Author: Alison Weir

Publisher: Random House

ISBN: 1446449076

Category: History

Page: 496

View: 6590

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'Weir combines high drama with high passion while involving us in the domestic life of a most remarkable woman in an equally remarkable book' Scotland on Sunday The first full-length biography of an extraordinary love affair between one of the most important men of English History and a thoroughly modern woman. Katherine Swynford was first the mistress, and later the wife, of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster. Her charismatic lover was one of the most powerful princes of the fourteenth century and Katherine was renowned for her beauty and regarded as enigmatic, intriguing and even dangerous by some of her contemporaries. In this impressive book, Alison Weir has triumphantly rescued Katherine from the footnotes of history, highlighting her key dynastic position within the English monarchy. She was the mother of the Beaufort, then the ancestress of the Yorkist kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts and every other sovereign since - a prodigious legacy that has shaped the history of Britain.

Author: Jeannette Lucraft

Publisher: The History Press

ISBN: 0752468286

Category: History

Page: 252

View: 2563

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Katherine Swynford - sexual temptress or powerful woman at the centre of the medieval court? This book unravels the many myths and legacies of this fascinating woman, to show her in a whole new life. Katherine was sister-in-law to Geoffrey Chaucer and governess to the daughters of Blanche of Lancaster and John of Gaunt. She also became John of Gaunt's mistress - a role that she maintained for 20 years - and had four illegitimate children by him, from one of whom Henry Tudor was descended. In a move surprising in the fourteeth century, John of Gaunt eventually married her, making her Duchess of Lancaster and stepmother to the future king, Henry Bolingbroke. But who was this extremely well-connected woman? In this fascinating book, Jeannette Lucraft treats Katherine as a missing person and reconstructs her and her times to uncover the mystery of the 'other woman' in John of Gaunt's life.

Author: Carol Sargeant

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing

ISBN: 1457507633

Category: Fiction

Page: 500

View: 1820

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Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt lived in a world peopled by some of the greatest minds the world has known, the movers and shakers of history - Geoffrey Chaucer; John Wycliffe; Richard II; Henry IV and Henry V to name just a few. The powerful people in Katharine Swynford's world changed the course of history! She interacted with them, was affected by them, argued with them, loved or hated them. Katharine Swynford's world was truly amazing. Enter her world in the magnificent trilogy Love, Honour and Royal Blood by Carol Sargeant. The third book in the well-researched historical trilogy, Love, Honour and Royal Blood, tells the story of one of the world's great romances - the great love that John of Gaunt bore for Katherine Swynford. Katharine Swynford fell in love with John of Gaunt, the man, but found herself living in the world of intrigue, danger, and compromise that the great Duke of Lancaster inhabited. The Duke of Lancaster was the most powerful prince in Europe; it was not all that easy for him to marry a commoner. The treacherous and erratic King of England, Richard II, was on their side, but the wedding had to be kept secret, or it would never take place. Rose Red, Royal Blue Lancaster is the story of how they accomplished the impossible, and were allowed to wed! Katharine Swynford is the girl who married a prince and started not just one dynasty - the Tudors - but a legacy. All the kings and queens of England since her time have descended from John of Gaunt. 'Can Carol Sargeant's version of the Katherine Swynford story complement Anya Seton's famous novel Katherine? The answer is a resounding yes! Carol Sargeant's Rose Red, Royal Blue Lancaster lights up and illuminates the world in which Katharine Swynford lived, loved, and influenced world history' Rose Red, Royal Blue Lancaster tells a story that has even more impact than an unlikely romance that changed dynastic history. Behind this great historical romance between John of Gaunt and Katharine Swynford lies the untold story of the very beginning of the Protestant Reformation, bringing to life the huge risks faced by early reformers and their underground movement. Danger, intrigue, and triumph are the threads woven into the tapestry that is Katharine Swynford's love story.

