John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt
Duke of Lancaster and Aquitaine
Duke of Lancaster and Aquitaine
Successor	Henry Bolingbroke
Spouse	Blanche of Lancaster Constance of Castile Katherine Swynford
Issue	Philippa, Queen of Portugal Elizabeth Plantagenet, Duchess of Exeter Henry IV of England Katherine, Queen of Castile John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset Henry Cardinal Beaufort Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland
House	House of Plantagenet
Father	Edward III of England
Mother	Philippa of Hainault

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He gained his name "John of Gaunt" because he was born in Ghent (in today's Belgium), then called Gaunt in English. John exercised great influence over the English throne during the minority reign of his nephew, Richard II, and during the ensuing periods of political strife, but was not thought to have been among the opponents of the King.

John of Gaunt's legitimate male heirs, the Lancasters, included Kings Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI.

John's legitimate descendants also included his daughters Philippa of Lancaster, Queen consort of John I of Portugal and mother of King Edward of Portugal, known as "Duarte" in Portuguese. John was also the father of Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter, the mother of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter through his first wife, Blanche; and by his second wife, Constance, John was the father of Katherine of Lancaster, Queen consort of Henry III of Castile, granddaughter of Peter of Castile and mother of John II of Castile.

John of Gaunt fathered five children outside marriage, one early in life by one of his mother's ladies-in-waiting, and four, surnamed "Beaufort," by Katherine Swynford, Gaunt's long-term mistress and eventual third wife. The four Beaufort children, three sons and a daughter, were legitimized by royal and papal decrees after John married Katherine in 1396. Descendants of the marriage to Katherine Swynford included their son Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and eventually Cardinal; their granddaughter Cecily Neville, mother to Kings Edward IV and Richard III; and their great-great-grandson Henry Tudor, who became King of England after the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and established the House of Tudor.

When John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates were declared forfeit to the crown, as King Richard II had exiled John's son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, in 1398. Bolingbroke and Richard II were first cousins; their fathers were brothers. Bolingbroke returned from exile to reclaim his confiscated inheritance and deposed the unpopular Richard. Bolingbroke then reigned as King Henry IV of England (1399–1413), the first of the descendants of John of Gaunt to hold the throne of England.

John of Gaunt was buried alongside his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, in the nave of Old St. Paul's Cathedral in an alabaster tomb designed by Henry Yevele (similar to that of his son in Canterbury Cathedral).

Duke of Lancaster

Henry of Grosmont and King Edward III were second cousins; they were both great-grandsons of King Henry III. John of Gaunt was King Edward III's son; Blanche of Lancaster was Henry Grosmont's daughter; they were, therefore, third cousins. Blanche and John married in 1360 at Reading Abbey.

Upon the death of his father-in-law Henry of Grosmont in 1361, John received half of Henry's lands, the title Earl of Lancaster, and the distinction as the greatest landowner in the north of England, inheriting the Palatinate of Lancaster. He also became the 14th Baron of Halton. John received the rest of the inheritance when Blanche's sister, Maud, Countess of Leicester (married to William V, Count of Hainaut), died on 10 April, 1362.

John received the title "Duke of Lancaster" from Edward III on 13 November 1362. John was by then well established, owning at least thirty castles and estates across England and France. His household was comparable in scale and organization to that of a monarch.

After the death of his elder brother, Edward of Woodstock (also known as The Black Prince), John of Gaunt contrived to protect the religious reformer John Wyclif, for reasons that cannot be determined, but possibly to counteract the growing secular power of the Roman Catholic Church. However, John's ascendancy to political power coincided with widespread resentment of his influence.

At a time when English forces encountered setbacks in the Hundred Years' War against France, and Edward III's rule had started to become domestically unpopular, due to high taxation and to the king's affair with Alice Perrers, political opinion closely associated the Duke of Lancaster with the failing government of the 1370s. Furthermore, while the king and the Prince of Wales had the status of popular heroes due to their successes on the battlefield, John of Gaunt had never won equivalent military renown which might have bolstered his reputation. Although he fought in the Battle of Nájera, for example, his later military projects such as his chevauchée of 1373 and his invasion of Castile in 1386, were unsuccessful.

On his marriage to Constance of Castile in 1371, John assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon, and insisted that his fellow English nobles henceforth address him as 'my lord of Spain.'

When King Edward III died in 1377 and John's ten-year-old nephew succeeded to the throne as Richard II of England, John's influence strengthened further. However, mistrust remained, and some suspected him of wanting to seize the throne for himself. John took pains to ensure that he never became associated with the opposition to Richard's kingship. As the virtual ruler of England during Richard's minority, he made some unwise decisions on taxation that led to the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, during which the rebels destroyed his Savoy Palace in London.

