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.
Alice of Norfolk Alice of Norfolk Alice of Norfolk or Alice of Brotherton (c. 1324 – c. 30 January 1352) was an English noblewoman. She was the daughter of Thomas of Brotherton, and a granddaughter of King Edward I of England. She married Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu. Alice of Norfolk, likely born about 1324, was the daughter of Thomas of Brotherton, eldest son of King Edward I by his second marriage to Margaret of France (1279?–1318), the daughter of King Philippe III of France (d.1285). Her mother was Alice de Hales (d. in or before 1330), daughter of Sir Roger de Hales