 As a child she was placed in the care of Marie de St Pol, wife of Aymer de Valence and foundress of Pembroke College, Cambridge.She grew up with her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their cousin Joan of Kent, and she died in the Black Death that struck Europe in 1348.In 1338, Joan was taken on her father's journey to Koblenz, where they met Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and were his special guests at the Imperial Diet in the church of Saint Castor.