John of Gaunt, born in 1340, was the third son of King Edward
III. Through advantageous marriages and land grants, John became
exceedingly wealthy and influential at his father’s court. John’s
influence increased when his brother Edward – who was the heir to
the throne – became unwell and died leaving his young son to
succeed as King Richard II. At this time, John of Gaunt took over
many aspects of ruling on behalf of his young nephew. After John’s
death, his son Henry deposed his cousin Richard and became king
himself as Henry IV. John, the founder of the House of Lancaster
was not alive to see the first of his descendants reign as king and
was unaware of all that was to follow for the dynasty.
John, Duke of Lancaster was married three times; his first wife was
Blanche of Lancaster whom John had seven children with before she
died at the age of twenty-six in 1368. One of the couple’s
daughters named Philippa went on to become Queen of Portugal and so
all Portuguese kings from then on were descended from John of
Gaunt. Also one of the pair’s sons became the future Henry IV of
England. After Blanche passed away, John married again to Constance
of Castile in a union that produced two children. During this
marriage, John tried to claim the crown of Castile and failed, but
his daughter Catherine later became Queen of Castile through her
marriage and was an ancestor of Catherine of Aragon.
Through John’s first two marriages he produced nine legitimate
children, many of whom went on to have important parts in European
history. However today we are here to discuss the four children
from his third relationship with a long-term mistress of thirty
years, Katherine Swynford.
The couple were together from around 1371 after the deaths of
Blanche of Lancaster and Katherine’s husband Hugh. The pair met
because Katherine was the governess of John and Blanche’s children
and her own daughters from her marriage lived in the royal nursery
with John’s children. The relationship continued on while John was
married to his second wife Constance of Castile and the couple had
four illegitimate children. In 1381, the relationship had to be
formally renounced by John, in part to maintain his popularity
during the Peasants’ Revolt. Katherine left for a while after this
but continued to visit more discreetly. In 1396, after the death of
Constance and after over twenty-five years together, John and
Katherine were married and the four children were from that point
declared as legitimate by the Pope and by King Richard II. The
King, however, added a clause saying that the children were barred
from the line of succession.
The four children were given the surname Beaufort which was taken
from a Lordship held by John in France. The first child born to the
pair was John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset who was born in 1371.
Little is known about his childhood, probably due to the fact the
Beaufort siblings were not legitimised until 1390 by King Richard
II, then in 1396 by Pope Boniface IX before Richard II had the
legitimation confirmed by Parliament in 1397. Before this, John
spent a lot of time in military service and away on crusade. In the
month after the legitimation by parliament, things started to look
up for the Beaufort children in regard to their rank and
recognition. John was created Earl of Somerset, then Warden of the
Cinque Ports, Constable of Dover Castle and Admiral of the Irish
Fleet which was later extended to add in the Northern Fleet. Within
just weeks of being recognised by parliament, John was given
considerable responsibility which continued to grow over time.
After serving Richard II, John was later created Marquess of
Somerset and of Dorset and even became a Knight of the Garter.
John’s elevation in rank afforded him a good marriage match in
Margaret Holland who was a niece of Richard II. During the reign of
his half-brother Henry IV, John became just Earl again but was
loyal to Henry and later became Constable of England as well as
being given substantial amounts of confiscated lands from Wales.
John Beaufort is mostly remembered today for being the grandfather
of Margaret Beaufort – the mother of King Henry VII, the victor of
the Wars of the Roses. It is only because King Henry VI rescinded
the barring of the Beaufort line from the throne that Henry VII was
able to usurp the throne at all, however.
In 1375, another son named Henry Beaufort was born to Katherine and
John. Henry did not leave behind any historically important
children for the dynasty but this is because his career path did
not allow it. Henry became a clergyman and had great success. Henry
was educated for a career within the church from early in life, but
as with his brother John, it was when the children were declared
legitimate that his career prospects began to rapidly improve.
Henry became Bishop of Lincoln in 1378 and then, once Henry IV was
on the throne, he made his half brother Lord Chancellor of England.
