The Aftermath of 
the Death of John of Gaunt 

Arms of John of Gaunt at St. Albans Cathedral

When we last saw him, we wondered "what would happen now to his wife and their four children?" upon the death of John of Gaunt. 

For the period immediately after his death the answer seems to be "not much."  After having his will made a full year prior, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, former titular King of Castile, passed away at Leicester, aged ~59 years.  He had been ailing since the banishment of his son and heir, Henry of Derby, at the hands of Gaunt's mercurial nephew Richard II, whose rights he had striven to assure for his father and brother's sake, if not for England's.

Still, he had reason for weariness and wariness the last year of his life.  His nephew, the king, had delivered to him a set of documents of unknown content.  However, having had their contents read to him, he shortly thereafter took his leave of life.  All that would normally have been required was burial at the cathedral of his choice, St. Paul's of London, as well as the proving and follow-through of the wishes expressed in his will.  However after the murder of his brother, he may have felt compelled to order that his body not be embalmed or otherwise cered for a period of 40 days, likely due to the fear of either assassination like his brother, or of being buried alive.

As his late biographer, Sydney Armitage Smith, noted, 

In accordance with his wishes, his body was carried to the Carmelites in Fleet Street, to remain there until the day of burial.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, er, St. Paul's cathedral.  London was more than a day's distance from Leicester, and John of Gaunt had had his heart set on being buried alongside his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, at St. Paul's in a magnificent double-tomb of alabaster and other stone, possibly the grandest memorial the medieval structure was to see and which he had started construction of by 1374, completed by 1380.  Thus it happened that his cortege and accompanying mourners, including his grieving widow, the former Katherine Swynford, and son, Henry Beaufort, now the scandalously young Bishop of Lincoln, required services and lodging for a night at St. Alban's.

The now Cathedral of St. Albans, Hertfordshire

Yes, that St. Alban's, of the chronicler, Thomas Walsingham, who chose the most unfortunate language to describe the grieving widow in happier times.  It would seem that some nicety of church etiquette allowed the head of St. Alban's the right to refuse the request of Henry Beaufort to officiate the services for his father the evening of their lodging there.  This provided St. Alban's with the right to press for the payment of a ring of Beaufort's that the head of St. Alban's coveted in return for Beaufort's request to celebrate and officiate services for the evening of the lodging.  

Henry Beaufort.  Painted portrait on glass
at Queens College, Oxford (ca. 1633)

                                                     

Beaufort's biographer G. L. Harriss noted the injury to Beaufort and the double enmity St. Alban's was inflicting in Beaufort's time of grief.  As Harriss notes, Beaufort never forgot the slight and later was to recover the coveted ring.  Even in death, John of Gaunt was buffeted by politics  and disapproving monastic chroniclers, including that of St. Alban's in Hertfordshire, where Constance frequently maintained a court presence.  His body was finally brought to London to the Carmelites on Fleet Street, where the funeral's plans were executed according to his will, being buried March 16, 1399.

The medieval edifice of St. Paul` of London prior to the 1561 lightening fire which struck and destroyed its magnificent spire.  Queen Elizabeth I personally contributed to the spire's reconstruction and heard services there upon the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

The greater part of his will was dedicated to numerous bequests to religious institutions above all.  He wished his funeral to avoid any signs of ostentatiousness but desired to be remembered especially by his family as well as his peers of the nobility.  He took great care in the establishment of trusts for each of his Beaufort offspring that they always be taken care of via the purchase of profitable properties that did not endanger the inheritance of his offspring by his first two wives.  One gift to Richard II was of a valuable and cherished gold cup recently given to him by his third wife, the Duchess Katherine; thus had the great Duke sought to sow whatever peace and tranquility after his death that he could.

http://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/specialcollections/2016/09/01/the-destruction-of-old-st-pauls/