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Home / People / John of Gaunt

Historical person

John of Gaunt

1340–1399

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was the third surviving son of Edward III and one of the wealthiest magnates in medieval Europe. He commanded armies in France and Spain, exercised great influence during Richard II’s minority and claimed the Castilian throne through his second wife.

His long relationship with Katherine Swynford produced the Beaufort children, later legitimised. His legitimate son Henry Bolingbroke overthrew Richard and became Henry IV. John of Gaunt was born in Ghent and died in Leicester Castle.

In Nathen Amin’s The House of Beaufort, the Beaufort family began with the children of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, born outside marriage but later legitimised and drawn into the highest ranks of English politics. 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. John of Gaunt is treated fictionally in Candace Robb’s A Gift of Sanctuary, Paul Doherty’s A Pilgrimage to Murder, Candace Robb’s A Spy for the Redeemer, Philip Gooden’s Chaucer and the Doctor of Physic, and Philip Gooden’s Chaucer and the House of Fame.

Periods

Periods linked to John of Gaunt

Reign of Richard II1377–1399 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring John of Gaunt (5 series)

Brother Athelstan Mysteries in Order

by Paul Doherty 17 books 4.5(35,900)

The Brother Athelstan Mysteries are set in London during the minority and early reign of Richard II. Athelstan is a Dominican friar serving the poor parish of St Erconwald’s in Southwark, while Sir John Cranston is the city coroner. Their investigations move between taverns, churches, guild halls, royal…

All books in this series

Struggle for a Crown in Order

by Griff Hosker 10 books 4.5(19,374)

Struggle for a Crown follows soldiers and retainers through the crises of late medieval England and France. The series moves from Richard II and Henry IV to Henry V, Agincourt, the later Hundred Years’ War and the struggle to hold English power in France. It is a dynastic…

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An Owen Archer Mystery in Order

by Candace Robb 16 books 4.2(39,740)

The Owen Archer mysteries follow a Welsh soldier and former captain of archers who becomes an investigator, spy and officer in fourteenth-century York. Beginning in 1363, Owen serves Archbishop John Thoresby and later the city authorities, while his marriage to apothecary Lucie Wilton gives the investigations a close…

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Geoffrey Chaucer Mysteries in Order

by Philip Gooden 4 books 4.1(2,435)

The Geoffrey Chaucer Mysteries place the poet before the completion of The Canterbury Tales, when royal service carried him through London, Aquitaine, Florence and the ports of southern England. Chaucer acts as a household officer, diplomatic messenger and reluctant investigator while England’s war with France depends on uncertain…

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The Mowbray Chronicles in Order

by Mette Holm 7 books 4.2(2,089)

The Mowbray Chronicles follow a fictional branch of the English Mowbray family from the later Hundred Years’ War through the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. Argyle Mowbray’s murder inquiry begins the numbered sequence at Richard’s divided court, but the dynasty’s concealed origins are established…

All books in this series

Standalone books

Standalone books featuring John of Gaunt (2 books)

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring John of Gaunt (6 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.