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 Korikos Alice of Korikos Alice of Korikos (died 1329) was Queen of Armenia by marriage to Leo IV, King of Armenia. She was the only daughter of Oshin of Korikos and his first wife Margaret of Ibelin. On the death of Oshin, King of Armenia, Alice's father became regent for the minor Leo IV, King of Armenia. Alice's father wanted to make his position more powerful. In order to do this he married Joan of Taranto, widow of King Oshin and he forced Alice to marry the young King Leo, in the hope they would one day produce a son and