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 de Lusignan of Angoulême Alice de Lusignan of Angoulême Alice de Lusignan (or Alice of Angoulême) (born after October 1236 – May 1290) was the first wife of Marcher baron Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and half-niece of King Henry III of England. It was rumoured that she became the mistress of her half first cousin Prince Edward, while she was briefly imprisoned on account of her husband's treason. Alice de Lusigan was born sometime after October 1236 in Angoulême, Charente, France, the daughter of Hugh XI of Lusignan, Seigneur de Lusignan, Couhe, et de Peyrat, Count of La Marche and Angoulême,