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! ==Titles and arms== ===Titles and styles=== *[[Earl of Richmond]]: granted as an infant in September 1342, surrendered to the crown in June 1372.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Richmond, Earls and Dukes of|volume=23|page=306|first=Ronald John|last=McNeill|author-link=Ronald McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun|short=y|noicon=y}}</ref> *[[Earl of Leicester]], [[Earl of Lancaster]], [[Earl of Derby]]: inherited ''[[jure uxoris]]'' in November 1362 following the death of his wife's father [[Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster|Henry of Grosmont]]. *[[Duke of Lancaster]]: granted as a new creation on 13 November 1362 following the death of the prior Duke, [[Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster|Henry of Grosmont]]. *[[King of Galicia]], [[King of Castile]], [[King of León]]: claimed in January 1372 by his second marriage to the heiress to these thrones, unrecognised except for a brief period when he was able to capture Galicia from 1386 to 1387; claim surrendered 1388. *[[Duke of Aquitaine]] (2 March 1390 – 3 February 1399): granted for life in March 1390 by his nephew, King [[Richard II of England]]{{sfn|Sumption|2009|p=718}} ===Arms=== [[File:Arms of John of Gaunt, King of Castile.svg|thumb|right|Coat of arms of John of Gaunt asserting his kingship over Castile and León, showing the [[royal arms of Castile and León]] [[Impalement (heraldry)|impaling]] his paternal arms (the [[royal arms of England]]), with his heraldic [[Difference (heraldry)|difference]]. Later in his life the two sides were reversed.]] As a son of the sovereign, John bore the royal arms of the kingdom (''Quarterly, France Ancient and England''), [[Label (heraldry)|differenced]] by a label of three points ermine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm |title=Marks of cadency in the British royal family|first=Francois R.|last=Velde|website=www.heraldica.org}}</ref> As claimant to the throne of Castile and León from 1372, he [[Impalement (heraldry)|impaled]] the arms of that kingdom (''Gules, a castle or, quartering Argent, a lion rampant purpure'') with his own. The arms of Castile and León appeared on the [[Dexter and sinister|dexter]] side of the shield (the left-hand side as viewed), and the differenced English royal arms on the sinister; but in 1388, when he surrendered his claim, he reversed this marshalling, placing his own arms on the dexter, and those of Castile and León on the sinister.<ref>{{cite book |last=Armitage-Smith |date=1904 |first=Sydney |title=John of Gaunt |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co. |place=Westminster |pages=[https://archive.org/details/johngauntkingca00armigoog/page/n504 456]–57 |url=https://archive.org/details/johngauntkingca00armigoog }}</ref> He thus continued to signal his alliance with the Castilian royal house, while abandoning any claim to the throne. There is, however, evidence that he may occasionally have used this second marshalling at earlier dates.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fox |date=2009 |first=Paul A. |title=Fourteenth-century ordinaries of Arms. Part 2: William Jenyns' Ordinary |journal=Coat of Arms |series=3rd ser. |volume=5 |pages=55–64 }} (pp. 59, 61, pl. 2)</ref> In addition to his royal arms, Gaunt bore an alternative coat of ''Sable, three ostrich feathers ermine''. This was the counterpart to his brother, the [[Edward, the Black Prince|Black Prince's]], "shield for peace" (on which the ostrich feathers were white), and may have been used in [[jousting]]. The ostrich feather arms appeared in stained glass above Gaunt's chantry chapel in St Paul's Cathedral.{{sfn|Harris|2010|pp=22–3}} 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