| Katherine Swynford | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Lancaster | |
 |
|
| Katherine's tomb[1] | |
| Spouse | Hugh Swynford John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster |
| Issue | |
| Thomas Swynford Blanche Swynford Margaret Swynford John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset Henry Beaufort, Cardinal Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland |
|
| House | House of Lancaster (by marriage) |
| Father | Payne de Roet |
| Born | 25 November 1350 |
| Died | 10 May 1403 (aged 52) |
Katherine Swynford (also spelled Synford), née (de) Roet (also spelled (de) Rouet, (de) Roët, or (de) Roelt) (25 November 1350 – 10 May 1403), was the daughter of Payne (or Paen/Paon) de Roet, a Flemish herald from Hainault who was knighted just before his death in battle. Katherine became the third wife of the English prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and their descendants were the Beaufort family, which played a major role in the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII, who became King of England in 1485, derived his claim to the throne from his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was a great-granddaughter of Katherine Swynford, thus making the present Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, one of Katherine's direct descendants.
Contents |
Life
Paon (probably christened Gilles) de Roet's children included Katherine, her sister Philippa, a son, Walter, and the eldest sister, Isabel de Roet, (who died Canoness of the convent of St. Waudru's, Mons, c. 1366). Katherine is generally held to have been his youngest child, although, based on her review of the fragmentary evidence, Weir[2] argues that Philippa was her junior, and further that they were his children by his second wife. De Roet came to England around 1327 with Philippa of Hainault, at the time of her marriage to Edward III, and remained in her retinue. He returned to Hainault, probably by 1349, and Katherine was born the following year. Her birth date is assumed to be 25 November, as that is the feast day of her patron, St. Catherine of Alexandria. The family returned to England in 1351, and it is likely that Katherine remained there during her father's continued travels.
Katherine married Hugh Swynford (1340–1372), a knight from the manor of Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire. Although their marriage is usually held to have taken place in 1366, when Katherine was 15 or 16, Weir argues that the evidence points to no later than 1362[2]; twelve years was a marriageable age at the time. She bore him at least two children: Thomas (21 September 1368 – 1432), Blanche (born 1 May 1367), and likely the Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369) who was nominated a nun at the prestigious Barking Abbey by the command of Richard II in 1377. There may have also been a third daughter named Dorothy. Katherine then became attached to the household of John of Gaunt, as governess to his two daughters Philippa of Lancaster and Elizabeth Plantagenet (the sisters of the future Henry IV) by John's first wife Blanche. Some time before 1373, she became his mistress. Katherine's sister Philippa, a member of the household of Queen Philippa, married the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poem The Book of the Duchess commemorated Blanche's death in 1369.
Two years following the death of his second wife Infanta Constance of Castile, John and Katherine married on 13 January 1396 in Lincoln Cathedral, three years before he died. The four children Katherine had borne John of Gaunt had been given the surname "Beaufort" and were already adults when they were legitimized by this marriage with approval by King Richard and the Pope. The Beauforts were later barred from inheriting the throne by a clause inserted into the legitimation act by their half-brother, Henry IV.
Katherine survived John by only four years, dying on 10 May 1403. She was then dowager Duchess of Lancaster. Her tomb, and that of her daughter Joan Beaufort, are under a carved-stone canopy in the sanctuary of Lincoln Cathedral. Joan's is the smaller of the two tombs; both were decorated with brass plates — full-length representations of them on the tops, and small shields bearing coats of arms around the sides — but those were damaged or destroyed in 1644 during the English Civil War.
Children
By Hugh Swynford:
- Blanche Swynford (born 1 May, 1367), named for the Duchess of Lancaster
- Thomas Swynford (1368-1432)
- Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369)
- ?Dorothy Swynford
By John of Gaunt:
- John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373-1410)
- Henry Beaufort, Cardinal (1375-1447)
- Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (1377-1426)
- Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (1379-1440)
Katherine's son John was the great-grandfather of Henry VII of England and the grandfather of James II of Scotland; her daughter Joan Beaufort was the grandmother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England, whom Henry VII defeated to take the throne. (Henry then married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, and their son became Henry VIII of England). Her stepson became Henry IV of England by deposing Richard II of England (who was imprisoned and died shortly thereafter, in Pontefract Castle, where Katherine's son Thomas Swynford was constable, and he was said to have starved Richard to death for his stepbrother); her stepdaughter, John and Constance's daughter Catherine (or Catalina), was the great-grandmother of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII of England and mother of Mary I of England.
In literature
Katherine Swynford is the subject of Anya Seton's novel Katherine (published in 1954) and of Alison Weir's biography Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess (ISBN 0224063219). Swynford is also the subject of Jeannette Lucraft's historical biography Katherine Swynford: The History of a Medieval Mistress. This book seeks to establish Swynford as a powerful figure in the politics of fourteenth-century England and an example of a woman's ability to manipulate contemporary social mores for her own interests.
References and further reading
- ^ 1640 drawing of the tombs of Katherine Swynford and her daughter Joan Beaufort in Lincoln Cathedral before the tombs were despoiled in 1644 by the Roundheads
- ^ a b Weir, Alison (2007). Katherine Swynford: The story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0224063219.
- Lucraft, Jeannette (2006). Katherine Swynford: The History of a Medieval Mistress. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0750932619.
- In the US, Weir's book is titled Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster.
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