Born in Dingwall Castle, Scotland, in 1370, the youngest daughter of William the fifth Earl of Ross and Marie MacDonald.

Joanne was raised in the relative comfort of the courts and households of the Scottish nobility.  During her young adult years, and after the death of her father, the Earldom of Ross was being disputed by her sister’s heirs and their uncle Donald, Lord of the Isles.  With the developing inter-clan rivalries and the daunting prospect of being strategically married off to a lower born Scottish knight, Joanne used her connections to gain King Robert`s permission, and chose to leave Scotland with her trusted ladies in waiting and a meagre dowry.  As England and Scotland were constantly at odds, staying in England seemed out of the question, so she sought the famed rich and elegant court life of Flanders, a seemingly more neutral land.

Joanne took up residence in a house in Ghent and quickly made connections in Flanders.  She met the dashing, chivalric young Lord Gerard de Rodes  at the Court in Bruges.  The two started spending more time together, and Gerard took Joanne under his protection at his manor in Melle.  The two were soon married and Gerard’s duties in England brought them to attend to his ailing lordships across the country.  Joanne bore Gerard a son and heir, Ralph, and a daughter, Cara.

During the confrontations between England and Scotland, Joanne was able to use her family connections to keep Gerard out of trouble whilst he supported the English cause.  But trouble seemed to find Gerard anyway as the de Rodes family found themselves involved in the ever growing heat of rebellion and conflict in the Marches and Shires of Wales.