Best Historical Novels About John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford

John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford

1389–1435

John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, was the third surviving son of Henry IV and served as regent of France for the infant Henry VI. A capable commander and administrator, he maintained the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and defeated French forces at Verneuil in 1424.

Joan of Arc’s campaigns and the later defection of Burgundy undermined English power. Bedford died in 1435 shortly before the peace of Arras, after which the English position deteriorated rapidly. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford was born in England and died in Rouen.

Georgette Heyer’s unfinished My Lord John makes the future Duke of Bedford its central figure during the violent rise of the Lancastrian dynasty. John grows up among Henry Bolingbroke’s sons as rebellion, border warfare and their father’s seizure of Richard II’s crown turn royal childhood into political apprenticeship. His bond with his brothers—especially the future Henry V—shows the loyalties and responsibilities that later shaped Bedford’s career as soldier, administrator and regent of English France.

Historical novels and book series featuring John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1 series)

Historical Romances in Order

by Georgette Heyer 9 books 4.3(16,123)

This collection brings together Georgette Heyer’s historical novels set outside her main Regency-romance sequence. The settings range from medieval England and France to the Norman Conquest, Elizabethan maritime conflict, the escape of Charles II and the Peninsular War. The list follows the ordering supplied by the Fantastic Fiction…