until 1457.Maxwell dates her return to "the spring of 1458". See: Maxwell, ''House of Douglas'', Vol. 1, p. 238. She had been promised in marriage to the

Dauphin of France Dauphin of France (, also ; ), originally Dauphin of Viennois (''Dauphin de Viennois''), was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word ''dauphin'' is French for dolphin and ...

but the marriage did not take place, probably due to her inability to articulate.This Dauphin of France was the future King of France,

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

. At that time, he was the widower of Joan's older sister

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

, who died childless on 16 August 1444. See: '' Scots Peerage'', Vol. I, p. 19. Joan married another James Douglas, The 4th Baron Dalkeith before 15 May 1459, who at the time of their marriage was raised to the peerage as the first

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

. They were granted a dispensation on 7 January 1463-4 for being

consanguineous Consanguinity (from Latin '' consanguinitas'' 'blood relationship') is the characteristic of having a kinship with a relative who is descended from a common ancestor. Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are closely related by blo ...

in the second and third degrees.'' The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', Vol. VI, ed.

(Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1909), p. 356 n. 3 Joan and her husband James were both aware of their close relationships but were persuaded to marry by her brother King

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his fathe ...

and applied for the dispensation to legitimize their marriage.While the marriage between Joan and James was legitimized by papal dispensation, in 1562 Hugh Montgomerie, 3rd Earl of Eglinton, divorced his countess, Joanna Hamilton, on grounds of consanguinity, Joan Stewart, the ''muta domina'', being their common ancestress. See: ''Notes and Queries'', Tenth Series, Vol. II (July–December 1904), p. 56. The Countess Joan died in 1493, predeceasing her husband, James, by four months. They had four children.

Children

Together Joan and her husband James had four children: * Sir John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton (bef. 1466–1513),'' The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', ed.

, Volume VI (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1909), pp. 356–58 married to Janet Crichton, daughter of Patrick Crichton of Cranston-Riddel. He was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

. * James, (d. aft. 1480) appeared in several writs 1466–1480. * Janet, married bef. 1 February 1480–81 to Sir Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell. * Elizabeth, mentioned in a charter of 1479 after which nothing further is known of her.

The Morton Monument

The Earl and Countess of Morton were buried together in the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of the parish church of St. Nicholas Buccleuch, known as the Dalkeith Collegiate Church, in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

, south of

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

and east of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, in

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, Scotland. Known as the Morton Monument, their tombs are covered with their stone effigies, complete with their armorial bearings.Their arms, which identify their tomb, show his as two mullets in chief instead of the three of the Douglas of Douglas arms while hers shows the Douglas of Morton as just described impaled with the royal arms of Scotland. See: Maxwell, ''House of Douglas'', Vol. 1, p. 240. This is believed to be the world's oldest image of a known deaf person. The choir is now in the ruins, leaving the tombs out in the open, where, in a few centuries, the elements have erased their faces. Their hands, pressed together in prayer, were likely to have been destroyed during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. Today, as one of the visitors remarked, “ ce crisply carved and detailed with heraldic devices”, the tombs have “the look of sand sculptures after the tide has washed in and retreated”. Due to their historical value, in 2005 a team of volunteers and preservationists created a protective canopy over their effigies.Anonoymous
“Restored earl returns to Dalkeith”
''MidlothianAdvertiser.co.uk'', Friday, 8 July 2005

Ancestry

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Joan, Countess Of Morton Deaf royalty and nobility Scottish princesses Morton Scottish deaf people Scottish royalty and nobility with disabilities 1420s births 1493 deaths Daughters of kings