John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (
June 24 1340 –
February 3 1399) was 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 at
Ghent in
1340. The fabulously wealthy Gaunt exercised tremendous influence over the throne during the
minority reign of his nephew,
Richard II, and during the ensuing periods of political strife, but took care not to be openly associated with opponents of the King.
John of Gaunt's legitimate male heirs, the
Lancasters, included Kings
Henry IV,
Henry V, and
Henry VI. John of Gaunt's illegitimate descendants, the
Beauforts, later married into the
House of Tudor, which ascended to the throne in the person of
Henry VII. In addition, Gaunt's legitimate descendants included his daughters
Philippa of Lancaster,
Queen consort of
John I of Portugal and mother of King
Edward of Portugal, Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter, the mother of
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, and
Katherine of Lancaster, Queen consort of
Henry III of Castile, a grand-daughter of
Peter I of Castile and the mother of
John II of Castile.
When John of Gaunt died in
1399, his estates were declared forfeit to the crown, as Richard II had exiled John's less diplomatic heir,
Henry Bolingbroke, in
1398. Bolingbroke returned and deposed the unpopular Richard, to reign 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 in the nave in an
alabaster tomb designed by
Henry Yevele (similar to that of his son in
Canterbury Cathedral) in the nave of
Old St Paul's.
Upon the death of his father-in-law
Henry of Grosmont, he received half of Henry's lands, the title Earl of Lancaster, and the distinction as the greatest landowner in the north of England, because of his first marriage to his cousin,
Blanche of Lancaster (
1359), heiress to the
Palatinate of Lancaster. John received the rest of the inheritance only when Blanche's sister, Maud (married to
William V, Count of Hainaut), died on
April 10,
1362.
Gaunt received the title "Duke of Lancaster" from Edward III on
13 November 1362. John was by then well-established as a fabulously wealthy prince, owning at least thirty castles and vast estates across England and
France. His
household was comparable in scale and organisation to that of a monarch.
After the death of his elder brother,
Edward, the Black Prince, John of Gaunt became increasingly powerful. He contrived to protect the religious reformer
John Wyclif, with whose aims he sympathised. However, Gaunt's ascendancy to political power coincided with widespread resentment at 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 success on the battlefield, John of Gaunt had never known equivalent military success, which might have bolstered his reputation. Although he did fight in the
Battle of Najera, for example, his later military projects were unsucessful.
When King Edward III died in
1377 and John's ten-year-old nephew succeeded to the throne as
Richard II of England, Gaunt'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; but 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
1386, Richard, who had by now assumed more power for himself, dispatched Gaunt to
Spain as an ambassador. 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, 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 became much restored. Gaunt died of natural causes on February 3, 1399 at Leicester Castle, with his beloved third wife Katherine by his side.
Blanche died in
1369. It is believed the poet
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote and dedicated his "
Book of the Duchess" to her, as the poem not only mentions the Black Knight, but the "Lady White"; whom we can take to be Blanche, in
allegory.
In
1371, John married
Constance of Castile, daughter of King
Peter I of Castile, thus giving him a claim upon the kingdom of
Castile, which he would pursue unsuccessfully.
In the meantime, John of Gaunt had fathered four children by a mistress,
Katherine Swynford (whose sister married Geoffrey Chaucer). Constance died in
1394. He married Katherine in
1396 or
1397, and their children, the Beauforts, were 'legitimised' but barred from inheriting the throne. From the eldest son,
John, came a granddaughter,
Margaret Beaufort, whose son, later King
Henry VII of England, would nevertheless claim the throne.
John of Gaunt's legitimate son from his first marriage,
Henry Bolingbroke, proved less of a diplomat than his father; and Richard II banished Henry from the kingdom in 1398. When John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates were declared forfeit to the crown. This caused Bolingbroke to return; he deposed the unpopular Richard, to reign as King
Henry IV of England (1399–1413).
Children of John of Gaunt
*By
Blanche of Lancaster:
**
Philippa Plantagenet (
1360–
1426), married King
John I of Portugal (
1357–
1433)
**John Plantagenet (
1362–
1365)
**
Elizabeth Plantagenet (
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 Plantagenet (
1365–
1368)
**John Plantagenet (
1366–
136x)
**
Henry IV of England (
1367–
1413), married (1)
Mary de Bohun (
1369–
1394); (2)
Joanna of Navarre (
1368–
1437)
**Isabel Plantagenet (
1368–
136x)
*By
Constance of Castile:
**
Catalina (Catherine) Plantagenet (
1372–
1418), married King
Henry III of Castile (
1379–
1406)
**John Plantagenet (
1372–
1375)
*By
Katherine Swynford (or Catherine Swinford):
**
John Beaufort (
1373–
1410), Earl of Somerset, married
Margaret Holland (
1385-
1429)
**
Henry Cardinal Beaufort (
1375–
1447)
**
Thomas Beaufort (
1377–
1426),
Duke of Exeter, married
Margaret Neville**
Joan Beaufort (
1379–
1440), married (1)
Robert Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Wemme (d.
1396); (2)
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland (
1364–
1425)
The
Lancaster city centre has a
pub called The John O'Gaunt, noted for its live
jazz music and its large collection of
whiskies. 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 O'Gaunt's estate in 1362 before
King 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.
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::â€"Act II, scene i, 42–54
The Tragedy of King Richard II at
Wikisource*Anya Seton's bestselling 1954 novel
Katherine depicted Gaunt's long-term affair and eventual marriage to Katherine Swynford.
* The eponymous character of the US comic book series
Grimjack is named 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 referent (as well as making a pun on the
Ayn Rand character
John Galt, of whom Grimjack is in many ways the antithesis).
*In the fictional
Harry Potter series,
The House of Gaunt (a fictional magical family) may be related to John of Gaunt.
*Goodman, Anthony.
John of Gaunt: The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe. St. Martin, 1992.
*Walker, Simon.
The Lancastrian Affinity, 1361â€" 1399. Clarendon Press, 1990.
*Cantor, Norman F.
The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era. Free Press, 2004
*
Information about John of Gaunt*
Tudor Place's John of Gaunt page
