I, John, son of the King of England, Duke of Lancaster, February 3d, 1397. My body to be buried in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, of London, near the principal altar, beside my most dear late wife Blanch, who is there interred. If I die out of London I desire that the night my body arrives there, that it be carried direct to the Friars Carmelites in Fleet Street, and the next day taken strait to St. Paul's, and that it be not buried for forty days, during which I charge my executors that there be no cering or embalming my corpse...
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| Seal of John of Gaunt, seated, crowned and with royal scepter and orb. |
•Henry of Lancaster (of Derby or Monmouth), son of Gaunt by his first wife, who took the throne by right of conquest from his first cousin Richard II;
•Philippa of Lancaster, his daughter by Blanche of Lancaster, who became Queen of Portugal upon her marriage to Joao I of Portugal, cementing the world's longest standing naval treaty, still in force today;
•Catherine of Lancaster, his daughter by the Infanta Constanza, who became Queen of Spain upon her marriage to Enrique III (Trastamara);
•John Beaufort, son by his mistress Katherine, who was raised to the rank of Marquis and was a staunch supporter of the House of Lancaster; his direct line ended in a female -- Margaret Beaufort -- who was, of course, the mother of Henry VII.
•Thomas Beaufort, a capable admiral and loyal supporter of his half-brother, Henry IV, who was noted for his high moral standards.
•Joan Beaufort, his daughter with Katherine Swynford, who made an extremely advantageous second marriage upon legitimation to the Earl of Westmoreland, Ralph Neville. Their children's lines would be largely decimated in the subsequent Wars of the Roses as their lines split between Lancastrian (as seen on Joan's empty tomb effigy at Staindrop Church and in MS illuminations) and those of Yorkist affiliations (especially descending from Joan's daughter Cecily Neville, the white rose of Raby).
•Henry Beaufort, Bishop, Cardinal and Chancellor of England, son of John and Katherine who has been described as the ablest of the Beauforts. Beaufort's financial astuteness resulted in a well feathered nest for him and those he cared for, including his half-brother the King and his nephew, Henry V. Beaufort financed to a large degree English military exploits during his adulthood, and was largely responsible, along with his sister Joan, for establishing the Lincoln Cathedral tombs and chantry for Joan and their mother, Katherine. He was also a seasoned diplomat, meeting with the Hess, and even making a joke about Sweden's St. Birgitta during diplomatic negotiations.
•John Beaufort, son by his mistress Katherine, who was raised to the rank of Marquis and was a staunch supporter of the House of Lancaster; his direct line ended in a female -- Margaret Beaufort -- who was, of course, the mother of Henry VII.
•Thomas Beaufort, a capable admiral and loyal supporter of his half-brother, Henry IV, who was noted for his high moral standards.
•Joan Beaufort, his daughter with Katherine Swynford, who made an extremely advantageous second marriage upon legitimation to the Earl of Westmoreland, Ralph Neville. Their children's lines would be largely decimated in the subsequent Wars of the Roses as their lines split between Lancastrian (as seen on Joan's empty tomb effigy at Staindrop Church and in MS illuminations) and those of Yorkist affiliations (especially descending from Joan's daughter Cecily Neville, the white rose of Raby).
•Henry Beaufort, Bishop, Cardinal and Chancellor of England, son of John and Katherine who has been described as the ablest of the Beauforts. Beaufort's financial astuteness resulted in a well feathered nest for him and those he cared for, including his half-brother the King and his nephew, Henry V. Beaufort financed to a large degree English military exploits during his adulthood, and was largely responsible, along with his sister Joan, for establishing the Lincoln Cathedral tombs and chantry for Joan and their mother, Katherine. He was also a seasoned diplomat, meeting with the Hess, and even making a joke about Sweden's St. Birgitta during diplomatic negotiations.
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| John's personal seal showing the arms of England & France, ancient. |
Gaunt's Will.
Wills are wonderful tools to examine to see what was considered valuable or meaningful or important. Some are short and perfunctory, some are very legalistic, and others shine light upon the deceased and the people in his or her life. The will of John of Gaunt is detailed and complex but also gives ample evidence of those who were important in his life as well as some practical matters, as we shall see below.
