Kathryn Warner - John of Gaunt: Son of One King, Father of Another

First published 2022

Amberley Publishing
The Hill, Stroud
Gloucestershire, GL5 4EP

www.amberley-books.com

Copyright Kathryn Warner, 2022

The right of Kathryn Warner to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781445670317 (HARDBACK)
ISBN 9781445670324 (eBOOK)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Typeset in 10pt on 13pt Sabon.
Typesetting by SJmagic DESIGN SERVICES, India.
Printed in the UK.

Old John of Gaunt, time-honourd Lancaster,

Hast thou, according to thy oath and band,

Brought hither Henry Herford thy bold son,

Here to make good the boisterous late appeal,

Which then our leisure would not let us hear,

Against the duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray?

Shakespeare, Richard II, Act 1 Scene 1

John of Gaunt (b. 6 March 1340): titular king of Castile and Leon, second duke of Lancaster, duke of Aquitaine, earl of Richmond, Lincoln, Leicester and Derby, lord of Beaufort, Nogent, Bergerac and Roche-sur-Yon, and steward of England; fourth but third eldest surviving son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault; born in Ghent in modern-day Belgium; uncle of Richard II and father of Henry IV

Blanche of Lancaster (b. 25 March 1342): duchess of Lancaster, countess of Richmond, Lincoln, Leicester and Derby; younger daughter, co-heir with her elder sister Maud, and ultimately the sole heir of Henry of Grosmont, first duke of Lancaster; marries John in May 1359

Blanche of the Tower (b. and d. 1342): Johns younger sister, who dies soon after birth

Catalina (Katherine) of Lancaster (b. 1372/73): queen consort of Castile and Leon; only surviving child of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constanza of Castile, and her mothers heir; younger half-sister of Philippa, Elizabeth and Henry of Lancaster; marries her second cousin the future King Enrique III of Castile in 1389; mother of Juan II, king of Castile, and Mara, queen of Aragon

Charles V (b. 1338): king of France; eldest son of John II and Bonne of Bohemia; succeeds his father in 1364; marries Jeanne de Bourbon

Charles VI (b. 1368): king of France; elder son of Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon; succeeds his father in 1380; marries Isabeau of Bavaria

Constanza of Castile (b. 1354): titular queen of Castile and Leon, duchess of Lancaster; second but eldest surviving daughter and heir of Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile and Leon (b. 1334, r. 135069) and his mistress Mara de Padilla; born illegitimate, later legitimised; marries John of Gaunt as his second wife in September 1371

David II (b. 1324): king of Scotland from 1329; only legitimate son and heir of King Robert I (Bruce); married to Edward IIIs sister Joan of the Tower and secondly to Margaret Drummond; Johns uncle-in-law

Edmund Mortimer (b. 1352): third earl of March; married to Philippa of Clarence, and Gaunts nephew-in-law; father of Roger (b. 1374) and Philippa (b. 1375)

Edmund of Langley (b. c. 5 June 1341): first duke of York, earl of Cambridge; Johns younger brother, the fifth (though fourth eldest surviving) son of Edward III; marries Isabel of Castile, younger sister of Johns second wife Constanza of Castile, in July 1372, and secondly Joan Holland in c. November 1393

Edward III (b. 13 November 1312): king of England from January 1327 to June 1377; eldest child of Edward II and Isabella of France; marries Philippa of Hainault in January 1328; Johns father

Edward of Woodstock (b. 15 June 1330): prince of Wales and Aquitaine, duke of Cornwall, earl of Chester; eldest child of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, and heir to the English throne; marries Joan of Kent in 1361, and father of Richard II; known to posterity as the Black Prince; Johns eldest brother

Edward of York (b. c. 1373/74): duke of Albemarle or Aumerle, earl of Rutland; son and heir of Edmund of Langley and Isabel of Castile; John of Gaunts nephew; marries Philippa Mohun in the late 1390s

Eleanor de Bohun (b. c. 1366): duchess of Gloucester, countess of Buckingham and Essex; elder daughter and co-heir of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton; marries Edward IIIs youngest son Thomas of Woodstock in c. 1374/76; Gaunts sister-in-law; her younger sister Mary de Bohun marries Gaunts son and heir Henry of Lancaster

Elizabeth de Burgh (b. July 1332): duchess of Clarence, countess of Ulster; heir of her father William de Burgh, earl of Ulster (131233), and her grandmother Elizabeth de Burgh ne de Clare (12951360); marries Lionel of Antwerp in August 1342; John of Gaunts sister-in-law

Elizabeth of Lancaster (b. c. February 1363): duchess of Exeter, countess of Pembroke and Huntingdon; second eldest surviving child of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster; marries 1) John Hastings, earl of Pembroke (b. November 1372, marriage annulled before consummation) in 1380; 2) John Holland, later earl of Huntingdon and duke of Exeter (b. c. 1353) in 1386; 3) John Cornwall, later Baron Fanhope, in 1400

Enrique II (b. 1334): king of Castile and Leon from 1369, called Enrique of Trastmara; son of Alfonso XI and his mistress Leonor Guzmn, half-brother and usurper of King Pedro the Cruel; his son and successor Juan I (b. 1358); and Juans son Enrique III (b. 1379), who marries John of Gaunt and Constanza of Castiles daughter Catalina of Lancaster

Galeazzo Visconti (b. c. 1320) and his brother Bernabo (b. c. 1323): lords of Milan and Pavia; Galeazzos son Gian Galeazzo Visconti (b. 1351), first duke of Milan; Galeazzos daughter Violante (b. 1353/54), who marries Gaunts brother Lionel as his second wife in 1368; and Bernabos daughter Caterina (b. 1361), proposed as a bride for Gaunts nephew Richard II but marries her cousin Gian Galeazzo

Giovanna I (b. c. 1326): queen of Naples, countess of Provence; granddaughter and heir of Robert, king of Naples (d. 1343), and a first cousin of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England; in 1363, she marries her third husband, Jaime IV, titular king of Majorca