John of Gaunt
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Today marks the anniversary of the death in 1402 of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, an undervalued and almost forgotten prince. Edmund deserves his place in history. Without him the House of York itself would never have existed, and its later members, who everyone finds so interesting, would never have been born.…
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How and why the House of York laid claim to the throne….
Adam of Usk, Anne of Bohemia, Ashburnham House, Blanche of Lancaster, British Library, British Museum, Chandos Herald, Charters, Chris Given-Wilson, Cotton Library, Edmund Crouchback, Edmund Mortimer, Edmund of Langley, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, English Historical Review, entail mail, Eulogium, France, Good Parliament, Havering atte Bower, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry V, Isabella de Valois, Isabella of Angouleme, Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt, Lionel of Antwerp, male line, Michael Bennett, Penny Lawne, Phillipa of Ulster, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Roger Mortimer, Romford, Salic Law, Scotichronicon, Sheen, Simon Sudbury, Sir Richard Stury, succession, Thomas of Lancaster, Thomas of woodstock, Thomas Walsingham, Wars of the Roses, willsHere is an article from English Historical Review, 1st June 1998, telling of how and why Richard, 3rd Duke of York, laid claim to the throne of England. The root cause was an entail to the will of Edward III, who was admittedly in his dotage at the time. The entail, which excluded a female…
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The 10 greatest medieval royal romances? Some, maybe….
Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Blanche of Lancaster, Catherine de Roet, Catherine de Valois, Cecily Duchess of York, Charles Brandon, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor of Castile, George Duke of Clarence, Henry VIII, Hugh le Despenser, Isobel Neville, John of Gaunt, Mary “Tudor”, Owain Tudor, Phillippa of Hainault, Piers Gaveston, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard IIIWell, my opinion only, of course, but where are John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford/de Roët? I don’t believe his first wife, Blanche, was his greatest love. That honour went to Katherine, for love of whom he went to extraordinary lengths, enduring scandal and opprobrium, but eventually making her his third duchess. And managing to…
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According to Alison Weir, Henry VII was a little twitchy about his descent from John of Gaunt’s notorious mistress (and eventual wife) Katherine de Roët/Swynford. Between them, Gaunt and Katherine produced an illegitimate line of children, the Beauforts, which wasn’t/was/wasn’t legitimate/in line of succession, according to different monarchs. Henry VII was a Beaufort, so you…
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Henry VII’s iffy Beaufort claim….
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Blanche of Lancaster, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Constanza of Castile, Edmund of Langley, excepta dignitate regali, Henry IV, Henry VII, illegitimacy, Joan “Beaufort”, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, proclamations, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard II, Richard III, Sir Hugh SwynfordThere is always a howl of outrage if fingers are pointed at Katherine de Roet/Swynford and John of Gaunt, and the legitimacy of their Beaufort children is called into question. The matter is guaranteed to end up with someone’s digit jabbing toward Richard III. Why? Because in his proclamation against Henry Tudor, Richard derided the…
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Today in 1367, Henry IV was born:
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As we said five years ago, it is unclear whether John, Marquess of Somerset and Dorset, really was the son of John of Gaunt or of Sir Hugh Swynford. Furthermore, the common law answer to that question may be different to the genetic answer, as we revealed that Swynford could well have died after the…
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The truth about the Beauforts and the throne of England. . . .
“Beauforts”, Anne Mortimer, Battle of Bosworth, Blanche of Lancaster, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Constanza of Castile, Duchy of Lancaster, Edmund Mortimer, Edward III, Edward IV, excepta dignitate regali, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Mortimers, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Lancaster, Portugal, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard III, YorkistsJohn of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, was the Duke of Lancaster, and his illegitimate children, the Beauforts, were barred from the throne by his legitimate, firstborn son, Henry IV. Clearly the latter wasn’t having any baseborn relative wearing the crown. Nevertheless, we eventually ended up with a Beaufort king, who claimed to…
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How Edward IV ascended the throne of England….
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, cartoons, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Langley, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward the Black Prince, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry VI, Henry VII, humour, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Margaret d’Anjou, Matilda, Mortimers, Phillippa of Lancaster, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Shakespeare, SHW, Stephen, Tewkesbury, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York, YorkistsThe Wars of the Roses did not commence, à la Bard, with white and red roses snatched and brandished in a garden by opposing lords, but they were foreshadowed at the turn of the fifteenth century when Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, usurped and murdered Richard II. Bolingbroke was the son and heir…
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Horrox on the de la Poles
Azincourt, de la Pole family, DNA, Earls of Suffolk, Edmund Earl of Suffolk, Edward the Black Prince, Harfleur, Hull, John Ashdown-Hill, John Duke of Suffolk, John Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, Katherine Wingfield, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lord Richard de la Pole, Marguerite de la Pole, Michael de la Pole, Michael K Jones, moneylenders, Nicolas of the Tower, Norwich, Pavia, Richard de la Pole, Richard II, Rosemary Horrox, Sir William de la Pole, Sutton Hoo, William de la Pole, William Duke of Suffolk, Wuffings EducationTwo weeks after visiting Wingfield , I attended a “Wuffing Education” Study Day at Sutton Hoo, addressed by Rosemary Horrox on the de la Pole family. This juxtaposition of dates was entirely beneficial as their genealogy and history was fresh in my mind so it was easy to follow Horrox’s train of thought. She covered the…
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