Excerpts

Friends, Enemies & Contemporaries  

The People in John of Gaunt’s World

Clergy:

William Courtenay,

Archbishop of Canterbury

John Buckingham,

Bishop of Lincoln

Thomas Arundel,

Archbishop of Canterbury 1397; replaced in 1398; restored in 1399

Oxford Scholars:

Phillip Repingdon

Eventually became Bishop of Lincoln

Nicholas Hereford

Put his case before the Pope

John Aston

Became an itinerant preacher

Chancellor Rygge

Strongly resisted church authority

Thomas Brightwell

Turned on his fellow Wycliffites

Lollards:

Note: the names of those involved in the Lollard underground are mostly unknown; which is why the speakers in Chapter Twelve are not clearly identified. We know some of their names, because they were betrayed in the 1390’s, hunted, and tracked down.

Those who were not betrayed remain unknown, but we can still prove that they existed because of the great body of work that they left behind.

Some of the names we do know (because they were betrayed, hunted, and tried) are:

William Swinderby

John Gamylgay

William James

But their names are less important, than what they accomplished.

Nobility:

Particularly note that many of these people become familiar under one name, but later in the story must be referred to under a different title, because of King Richard’s creation of what was derisively referred to as the ‘duketti’

John Neville

John of Gaunt’s best friend

It is John Neville’s younger son William who becomes a strong supporter of John Wycliffe.

John Neville’s oldest son Ralph, will marry John and Katharine’s only daughter, Joan Beaufort in 1396.

• 3rd Baron of Raby

Michael de la Pole

A good friend to John of Gaunt; as well as being a staunch friend and supporter of King Richard; which was difficult when the king was at odds with his uncle. Michael’s family was not of the nobility, but of the merchant class. In fact, Michael’s father was a mainstay of the crown; supporting the treasury with the private wealth of the de la Pole family.

Chancellor of England 1383-86 Earl of Suffolk from 1385

Edmund of Langley (1341-1402)

John of Gaunt’s amiable younger brother

Earl of Cambridge from 1362 Duke of York from 1385

Thomas of Woodstock (1355-1397)

John of Gaunt’s not so amiable youngest brother.

• Earl of Buckingham from 1377
• Duke of Gloucester from 1385
• Many times referred to simply as Gloucester or Woodstock

Henry Bolingbroke (1368-1413)

John of Gaunt’s son and heir

• Earl of Derby from 1377
• Duke of Hereford from Sept, 1397
• King of England October, 1399

Richard II (1367-1400)

John of Gaunt’s nephew; and the son of John of Gaunt’s oldest brother, that most famous warrior and prince known to history as ‘The Black Prince’.

• Crowned at the age of ten
• Deposed at the age of thirty-three

Roger Mortimer (1374-1398)

John of Gaunt’s nephew; and grandson of John of Gaunt’s older brother, Lionel.

This Roger Mortimer was the son of the man who was John of Gaunt’s arch enemy at the time of the Good Parliament.

John of Gaunt fought to get seven year old Roger out from under the guardianship of Richard Arundel, when Roger was orphaned in 1383. Roger might be the son of his enemy, but Gaunt did his best to protect the boy.

• Earl of March
• Heir presumptive to the throne between 1385 and 1398 (because Richard had produced no children, let alone a son).

Henry Percy (1341-1408)

Percy almost caused a civil war in England, when he refused to allow John of Gaunt back onto English soil during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

If Percy had not acted on the king’s orders, then Henry Percy had committed treason.

• Created 1st Earl of Northumberland at Richard’s coronation in 1377

John Holland (1352-1402)

A violent man who was the half-brother of Richard II (they shared the same mother).

John Holland was involved in a scandalous marriage to John of Gaunt’s daughter Elizabeth in 1386. This was particularly shocking because Holland got Elizabeth pregnant (not only before they were wed) but also, after he had been accused of murder, and his own brother the king, was threatening to have John Holland executed.

• Earl of Huntingdon from 1387
• Duke of Exeter from Sept, 1397

Thomas Mowbray (1366-1399)

Definitely John of Gaunt’s enemy, but Henry Bolingbroke never realized this until too late.

• Earl of Nottingham from 1383 when his older brother was killed in a hunting accident (some people found this a suspicious accident).
• Duke of Norfolk from Sept, 1397

(Have you noticed that 1385 and 1397 saw the creation of a large number of dukes, especially considering that prior to 1385 John of Gaunt, as Duke of Lancaster, was the only duke in the kingdom?)

Robert de Vere (1362-1392)

Richard II’s favorite companion; and the courtier who had the most influence over the king.

• Earl of Oxford from 1371
• Marquis of Dublin from 1385
• Duke of Ireland from 1386

Richard Arundel (1346-1397)

There were few people King Richard hated more than Richard, earl of Arundel. Only John of Gaunt ranked higher on the list of people Richard II wished dead or dishonoured.

Richard Arundel is a most interesting study, for it is Arundel’s temperament which creates his missed opportunities. It is probably true to say that Richard Arundel had everything going for him, but threw it away with both hands.

As the 11th Earl of Arundel, Richard Arundel was a member of such an old and influential family that at the coronation of Richard II it was the earl of Arundel who carried the crown! But the tragedy of Richard Arundel’s life seems to be that his questionable legitimacy, and consequent insecurity, made him incapable of exercising the historical power of his family name with moderation and discretion.

• Earl of Arundel from 1376
• Earl of Surrey from 1376