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.
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