John of Gaunt Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Marriages === [[File:John and Blanche of Lancaster.png|thumb|John with his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, in a 15th-century family tree of his great-grandson, [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]]] <!-- citations at end of paragraph are for all statements in this paragraph as of 11 March 2008 --> * On 19 May 1359 at [[Reading Abbey]], John married his [[Cousin#Third cousins|third cousin]], [[Blanche of Lancaster]], younger of the two daughters of [[Henry of Grosmont|Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster]]. Both shared a common descent from King Henry III. The wealth she brought to the marriage was the foundation of John's fortune. Blanche died on 12 September 1368 at [[Tutbury Castle]], while her husband was overseas. Their son [[Henry Bolingbroke]] became Henry IV of England, having deposed King [[Richard II]], who had seized the duchy of Lancaster upon John's death while Henry was in exile. Their daughter [[Philippa of Lancaster]] became Queen of Portugal by marrying King [[John I of Portugal]] in 1387. All subsequent kings of Portugal beginning from the [[House of Aviz]] were thus descended from John of Gaunt. Philippa's daughter [[Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy|Isabella]], married [[Philip the Good|Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy]]. Their lone heiress, [[Mary of Burgundy|Mary]], the only child of Philip's only legitimate son [[Charles the Bold]], married her 2nd cousin, Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]], whose mother [[Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress|Eleanor]], was the daughter of Philippa's son [[Edward, King of Portugal|Edward]]. Their grandson [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]] married [[Isabella of Portugal|Isabella]], daughter of [[Manuel I of Portugal]], a male line grandson of Edward. * In 1371, John married [[Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster|Infanta Constance of Castile]], daughter of King [[Peter of Castile]], thus giving him a claim to the [[Crown of Castile]], which he would pursue. Constance died in 1394. Though John was never able to make good his claim, his daughter by Constance, [[Catherine of Lancaster]], became Queen of Castile by marrying [[Henry III of Castile]]. [[Catherine of Aragon]] & [[Joanna of Castile|Joanna of Castille]] are descended from Catherine through their mother [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella I]], daughter of Catherine's son [[John II of Castile|John II]]. Isabella I was also a descendant of Catherine's half-sister Philippa, through her mother [[Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile|Isabella]], who was the daughter of Philippa's other son [[John, Constable of Portugal|John]]. Hence the [[House of Habsburg|House of Hapsburg]] is also related to John of Gaunt. * During his marriage to Constance, John of Gaunt fathered four children by a mistress, the widow [[Katherine Swynford]] (whose sister [[Philippa Roet]] was married to [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]). Prior to her widowhood, Katherine had had at least two children with her husband, Sir Hugh Swynford from [[Kettlethorpe Hall|Kettlethorpe]] in Lincolnshire. These were Blanche, for whom John of Gaunt stood as [[godparent|godfather]], and Thomas, later Sir Thomas.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/johngauntkingca00armigoog/page/n509 <!-- quote=Thomas Morieux. --> Dame Blanche Morieux] in {{harvnb|Armitage-Smith|1904|pp=460β461}}</ref> John married Katherine in 1396, and their four children, the Beauforts, were legitimised by King Richard II and the Church, but barred from inheriting the throne. From the eldest son, [[John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset|John]], descended a granddaughter, [[Lady Margaret Beaufort]], whose son, later King [[Henry VII of England]], would nevertheless claim the throne. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page