John of Gaunt III's rule was becoming unpopular due to high taxation and his affair with Alice Perrers, political opinion closely associated the Duke of Lancaster with the failing government of the 1370s. Furthermore, while King Edward and the Prince of Wales were popular heroes due to their successes on the battlefield, John of Gaunt had not won equivalent military renown that could have bolstered his reputation. Although he fought in the Battle of Nájera (1367), for example, his later military projects proved unsuccessful. When Edward III died in 1377 and John's ten-year-old nephew succeeded as Richard II of England, John's influence strengthened.
Margaret Drummond (mistress) Margaret Drummond (mistress) Margaret Drummond (c. 1475 – 1501) was a daughter of John Drummond, 1st Lord Drummond, and a mistress of King James IV of Scotland. She was a great-great-great-great-niece of the Margaret Drummond who was King David II's second queen. Her death has been the subject of a very persistent romantic legend. She was definitely the mistress of James IV during 1496-97, and possibly as early as 1495. Records show her living at Stirling Castle from 3 June 1496, and from 30 October to March 1497 at Linlithgow Palace. Her presence, and a previous similar arrangement for another