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Personal data Joan Stewart 

• Alternative names: Joan Stewart Duglas, Joan Stewart of Scotland, Countess of Morton, Joan Stewart Princess Of Scotland
• She was born on November 1, 1428 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland.

  Attention: Age at marriage (??-??-1442) below 16 years (14).

• She was christened on November 1, 1428 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland.
• (note1) .Source 1

  Source: Venita Parry, Sam Mackie, Bruce Olde, et al.

• (Alt. Burial) in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland (St. Nicholas Buccleuch Churchyard).Source 1
• (Dispensation) on January 7, 1463 in Vatican City.Source 1

  Consanguineous in the 2nd & 3rd degrees

• (Alt. Death) about October 16, 1486 in Dalkeith Church, Midlothian, Scotland.Source 1
• (Alt. Death) on June 22, 1498 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland.Source 1
• She died on June 22, 1493 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, she was 64 years old.
• She is buried on June 22, 1493 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland.
• A child of James Stewart and Joan Beaufort
• This information was last updated on February 28, 2025.

Household of Joan Stewart

(1) She is married to William Gordon.

They got married at fortasse, Scotland.

(2) She is married to James Douglas.

They got married in the year 1442 at Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, she was 13 years old.

Child(ren):

1. James Douglas  > 1466-1480 

Notes about Joan Stewart

Joan Stewart
Joan of Scotland, Countess of Morton

Sources: Author: Parry, Venita; Mackie, Sam; Olde, Bruce; et al.; Title: "Joan Stewart," (Publication site: Salt Lk. City UT, Publisher: Family Search, Publication date: v Jan MMXXV)

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYTN-CJW

"... Joan Stewart ... Last Changed: November 9, 2024 Karen Slavens Sex Female Last Changed: February 23, 2022 Scott D. Hill

Birth 1 November 1428 Perth, Perthshire, Scotland ... Last Changed: July 25, 2023 Linda Larson

Christening after 1 November 1428 Perth, Perthshire, Scotland Reason: after birth Last Changed: October 15, 2023 Paul Harrison

Death 22 June 1498 Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland

Reason:

Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, p. 659 BRUS 12.iii. Joan Stewart

Last Changed: February 5, 2024 Dawn Duckworth

Burial 22 June 1493 Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, ... Last Changed: September 13, 2024 Lois Voisine

Alternate Name Also Known As Muta Domina
Alternate Name Also Known As Joan of Scotland, Countess of Morton
Alternate Name Also Known As Joan Stewart, Princess Of Scotland
Alternate Name Also Known As The dumb lady

Married (I) 15 May 1459 Perth, Perth, Scotland
Dispensation granted from Catholic Church 7 January 1463 Dispensation for being consanguineous in the second and third degrees

Spouses & Children
Preferred

James Douglas 1st Earl of Morton Male 1426-1498 LJG6-FQJ [<-ancestor]
Joan Stewart Female 1428-1498 LYTN-CJW [<-ancestress]
Marriage 1442 Perth, Perthshire, Scotland

Children (9)

[1] Sybilla Douglas Female 1451-1531 GWMX-TPH
[2] John Lord Douglas 2nd Earl Of Morton Male 1459-1513 LD59-5D7
[3] Sir John de Gordon, Lord of Lochinvar II Male 1460-1513 G8T9-YHT
[4] Lady Janet Douglas Female 1461-1490 L6LY-YZR
[5] Douglas Male 1463-Deceased GJHP-SLK
[6] James Douglas Male 1465-1513 G878-72N
[7] James Douglas Male 1466-1480 LH27-SL8 [<-ancestor]
[8] Lady Elizabeth Douglas Female 1467-1490 G3QC-2GL
[9] Margaret Douglas Female 1470-1535 GGBP-DW5

William Gordon of Stitchill, 1st of Lochinvar Male 1430-1455 GBLM-547
Joan Stewart Female 1428-1498 LYTN-CJW [<-ancestress]
No Marriage Events

Children (1)

[1] Sir John Gordon 2nd Of Lochinvar Male 1445-1517 LJL7-1JM

Parents & Siblings

James I King of Scotland Male 1394-1437 LZ6T-WZ8 [<-ancestor]
Joan Beaufort Queen of Scots Female 1404-1445 M72D-PDF [<-ancestress]
Marriage 2 February 1424 Southwark, Surrey, England

Children (8)

[1] Margaret of Scotland, Queen of France Female 1424-1445 LHF7-43Y
[2] Isabella Stewart Duchesse de Bretagne Female 1426-1494 LY28-46B
[3] Eleanor von Habsburg Stewart Female 1427-1480 GPBX-2J5
[4] Joan Stewart Female 1428-1498 LYTN-CJW [<-ancestress]
[5] Mary Stewart, 1st Countess of Buchan Female 1429-1465 GKDN-8GD
[6] Alexander Stewart Duke of Rothesay Male 1430-1430 M72D-PVK
[7] King James Stewart II Male 1430-1460 MK6G-G9X
[8] Annabella Stewart Princess of Scotland Female 1432-1494 9HR4-RTV

Brief Life History

COUNTESS JOAN STEWART was born 1 November 1428, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to King James Stewarwt I (1394-1437) and Queen Joan Beaufort (1402-1445.) She married Earl James Douglas before 15 May 1459 Perth, Scotland

Joan Stewart passed away circa October 16, 1486 (53-62), Dalkeith Church, Midlothian Scotland, age 65. She was buried at Saint Nicholas Buccleuch Churchyard, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland.

