John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford

John of Lancaster
Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (left)
Spouse	Anne of Burgundy m. 1423; dec. 1432 Jacquetta of Luxembourg m. 1433; wid. 1435
Father	Henry IV Bolingbroke, King of England
Mother	Mary de Bohun
Born	20 June 1389(1389-06-20)
Died	14 September 1435 (aged 46) Castle of 'Joyeux Repos', Rouen
Burial	Rouen Cathedral, Normandy

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (20 June 1389 – 14 September 1435), also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI.

Life account

He was created Earl of Kendal, Earl of Richmond and Duke of Bedford in 1414 by his brother, King Henry V. On 14 June 1423, at Troyes, he married Anne, daughter of John the Fearless. After Anne's death in childbirth in 1432, he married Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

When Henry V died in 1422, Bedford vied with his younger brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, for control of the Kingdom. Bedford was declared Regent of France, his nephew technically being heir to the throne of that country as well as to the Kingdom of England. Bedford defeated the French several times, until the arrival of Joan of Arc rallied the opposition. In 1431, Bedford had Joan tried and executed at Rouen, then arranged a coronation for the young Henry VI at Paris. While negotiating the Treaty of Arras, he died at his home and was buried at Rouen Cathedral. Bedford had been Governor in Normandy between 1422-1432,^[1][2] where the University of Caen was founded under his auspices.

He was an extremely important commissioner of illuminated manuscripts, both from Paris (from the Bedford Master and his workshop) and England. The three most important surviving manuscripts of his are the Bedford Hours (British Library Ms Add 18850) and the Salisbury Breviary (Paris BnF Ms Lat. 17294), which were both made in Paris, and the Bedford Psalter and Hours of about 1420-23, which is English (BL Ms Add 42131). This last is signed in two places by Herman Scheere. All are lavishly decorated and famous examples of the style of the period.

John died on 14 September 1435 at age 46 at Castle of Joyeux Repos, Rouen, Caux, France, without legitimate surviving issue. He was buried at Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Caux, France.^[3]

In literature

He appears in William Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 as John of Lancaster, and in Henry V and Henry VI, Part 1 as Duke of Bedford.

Georgette Heyer wrote the book "My Lord John" about him from when he was four to about twenty.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Arms

As a son of the sovereign, John bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label of five points per pale ermine and France.^[4]

In the Bedford Book of Hours ^[5] these arms are shown supported by an eagle collared with a crown and a sable yale all on a gold field sewn with gold uprooted tree-stumps. It is possible that the yale was painted in silver which has tarnished black. The shield is surrounded with a pair of banners gules which reverse in argent with the motto repeated four times: A vous entier (To you / yours entire[ly]). This may be a pun on the German Tier, i.e., beast, or on (English) tears —or 'tiers' of meaning, including tierce, referring to himself as third in line to his father's throne and by now rightful King but for the baby Henry VI. The Hours were supposedly produced as a courtship present from John to his wife, Anne, daughter of John the Fearless of Burgundy.

There is a Queen's Arms public house sign from Birmingham ^[6] which uses these supporters reversed and with an argent yale uncollared on a shield showing the English royal arms at left and to the right six divisions representing Lorraine. John's second wife, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, cousin to the Emperor (the King of Hungary), was mother to Elizabeth Woodville who may be this queen. Elizabeth Woodville's right to inherit these armorial supporters would seem dubious if they belong to her mother's first husband or to his first wife. Alternatively, though equally incorrect, the arms may be her mother's used in a flattering conceit.

Ancestry

References