Henry only stayed in the position for a year at this time due to
church commitments including being made Bishop of Winchester but
was appointed Lord Chancellor again under the reigns of the
following two kings. It is clear that Henry was an important
political figure as well as clergyman. Henry was created a Cardinal
of Rome in 1426 and then Papal Legate for Bohemia, Germany and
Hungary. Henry then even went on to lead a Crusade against the
Hussites in Bohemia. Henry lived until he was around seventy-two
and continued to carry out important political and ecclesiastical
works until his death, it is even reported that he was present at
the trial of Joan of Arc.
The third child born to John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford was
Thomas Beaufort, born in 1377. Thomas, like his two full-brothers,
went on to become an important figure in English history, his
impact was in a military capacity. Records on Thomas mostly come
from after the accession of his half-brother Henry IV. Here we can
see that he was made a Knight of the Garter like his brother John,
became Admiral of Calais, Constable of Ludlow and Admiral of the
North and West. In his role as Admiral, Thomas suppressed the 1405
Northern Rebellion. For a brief time between 1410-1412, Thomas
became Chancellor of England before focusing his attention back on
military works. In 1412, he was created Earl of Dorset. Under the
next King, Henry V Thomas continued in his success. He became
Lieutenant of Normandy and of Aquitaine and Captain of Harfleur. At
this time Thomas lived in Normandy working in his role as
Lieutenant. In 1416, he received the title Duke of Exeter which he
is remembered by. For the rest of his lifetime, Thomas was involved
in conquests, sieges, the negotiation of treaties and even the
organisation of Henry V’s will. He was always involved in the
action and was a well-respected man. Thomas was married to Margaret
Neville and they had a son together named Henry who sadly died
young. Thomas died at the age of forty-nine. We can see a portrayal
of him in popular culture even today, as the character Exeter in
Shakespeare’s Henry V is based upon him.
In 1379, a daughter was born to Katherine and John, her name was
Joan. As an illegitimate daughter, we know little of Joan’s early
life, with even her date and place of birth being disputed. We
first hear of Joan upon her marriage in 1392 to a Baron named
Robert Ferrers and the couple and two daughters before Robert
passed away. As an important political pawn, Joan could not remain
unmarried and was married again to Ralph Neville, 1st
Earl of Westmorland. This higher ranking match was due to Joan’s
legitimation. Joan had a good relationship with her half-brother
Henry IV and her husband supported Henry when he usurped the throne
of Richard II. For this loyalty, the couple were greatly rewarded
with extensive pensions, wardships, lands and titles. Their
connection to the King meant they could arrange brilliant marriage
matches for their own children. The couple had fourteen children
together and Ralph already had twelve from his first marriage,
adding in Joan’s two other daughters, the pair had a rather large
brood to provide for. Ralph and Joan hatched a rather cunning plan;
they purchased the wardships of orphaned aristocrats. They would
then raise the child and marry them off to one of their own
children making sure all of their lands and titles would remain
within their sphere of influence. One such match was that of
Cecily, the pair’s daughter and Richard of York, 3rd
Duke of York. Through this marriage match, Joan became the
grandmother of Edward IV and Richard III of England. Joan Beaufort,
as well as her brother John, were both the great-grandparents of
King Henry VIII of England. J.R. Lander called the Beaufort
children’s marriages “the most amazing series of child marriages in
English history”. Another of Joan’s grandchildren was the famous
“Warwick the Kingmaker” one of the most important leaders in the
Wars of the Roses and also father to Anne Neville, Queen of
England. Even during her own lifetime, Joan saw her children come
in to great wealth and positions, before she died she was mother to
a nun, three duchesses, a bishop, a countess, three Barons and an
Earl but it was following her death that her Neville descendants
went on to change the face of English history.
Due to the legitimation of the Beaufort children, four people who
could have faded into obscurity were allowed to fulfil their
potential as children of a King. This act of legitimation and the
marriage of their parents meant that the Beauforts were matched in
good marriages, given high ranking positions in the church,
government and military and many of their grandchildren went on to
become high-ranking politicians and monarchs.
