Alison Weir - Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess

Alison Weir lives and works in Surrey. She is one of Britain's foremost popular historians. Her books include Britain's Royal Families, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Children of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry VIII: King and Court, Mary, Queen of Scots, Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England, Innocent Traitor and most recently the novel The Lady Elizabeth.

ALISON WEIR

Katherine Swynford

The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess

VINTAGE BOOKS

This book is dedicated to

Bruce and Sandy, Peter and Karen and

John and Joanna to mark their marriages.

Contents

Illustrations viii

Acknowledgements xi

Author's Notes xiii

Introduction xv

Prologue: Spring 1378

Panetto's Daughter

The Magnificent Lord

The Trap of Wedding

Mistress of the Duke

Blinded by Desire

His Unspeakable Concubine

Turning Away the Wrath of God

The Lady of Kettlethorpe

My Dearest Lady Katherine The King's Mother

Appendix: Anya Seton's Katherine

Genealogical Tables

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders but the author and publishers will be pleased to hear from any who have not been traced.

Acknowledgements

I should like to express my warmest gratitude to various people who have helped with this book. To Anthony Goodman, our finest late-mediaeval historian, for his assistance with references and original documents; I am also indebted to him for his two booklets, Katherine Swynford and Honourable Lady or She-Devil?, and his magnificent collection of essays on John of Gaunt, which have all proved profoundly useful. To Dr Nicholas Bennett, Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral Library, and his wife Carol for their kindness in welcoming me to the library, making available various sources, and arranging a visit to the Priory, where Katherine Swynford lived towards the end of her life. To Roger Joy, founder of the Katherine Swynford Society and a walking authority on Katherine, for generously sharing his knowledge with me, and for sending me his unpublished articles. To Patricia McLeod and the staff of Sutton Library for their efforts in tracking down numerous books and articles. To Abigail Bennett of the University of York, for translating into English numerous texts in mediaeval Latin. To Andrew Barr and his team at The National Trust East Midlands Regional Office. To the staff at Lincoln Central Library for their assistance in locating books.

I am indebted also to the many people who have published information about Katherine on the internet, foremost amongst whom is Judy Perry, who has been researching her subject for over twenty-five years.

My gratitude to my editors for commissioning this book is acknowledged separately, in the Introduction, but I should also like to express it here on account of their unflagging enthusiasm, their sensitive insights and their illuminating input. I wish also to thank my inspirational and ever-supportive agent, Julian Alexander, and all the people at Random House who have helped to create this book.

Lastl y, I wish to thank my family and friends, who have all cheerfully put up with me while the book was being written. And to Rankin, my husband thanks for all the wonderful meals, and just for being there.

Author's Notes

I h ave used the form 'Katherine' (rather than 'Catherine') throughout, as Katherine's name is usually spelt with a K in contemporary sources. The correct mediaeval form of her name is 'Katherine de Swynford', but I have chosen to refer to her as 'Katherine Swynford', as she is traditionally and popularly known.

It is worth noting that in John of Gaunt's Register, Katherine's name is given as either 'Katherine' or 'Kateryn(e)'.The language of the court and the aristocracy at this time was Norman French, and these spellings indicate that John and others - probably pronounced her name in the French way as 'Katrine'.

The modern equivalent of fourteenth-century monetary values has been given in brackets throughout the book. For currency conversion, I have used an invaluable internet website, , produced by Lawrence H. Officer, Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and Samuel H. Williams, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, of Miami University.

Prologue: Spring 1378

I n March 1378, putting aside 'all shame of man and fear of God', John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the mightiest subject in the realm of England, was to be seen riding around his estates in Leicestershire 'with his unspeakable concubine, a certain Katherine Swynford'. Not only was the Duke brazenly parading his beautiful mistress for everyone to see, but he was 'holding her bridle in public', a gesture that proclaimed to all his possession of her, for it implied that the rider thus led was a captive, in this case one who had surrendered her body, if not her heart. And as if this were not shocking enough, the fact that the Duke was flaunting his mistress 'in the presence of his own wife' created a scandal that would soon spread throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom and beyond. Even today, echoes of that furore still reverberate in the pages of history books.

John of Gaunt's conduct in that long-distant spring led disapproving contemporaries to conclude that he had 'made himself abominable in the eyes of God', and that Katherine Swynford was 'a witch and a whore'. Thus was born the legend of the 'famous adulteress', who occupies a unique place in English history. There can be no doubt that in her own lifetime, she was the subject of great scandal and notoriety, for she was closely linked to John of Gaunt for a quarter of a century before they married, and she had already known him for many years before he wed the desirable young wife who was so openly insulted on that tour of Leicestershire in .Years later, after John's wife had died and he married Katherine, controversy and criticism surrounded their union, for she was far below him in status, morally unacceptable and considered highly unsuitable in many respects. But she confounded her critics and gradually came to be tolerated and even respected.

Indeed, all the evidence suggests that Katherine Swynford was no lightly principled whore, which is what hostile chroniclers would have us believe; on the contrary, she was one of the most important female figures of the late fourteenth century, and more likely to have been a woman deserving of our admiration and esteem. Her partner in adultery later her husband was the son of King Edward III of England, and one of the epoch's most famous and celebrated paragons. From her is descended every English monarch since 1461, and no fewer than five American presidents.

The truth about Katherine Swynford has been obscured by people down the centuries accepting at face value the calumnies that were written about her by a few disapproving contemporaries; and, too, by nearly every aspect of her story being shrouded in mystery, exaggerated by debate or simply obliterated by time. Nearly everything about her is controversial. When and where was she born? What did she look like? How many children did she bear? When did she become John of Gaunt's mistress? What influence did she have? And what was the nature of their relationship over the years? Above all, did she really deserve all the moral opprobrium heaped upon her after her lover paraded her in public on that fateful spring day?

We will never know the whole truth about Katherine and John, for only echoes of their voices and their deeds have come down to us, but one thing is certain, and it shines forth from nearly every source: these two were lovers, and their love endured through prosperity and adversity, war and endless separations, time and distance. Love and destiny brought them together, sealing their fate and changing the course of English history itself. So this is, essentially, a love story.