In 1386, John of Gaunt left England to make good his claim to the throne of Castile. However, crisis ensued almost immediately, and in 1387, Richard's misrule brought England to the brink of civil war. Only John of Gaunt, upon his return to England in 1389, was able to bring about a compromise between the Lords Appellant and King Richard, ushering in a period of relative stability and harmony. During the 1390s, John of Gaunt's reputation of devotion to the well-being of the kingdom was much restored. John of Gaunt died of natural causes on 3 February, 1399 at Leicester Castle, with his third wife Katherine by his side.

Marriages and descendants

• John's first child was an illegitimate daughter known as Blanche Plantagenet (1359-1388/89). Blanche was the daughter of John's mistress Marie de St. Hilaire of Hainault (1340-after 1399), who was a lady in waiting to his mother, Queen Philippa. The affair apparently took place before John's first marriage, which was to his cousin Blanche of Lancaster. John's daughter Blanche Plantagenet married Sir Thomas Morieux in 1381. Morieux held several important posts, including Constable of the Tower the year he was married, and Master of Horse to King Richard II two years later. He died in 1387 after six years of marriage. Blanche Plantagenet Morieux was not included in the decree which legitimated John's children by Katherine Swynford in 1396.

Coat of arms of John of Gaunt asserting his kingship over Castile and Leon, combining the Spanish castle and lion with lilies of France and the lions of England

• On 19 May, 1359, at Reading Abbey, John married his third cousin, Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. The wealth she brought to the marriage was the foundation of John's fortune. Blanche died of bubonic plague on 12 September, 1369 at Bolingbroke Castle, while her husband was away at sea. Their daughter Philippa became Queen of Portugal by marrying King John I of Portugal in 1387.

• In 1371, John married Constance of Castile, daughter of King Peter of Castile, thus giving him a claim to the kingdom of Castile, which he would pursue. Though John was never able to make good his claim, his daughter by Constance, Katherine of Lancaster, became Queen of Castile by marrying Henry III of Castile.

• During his marriage to Constance, John of Gaunt had fathered four children by a mistress, the widow Katherine Swynford (whose sister Philippa de Roet was married to Chaucer). Prior to her widowhood, Katherine had borne at least two, possibly three, children to Lancastrian knight Sir Hugh Swynford. The known names of these children are Blanche and Thomas. (There may have been a second Swynford daughter.) John of Gaunt was Blanche Swynford's godfather.

Constance died in 1394. John married Katherine in 1396, and their children, the Beauforts, were legitimised by King Richard II and the Church, but barred from inheriting the throne. From the eldest son, John, descended a granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort, whose son, later King Henry VII of England, would nevertheless claim the throne.

All monarchs of England and later of Great Britain, The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms from Henry IV onwards are descended from John of Gaunt.

Children

• By Marie de St. Hilaire of Hainault, mistress:
  • Blanche Plantagenet (1359–1388/89), married Sir Thomas Morieux (1355–1387) in 1381
• By Blanche of Lancaster:
  • Philippa (1360–1415), married King John I of Portugal (1357–1433)
  • John (1362–1365); Buried Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester
  • Elizabeth (1364–1426), married (1) in 1380 John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1372–1389), annulled 1383; married (2) in 1386 John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (1350–1400); (3) Sir John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope and Milbroke (d. 1443)
  • Edward (1365–1368); Buried Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester
  • John (1366–1367); Buried Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester
  • Henry IV of England (1366–1413), married (1) Mary de Bohun (1369–1394); (2) Joanna of Navarre (1368–1437)
  • Isabel (1368–1368)
• By Constance of Castile:
  • Katherine (Catalina) (1372–1418), married King Henry III of Castile (1379–1406)
  • John (1374–1375)
• By Katherine Swynford (nee de Roet/Roelt), mistress and later wife:
  • John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373–1410), married Margaret Holland (1385-1429)
  • Henry Cardinal Beaufort (1375–1447)
  • Thomas Beaufort (1377–1427), Duke of Exeter, married Margaret Neville
  • Joan Beaufort (1379–1440), married (1) Robert Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Wemme (d. 1396); married (2) Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland (1364–1425)

Relationship to Chaucer

Arms of Castile and León: castile = castle; León = lion

John of Gaunt was a patron of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer who recorded much of the mores of England at the time of John in The Canterbury Tales. Near the end of John's life, they were brothers-in-law. Chaucer was married to Philippa de Roet; John's third wife, Katherine, was Philippa's sister. John's children by Katherine were Chaucer's nieces and nephews.

Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, also known as The Deth of Blaunche, was written in commemoration of Blanche of Lancaster, John's first wife. The poem refers to John and Blanche in allegory as the "Black Knight" and the "Lady White." "Blanche" means "white." At the end of the poem reference is made to John's marriage to Blanche by playing on the sound of their titles of Lancaster and Richmond in the form of "long castel" (line 1318) and "riche hil" (line 1319).

Some have suggested that the "long castel" line could also refer to Constanza of Castile, John's second wife, and the heraldic arms of Castile, which display a castle, part of the tradition of heraldic canting arms.

Titles, styles, arms and honours

Arms

Royal arms with a label of three points ermine

As a son of the sovereign, John bore the arms of the kingdom, differentiated by a label argent of three points ermine.

Popular culture

File:Johnofgaunt.jpeg

John of Gaunt

The Lancaster city centre has a public house called The John O'Gaunt. An administrative ward on the city council also bears the name.

Hungerford in Berkshire also has ancient links to the Duchy, the manor becoming part of John of Gaunt's estate in 1362 before James I passed ownership to two local men in 1612 (which subsequently became Hungerford Town & Manor). The links are visible today in the Town and Manor-owned John O'Gaunt pub, the John O'Gaunt state secondary school, as well as various street names. It is also customary for the Loyal Toast to be given by residents as "The Queen, the Duke of Lancaster." There is also a secondary school in Trowbridge, Wiltshire bearing the same name, which is built upon land that he once owned.

John held large tracts of land in Lincolnshire and the City of Lincoln. At the appropriately named site of Gaunt Street, he maintained a palace, remains of which were found in the late 60's. A Finial window, complete, was found between two walls in the then 'West's Garage'. This was moved and now adorns the entrance through the East bail of Lincoln castle.

Opposite the Palace site, stands St.Mary's Guildhall, locally known as John O'Gaunt's stables. This large medieval building, once formed the entrance to the Football ground of Lincoln City F.C., until they moved to their present ground. It was known as The John O'Gaunt ground.

The remnants of the castle at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, once owned by John, sit on John o' Gaunt's Street.

The John of Gaunt Stakes is a British race for Thoroughbred horses run annually in June.

In William Shakespeare's play Richard II, the famous England speech is attributed to John of Gaunt as he lay on his deathbed.

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war,

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,

Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth

—Act II, scene i, 42–54

The Tragedy of King Richard II at Wikisource

Anya Seton's bestselling 1954 novel Katherine depicts John's long-term affair and eventual marriage to Katherine Swynford.

The eponymous character of the US comic book series GrimJack is legally named John Gaunt. According to author John Ostrander, he took the name from the historical figure simply because it sounded impressive, without any specific historical reference.

John of Gaunt is a major character in Garry O'Connor's Chaucer’s Triumph: Including the Case of Cecilia Chaumpaigne, the Seduction of Katherine Swynford, the Murder of Her Husband, the Interment of John of Gaunt and Other Offices of the Flesh in the Year 1399.

John of Gaunt's armor has been on display in the Tower of London for many years, and is of exceptional size, since the man himself was 6'7" tall.

Further reading

• Armitage-Smith, Sydney (1904) John of Gaunt, King of Castile and Leon, Duke of Lancaster, &c. London: Constable
• Cantor, Norman F. (2004) The Last Knight: the Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era New York: Free Press, 2004
• Goodman, Anthony (1992) John of Gaunt: the Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe. New York: St. Martin's Press
• Walker, Simon (1990) The Lancastrian Affinity, 1361–1399 Oxford: Clarendon Press

External links

• Information about John of Gaunt
• Tudor Place's John of Gaunt page
• RoyaList Online interactive family tree (en)

Ancestry

Family of John of Gaunt

16. Henry III of England 8. Edward I of England 17. Eleanor of Provence 4. Edward II of England 18. Ferdinand III of Castile 9. Eleanor of Castile 19. Jeanne of Dammartin 2. Edward III of England 20. Philip III of France 10. Philip IV of France 21. Isabella of Aragon 5. Isabella of France 22. Henry I of Navarre 11. Joan I of Navarre 23. Blanche of Artois 1. John of Gaunt 24. John I of Avesnes 12. John II, Count of Holland 25. Adelaide of Holland 6. William I, Count of Hainaut 26. Henry V of Luxembourg 13. Philippa of Luxembourg 27. Marguerite of Bar 3. Philippa of Hainault 28. Philip III of France 14. Charles of Valois 29. Isabella of Aragon 7. Joan of Valois 30. Charles II of Naples 15. Marguerite of Anjou and Maine 31. Maria of Hungary