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 Norreys Alice Norreys Lady Alice Norreys (previously Dame Alice Norreys; c. 1405 – c. 1450) was an English Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Alice was probably born at Yattendon Castle, her family's Berkshire seat. She was the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Merbrook of Yattendon. She married Sir John Norreys around 1425 and the couple inherited Yattendon Castle about 1440. As well as Yattendon and Ockwells Manor in Bray, they spent much of their life resident in London where Sir John was Master of the Wardrobe to King Henry VI. They had four children: Alice was