John_Of_Guant

John Of Guant JOHN OF GAUNT (1340-1399) This prince, the fourth son of King Edward III and Queen Philippa, was born at Ghent (or Gaunt) in Flanders, in 1340. In his infancy, he was created Earl of Richmond and, by that title, admitted into the Order of the Garter upon the death of Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, one of the original knights. In 1359, at Reading Abbey (Berks), he married Blanche, the younger of the two daughters and co-heirs of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, and upon the death of his father-in-law, in 1361; he was advanced to that Dukedom. He held also, in right of his wife, the Earldoms of Derby, Lincoln and Leicester, and the high office of Steward of England. Blanche, dying in 1369, the ambition of the Duke - who had taken an active part in the war carried on by the his brother, Black Prince, for the restoration of Peter, King of Castile and Leon - induced him to direct his views towards Constance, the elder of the two daughters of that monarch, then lately slain by his illegitimate brother, Henry of Transtamare, his successor under the title duke, king, john, henry, son, lancaster, gaunt, blanche, been, sir, prince, earl, brother, upon, right, philippa, monarch, leon, heir, elder, death, daughter, constance, castile, year, two, title, successor, scrope, richard, prior, parliament, palace, minority, married