My Lord John My Lord John My Lord John is an unfinished historical fiction novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, published posthumously in 1975 after her death the previous year. It traces the early lives of the "young lordings" – Harry, Thomas, John, and Humfrey – all sons of the future Lancastrian king Henry IV of England. They grow up amidst turbulent events including the 1394 pestilence, the exile of their father by Richard II, the death of their powerful grandfather John of Gaunt, and the seizure of the throne by their father. John of Lancaster serves as the novel's main character.
John of Gaunt A later proviso that they were specifically barred from inheriting the throne – the phrase "" ("except royal status") – was inserted with dubious authority by their half-brother Henry IV. John died of natural causes on 3 February 1399 at Leicester Castle, with his third wife Katherine by his side. Because of his rank, John of Gaunt was one of England's principal military commanders in the 1370s and 1380s, though his enterprises were never rewarded with the kind of dazzling success that had made his elder brother Edward the Black Prince such a charismatic war leader. On the resumption of