Prince John of Gaunt Plantagenet

  General Notes:

Prince of England

Event: 'of Gaunt' AKA

Born: Mar 1340, St Bavon's Abbey, Ghent, Flanders
Marriage: (1): Blanche of Lancaster Plantagenet on 19 May 1359 in Reading Abbey, Berkshire
Marriage: (2): Constanza of Castile in 1371
Marriage: (3): Katherine Roët on 13 Jan 1396 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Died: 3 Feb 1399, Leicester Castle at age 58
Buried: St.Paul's Cathedral, London, England
General Notes:
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. 56 <../Sources.htm>
Research Notes:
Some say born Jun 1340.Burke says he died at Ely House, Holborn.
Noted events in his life were:
• Acceded: 13 Nov 1362. Duke of Lancaster and Earl of Richmond. Earl of Derby, Lincoln. Duke of Aquitaine. Lord of Beaufort & Nogent. King of Castile & Leon. Lord of Bergerac & Roche-sur-Yon.
John married Blanche of Lancaster Plantagenet, daughter of Henry Grosment of Derby Plantagenet and Isabel de Beaumont, on 19 May 1359 in Reading Abbey, Berkshire. (Blanche of Lancaster Plantagenet was born on 25 Mar 1341 and died on 12 Sep 1368 in Bolingbroke Castle, Lincoln.) The cause of his death was the black death.
John next married Constanza of Castile, daughter of Peter the Cruel of Castile and Maria de Padilla, in 1371. (Constanza of Castile was born in 1354 in Castrojeriz, Castile and died on 24 Mar 1394 in Leicester Castle, England.)

John married Katherine de Roet after 13 Jan 1396 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. (Katherine de Roet was born in 1350 in Picardy, Somme, France, died on 10 May 1403 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England and was buried in Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire, England.)