John of Gaunt Plantagenet ²²

  General Notes:

Acceded: 13 NOV 1362
Earl of Richmond. Earl of Derby, Lincoln. Duke of Aquitaine. Lord of
Beaufort & Nogent. King of Castile & Leon. Lord of Bergerac &
Roche-sur-Yon.
The Complete Peerage vol.VII,pp.410-416 & vol.XIV,p.421.

John of Gaunt
1340-99, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of EDWARD III of England. He
acquired the Lancaster holdings (see LANCASTER, HOUSE OF) through
marriage and became one of the most influential nobles in England. He
served under his brother EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE in the HUNDRED YEARS WAR and by his second marriage (1371) gained a claim on the throne of Castile. For a short time John, in effect, ruled England for his aging father; he remained powerful under his nephew RICHARD II. From 1386 to 1388 he fought in vain to make good his Castilian claims. Returning
(1389) to England, John helped to restore peace between Richard II and
the barons. In 1396 he married Catherine Swynford; they were ancestors
of the TUDORS. John was the patron of CHAUCER. His eldest son was
HENRY IV.

John of Gaunt [Mid. Eng. Gaunt=Ghent, his birthplace], 1340-99, Duke
of Lancaster; fourth son of Edward III of England. He married (1359)
Blanche, heiress of Lancaster, and through her became earl (1361) and
duke (1362) of Lancaster. The Lancaster holdings made him the
wealthiest and one of the most influential nobles in England. He
served under his brother, Edward the Black Prince, in the Hundred
Years War and went (1367) on his campaign to aid Peter the Cruel of
Castile. After the death of Blanche he married (1371) Peter's
daughter, Constance, and thus gained a claim to the Castilian throne.
When the Black Prince became ill during the French campaign of
1370-71, John took chief command. In 1373 he led his army from Calais
to Bordeaux, but the expedition accomplished little. After a truce was
reached (1375) he returned to England, where he allied himself with
the corrupt court party led by Alice Perrers, mistress of the aging
Edward III. For a short time John of Gaunt in effect ruled England.
His party was temporarily dislodged from power by the Good Parliament
of 1376, but John was soon able to restore his friends and assembled a
hand-picked Parliament in 1377. Hostility to the strong clerical
party, led by William of Wykeham, caused him to support the movement
of John Wyclif. After the accession (1377) of his nephew, Richard II,
John remained the most powerful figure in the government, but he
devoted himself primarily to military matters. In 1386, allied with
John I of Portugal, who married one of his daughters, he led an
expedition to make good his Castilian claims against John I of
Castile. John of Gaunt finally agreed to peace in 1388, transferred
his claims to his daughter by Constance of Castile, and married her to
the future Henry III of Castile. He returned to England in 1389, was
made duke of Aquitaine, and helped to restore peace between Richard II
and the hostile barons led by Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester.
In 1396, John of Gaunt married Catherine Swynford, many years his
mistress, and had his children by her, under the name of Beaufort,
declared legitimate. He died soon after the king had exiled his eldest
son, the duke of Hereford (later Henry IV, first of the royal line of
Lancaster). John is also remembered as the patron of the poet Geoffrey
Chaucer.

John married Katherine Roelt, Duchess of Lancaster, daughter of Sir Payn Roelt and Unknown, on 13 January 1396 in Lincoln Cathedral ²¹⁵.^,216 (Katherine Roelt, Duchess of Lancaster was born in 1350 in Hanault, died on 10 May 1403 and was buried in May 1403 in Lincoln Cathedral ²¹⁶.)

John next married Constanza de Castile.

John next married Blanche of Lancaster.