Edinburgh Castle
Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton
Countess of Morton

The tombs of Lord and Lady Morton as they appeared in 1902. Note the blank faces and missing hands
Born c.1428
Died circa October 16, 1486 (53-62)
Burial Dalkeith Collegiate Church

Spouse The 4th Baron Dalkeith

House
Stewart

Father James I of Scotland

Mother Joan Beaufort

Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton,[a] also called Joanna (c. 1428-aft. 16 October 1486), was the daughter of James I, King of Scotland, and the wife of James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton. She was known, in Latin, as the muta domina [mute lady] of Dalkeith.

Joan was also known as "the dumb lady of Dalkeith" as she was born deaf and reportedly used sign language, even in public. In a History of the House of Douglas from the Earliest times down to the Legislative Union of England and Scotland. Herbert Maxwell reports that she was "known as 'Muta Domina'. she was buried at Dalkeith Church, Midlothian. Joan's effigy on the Morton Monument is said to be the world's oldest image of a known deaf person
Life[edit]

Born in Scotland c. 1428,[b] she was the third daughter of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort.[1] Joan had two younger brothers, including the future King of Scotland, James II, and five sisters.[1] She had "the misfortune to be deaf and dumb",[2] and was known as muta domina or "the mute lady".[3] Joan was reported to have used sign language to communicate, even in public (although it was considered at that time to be impolite).[4]

Joan was originally contracted to marry The 3rd Earl of Angus on 18 October 1440, but he died (without issue) in 1446 before the marriage could take place.[5] In 1445 she was sent to France and did not return home to Scotland until 1457.[c][2] She had been promised in marriage to the Dauphin of France but the marriage did not take place, probably due to her inability to articulate.[d][6]Joan married 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.[7] They were granted a dispensation on 7 January 1463-4 for being consanguineous in the second and third degrees.[8] 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 and applied for the dispensation to legitimize their marriage.[e][8] The Countess Joanna died in 1493, predeceasing her husband, James, by several months.[2]

The Morton Monument[edit]

The Earl and Countess of Morton were buried together in the choir of the parish church of St. Nicholas Buccleuch, known as the Dalkeith Collegiate Church, in Dalkeith, south of Fife and east of Edinburgh, in Midlothian, Scotland.[9] Known as the Morton Monument, their tombs are covered with their stone effigies, complete with their armorial bearings.[f] This is believed to be the world's oldest image of a known deaf person.[4] 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. Today, as one of the visitors remarked, "[o]nce crisply carved and detailed with heraldic devices", the tombs have "the look of sand sculptures after the tide has washed in and retreated".[4] Due to their historical value, in 2005 a team of volunteers and preservationists created a protective canopy over their effigies.[4][10]
Family[edit]

Together Joan and her husband James had four children:
Sir John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton (bef. 1466– 1513),[11] killed at the Battle of Flodden[12]
James, (d. aft. 1480) appeared in several writs 1466– 1480.[2]
Janet, married bef. 1 February 1480– 81 to Sir Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell.[2]
Elizabeth, mentioned in a charter of 1479 after which nothing further is known of her.[2]

1463/4. (7 Jan.) St. Peter's, Rome. (f. 175.)
To the bishop of St. Andrews. Mandate to absolve James Douglas, lord of Dalketh and Morton, and Janet (Joneta) Stewart, of his diocese, from sentence of excommunication incurred by contracting marriage per verba legitime de presenti, by the persuasion of the late James king of Scots, they not being ignorant that they were related in the second and third degrees of kindred, and by having offspring, enjoining penance, and thereafter, and after temporary separation, to dispense them to contract marriage anew and remain therein, decreeing legitimate the offspring already born, and that to be born of the said marriage. Oblate nobis.
'Lateran Regesta 594: 1463', in Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 12, 1458-1471, ed. J A Twemlow (London, 1933), pp. 204-206. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-papal-registers/brit-ie/vol12/pp204-206 [accessed 22 September 2017].

Dalkeith Palace

Stirlingshire, Scotland

dalkeith palace

The tombs of Lord and Lady Morton as they appeared in 1902. Note the blank faces and missing hands.

The tombs of Mortons

Saint Nickolas Buccleuch Churchyard, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland (where they are buried)

Children of James Douglas and Joanna Stewart:

1. *EARL JOHN DOUGLAS (1459-1513) (1.a.3.)
2. *COUNTESS JANETTE DOUGLAS (1460-1490) (1.a.2.c.1.)
3. Elizabeth Douglas (1463-1489)
4. James Douglas (1465-1480)
+

Last Changed: November 17, 2019 Paula Mclaren"

https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/PM6R-VR1
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Timeline Joan Stewart

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