John Russell (died 1405) military service in Ireland under Sir William Windsor, the King's Lieutenant there, sailing across in 1373. Later, he was given the lease of lands in Northamptonshire forfeited in 1378 by Windsor's wife Alice Perrers, the disgraced mistress of King Edward III. In that year he had been knighted, and was elected MP for Worcestershire in both the 1378 and 1379 Parliaments. By 1382 he had married and the next year he became a retainer of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Four years later he transferred to the Royal Household as a King's knight, with a lifetime salary. During the Merciless
English and British royal mistress the royal mistress would often exercise a profound influence over the King, extending even to affairs of State. Her relationship with the Queen could be tense, although some wives appear to have felt little jealousy in the matter. Henry II had several long-term mistresses, including Annabel de Balliol and Rosamund Clifford. He had some illegitimate children by them; but the most prominent of these, Geoffrey (later Archbishop of York) and William (later Earl of Salisbury), were by other women. Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January