Berkhamsted of the monastic order of Bonhommes, in 1283. In 1300, after Edmund died, Edward I - aka 'Longshanks' took the castle and subsequently granted it to his second queen, Margaret of France. In 1309, Edward I and Margaret's son, Edward II, granted Berkhamsted to his favourite, Piers Gaveston; afterwards In 1317, the castle was given to Edward II's queen, Isabella of France. Edward III further developed the castle and gave it to his son, Edward, the Black Prince, who expanded the hunting grounds. By tradition, Berkhamsted Castle still belongs to the eldest son of the reigning English monarch, via the
John of Gaunt scale and organisation to that of a monarch. He owned land in almost every county in England, a patrimony that produced a net income of between £8,000 and £10,000 a year. After the death in 1376 of his older brother Edward of Woodstock (also known as the "Black Prince"), John of Gaunt contrived to protect the religious reformer John Wycliffe, possibly to counteract the growing secular power of the church. However, John's ascendancy to political power coincided with widespread resentment of his influence. At a time when English forces encountered setbacks in the Hundred Years' War against France, and Edward