Author: Carol Sargeant

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing

ISBN: 1608446875

Category: Fiction

Page: 424

View: 5253

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This is the story of John of Gaunt and the impact that he had not only on his own times, but on the history of the western world as well. Seldom does one man impact so much. It is the time when parliamentary democracy was being forged in the 'Good Parliament' (against the duke of Lancaster's strenuous opposition). When the 'Back to the Bible' philosophy that would lead to the Protestant Reformation was being shaped by John Wycliffe (and spread under the sheltering influence of John of Gaunt's arm). Fourteenth century England was where a man took a stand and the world changed directions. It was also the time when Katharine Swynford's brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer, was painting the word-pictures of his times that endure to this day. 'Although Book Two in the trilogy is about John of Gaunt, and covers the years of his separation from Katharine, I never lost Katharine. I always knew where Katherine Swynford was, and what she was thinking'. Readers Focus Group In many ways the history of both England and America has depended on the decisions John of Gaunt made, and the actions John of Gaunt took during his life time. For more than six centuries, the royal families of England (Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart...) have descended from him, and no fewer than six U. S. presidents (including George Washington and James Monroe) would descend from the love affair John of Gaunt had with his beautiful enigmatic mistress, Katherine Swynford, the woman history has forgotten! The love affair that changed the world has largely been overlooked, even though not only kings and presidents can be traced back to John of Gaunt and Katharine Swynford, but also the very first seeds of the Protestant Reformation can be tracked to John of Gaunt's door and the support the mighty Duke of Lancaster gave to John Wycliffe. This is the story of what happened behind the scenes. It covers the actions of a small group of men who formed a Lollard (Protestant) underground which changed both the history of the western world and Church History. It was a period in history where the Wycliffe Bible, the Blackfriar's Council, and the formation of a Lollard underground involved both John of Gaunt and Katharine Swynford in extremely dangerous times. Love, Honour and Royal Blood also brings to light John of Gaunt's relationship with the two principal players in this great drama of church history: John Wycliffe and William Courtenay (Archbishop of Canterbury). The cultural revolution which swirled around John of Gaunt, his relative Geoffrey Chaucer, his friend John Wycliffe, and the love of his life Katharine Swynford, is the untold story of the 'Back to the Bible' theology which changed the world and started the Protestant Reformation. This is John of Gaunt's story.

Author: Steven J. Corvi

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

ISBN: 1445669609

Category: History

Page: 288

View: 7666

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The lives and political influence of eleven Plantagenet queens and consorts; the female DNA of a dynasty and 250 years of English history.

Author: Kathryn Warner

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

ISBN: 1445670321

Category: History

Page: 320

View: 7516

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The first biography to tell the personal story of the wealthiest, most powerful and most hated man in medieval England.

Author: Michael K. Jones,Malcolm G. Underwood

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 9780521447942

Category: Biography & Autobiography

Page: 368

View: 6166

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This is a study of the life of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and foundress of two Cambridge colleges. It is at once the first biography of Lady Margaret to explore the full range of archival sources, and one of the best-documented studies of any late-medieval woman. Lady Margaret's early experiences of the medieval 'marriage market' anticipated the turbulent political world in which she reached maturity. Deeply involved in the Wars of the Roses, and conspirator against Richard III, she was to become the foundress of one of England's greatest ruling dynasties. Her considerable wealth, much of it owed to her son's triumph, was used to finance education at Oxford and Cambridge, and her lasting memorials are the Cambridge colleges of Christ's and St John's. Behind her activities as both politician and benefactress can be discerned a vigorous, sometimes ruthless, but always enterprising personality, which left a deep impression on her contemporaries. This is a biography of unusual character which brings to life an extraordinary personality under a great variety of aspects, illuminating in depth the political, social, ecclesiastical and academic history through the life of one of the most remarkable women of the age.

Author: Nicola Tallis

Publisher: Hachette UK

ISBN: 1541617886

Category: History

Page: 236

View: 4460

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An "impeccably researched and beautifully written" biography of Lady Margaret Beaufort, matriarch of the Tudor dynasty (Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors and Elizabeth's Women). In 1485, Henry VII became the first Tudor king of England. His victory owed much to his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Over decades and across countries, Margaret had schemed to install her son on the throne and end the War of the Roses. Margaret's extraordinarily close relationship with Henry, coupled with her role in political and ceremonial affairs, ensured that she was treated -- and behaved -- as a queen in all but name. Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and ambition, court intrigue and war, historian Nicola Tallis illuminates how a dynamic, brilliant woman orchestrated the rise of the Tudors.

Author: N.A

Publisher: N.A

ISBN: N.A

Category: Archaeology

Page: 450

View: 5699

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Author: Kathryn Warner

Publisher: The History Press

ISBN: 0750990201

Category: History

Page: 320

View: 7173

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The Wars of the Roses didn’t start on the battlefield: Blood Roses traces it back to the beginning. Starting in 1245 with the founding of the House of Lancaster, Kathryn Warner follows a twisted path of political intrigue, bloody war and fascinating characters over 200 years. From the Barons’ Wars to the overthrowing of Edward II, Eleanor of Castile to Isabella of France, and true love to Loveday, Blood Roses reframes some of the biggest events of the medieval era – not as stand-alone conflicts, but as part of a long-running family feud that would have drastic consequences.