Historical person
Blanche of Lancaster
1342–1368
Blanche of Lancaster was the daughter and co-heiress of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, and the first wife of John of Gaunt. Their marriage brought a vast inheritance into the royal Plantagenet family and made Gaunt one of the greatest landholders in England.
Blanche was the mother of the future Henry IV but died in 1368, probably during an outbreak of plague. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess is widely associated with Gaunt’s mourning for her.
Alison Weir’s Katherine Swynford follows Katherine Swynford from the household of Blanche of Lancaster to her long relationship and eventual marriage with John of Gaunt. In Anne O’Brien’s The Scandalous Duchess, Katherine Swynford enters the household of John of Gaunt and his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, as governess to their children.
Standalone books
Standalone books featuring Blanche of Lancaster (1 book)
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring Blanche of Lancaster (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.