Probably the most curious aspect of Gaunt's will -- and it was up front in the second sentence of the will -- was the business of the deceased being kept above ground for a considerable period, without benefit of embalming or preservation of the body; in Gaunt's case, the term was for 40 days. The request seems strange and morbid until one realizes that, in the absence of knowledge gained from modern medicine, someone suffering from some hopefully temporary condition that makes one appear as dead (comatose? catatonic? a stroke?) just might have a vested interest in not being summarily buried alive. The fear of being buried alive is said to be one of the more common human phobias. The philosopher John Duns Scotus was reportedly buried alive (although the 14th century tale is likely apocryphal). Other stories were known, as well: it seems to have been used for executions in medieval Italy and Japan. Why would Gaunt have had this fear?
Not all wills carried this provision and one wonders what was on Gaunt's mind. Biographer Anthony Goodman discusses at some length the various political entanglements afoot towards the end of Gaunt's days: longstanding conflicts within the royal family were coming to a head, pitting brother against brother; the proposed marriage and peace treaty with France was one such source of contention. Gaunt's brother Woodstock was reported to have betrayed their plan to kidnap the king, Gaunt, and brother Langley to remove them from power. John Beaufort and Henry of Derby were both involved and things got ugly, culminating in Richard's having Woodstock assassinated. Gaunt evidently had begun to fear Richard with respect to the royal family and his own close kin; as he left Richard's presence a few years earlier to manage crown affairs, he wrote to the king,
I believe and truly hope, my lord, that you have always had such proof [of my loyalty] by experience of all my dealings with you.
Richard was playing a tricky game of appeasement with his uncle. On the one hand, he was invariably courteous and outwardly supportive: he acceded to Gaunt's wish to have his cherished Beaufort children legitimated. Richard, who was contemplating his second marriage to Isabella of Valois, was likely not feeling particularly competitive where his Beaufort relations were concerned. On the other, Gaunt may have lived every day wondering when the assassin -- possibly armed with disabling poison or other substance -- would come for him. He'd been fighting for the crown of Castile for his wife, and the Castilian court was byzantine at best. He'd lost his loved palace of the Savoy. So many vicissitudes may have weighed on his mind as he drew up his will preparatory to breathing his last. What would happen now to his wife and their four children?
Links:
Buried Alive!
Medieval Persian teenager declared 'dead'
Probably the most curious aspect of Gaunt's will -- and it was up front in the second sentence of the will -- was the business of the deceased being kept above ground for a considerable period, without benefit of embalming or preservation of the body; in Gaunt's case, the term was for 40 days. The request seems strange and morbid until one realizes that, in the absence of knowledge gained from modern medicine, someone suffering from some hopefully temporary condition that makes one appear as dead (comatose? catatonic? a stroke?) just might have a vested interest in not being summarily buried alive. The fear of being buried alive is said to be one of the more common human phobias. The philosopher John Duns Scotus was reportedly buried alive (although the 14th century tale is likely apocryphal). Other stories were known, as well: it seems to have been used for executions in medieval Italy and Japan. Why would Gaunt have had this fear?
Not all wills carried this provision and one wonders what was on Gaunt's mind. Biographer Anthony Goodman discusses at some length the various political entanglements afoot towards the end of Gaunt's days: longstanding conflicts within the royal family were coming to a head, pitting brother against brother; the proposed marriage and peace treaty with France was one such source of contention. Gaunt's brother Woodstock was reported to have betrayed their plan to kidnap the king, Gaunt, and brother Langley to remove them from power. John Beaufort and Henry of Derby were both involved and things got ugly, culminating in Richard's having Woodstock assassinated. Gaunt evidently had begun to fear Richard with respect to the royal family and his own close kin; as he left Richard's presence a few years earlier to manage crown affairs, he wrote to the king,
I believe and truly hope, my lord, that you have always had such proof [of my loyalty] by experience of all my dealings with you.
Richard was playing a tricky game of appeasement with his uncle. On the one hand, he was invariably courteous and outwardly supportive: he acceded to Gaunt's wish to have his cherished Beaufort children legitimated. Richard, who was contemplating his second marriage to Isabella of Valois, was likely not feeling particularly competitive where his Beaufort relations were concerned. On the other, Gaunt may have lived every day wondering when the assassin -- possibly armed with disabling poison or other substance -- would come for him. He'd been fighting for the crown of Castile for his wife, and the Castilian court was byzantine at best. He'd lost his loved palace of the Savoy. So many vicissitudes may have weighed on his mind as he drew up his will preparatory to breathing his last. What would happen now to his wife and their four children?
Links:
Buried Alive!
Medieval Persian teenager declared 'dead'
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