John of Gaunt John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 13403 February 1399) was an English prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the third of the five sons of King Edward III of England who survived to adulthood. Due to his royal origin, advantageous marriages, and some generous land grants, Gaunt was one of the richest men of his era, and an influential figure during the reigns of both his father, Edward, and his nephew, Richard II. As Duke of Lancaster, he is the founder of the royal House of Lancaster, whose members would ascend to the throne
John of Gaunt a British race for Thoroughbred horses run annually in June. Fakenham in Norfolk has the full name of Fakenham Lancaster as a tribute to him as Duke of Lancaster. Anya Seton's best-selling 1954 novel "Katherine" depicts John's long-term affair with and eventual marriage to Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt is a major character in Garry O'Connor's "Chaucer's Triumph: Including the Case of Cecilia Chaumpaigne, the Seduction of Katherine Swynford, the Murder of Her Husband, the Interment of John of Gaunt and Other Offices of the Flesh in the Year 1399" (2007). John of Gaunt is a recurring character in Jeri