Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess By Alison Weir

I am a huge fan of Alison Weir. Her writing style is engaging and friendly, and it is obvious she knows her way around the contemporary historical texts concerning her subjects. However, this biography of Katherine Swynford, née de Roët, Duchess of Lancaster, shows without a doubt Weir's talents as a historical researcher, assiduously checking and cross-checking everything available to her in order to get as close to the truth as possible.

Much about Katherine's life must be construed from a tiny handful of documents, and without a vast knowledge of the customs and mores of the period, a biographer would be totally at sea. Weir's conclusions are carefully outlined and logical, and she takes pains to address (and refute, if necessary) the conclusions come to by other, earlier chroniclers. Katherine sits at the root of a large genealogical tree, and the influence of her relationship with John of Gaunt had ramifications on late 14th century English culture and continues to influence Anglo-American culture, literature, and politics today. But so little is known of her. Her will does not survive (but we know she made one), no letters in her hand survive (but we know she was highly educated and most likely incredibly literate for her day), and there are no contemporary likenesses of her left to us. Her children, those legitimate from her first marriage and those made legitimate after her marriage to their father, the Duke of Lancaster, played enormous roles in shaping 14th, 15th, and 16th century England, with her blood continuing to run in the veins of the present English monarchs. John of Gaunt has been called the grandfather of Europe, for the descendants of his three wives married in to practically every ruling house in Europe, from Portugal --- England's oldest standing alliance, thank you John of Gaunt --- to Germany. Ever heard of Geoffrey Chaucer? Say thank you to Katherine: he was her brother-in-law, and attained much of his fame through oblique preferment by John and other members of the royal family who held Katherine in high esteem and sought her favor or the Duke's by promoting her relatives.

And yet Katherine was practically expunged from the rolls of history within a generation of her death, and she is almost a total unknown today. We've all heard of Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Elizabeth the First, Mary Queen of Scots, and Isabella of Castile who commissioned Christopher Columbus to sail west from Europe in search of a new route to the Indies; many are familiar with the suspicious death of Richard II, with Henry the Navigator and the Wars of the Roses, or know the significance of the marriage of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York. But very, very few can name the man and the woman from whom all of this sprang.

It is about time, and I think the culture is right, for such an excellent biography of Katherine Swynford to be brought forward. She was the daughter of a humble Hainaultier knight, but she rose to be the second lady in the land, second only to the Queen of England, and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to the nth degrees became towering figures of English history, continuing to shape the modern world. The story of her love affair with the powerful Duke of Lancaster is almost exactly the story of another royal love affair, a modern day one, and like Weir I will gracefully avoid pointing fingers, but as Weir does I shall quote the late Queen Mum: Men of title and privilege simply do not marry their mistresses. Such a marriage as John and Katherine had, one made for love after the end of a marriage made for political and dynastic reasons, especially when the groom was such a powerful, wealthy, influential man and a good catch, and the bride relatively low-born though extremely well-bred --- Even in our own time such marriage would cause comment if such a man married such a woman, his long-time mistress, for love. History, Literature Fiction interesting and detailed look at the relationship between John Of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford and the history of the late 14th century England and France. a very little known character who has influenced British history since as all monarchs come from her line since Edward IV 366 Katherine Swynford is one of those women you hear very little about but whose life had an immense impact on the history of the British Royal House. That is why it is so important to not forget her or her legacy. In this book Weir has tried to recount her life from few and very sparse sources that hardly give any clue as to the life of this elusive woman, who seems to have preferred her privacy to anything else, even at the height of her power as the wife of the mighty Prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. That the sources are sparse is not hard to see in this biography, that seems to focus as much on the rest of the royal house as on Katherine and John. Of course it cannot be denied that these other things are important, very important in fact, but in this book they usually seem to have presedence over Katherine who is, after all, supposed to be the main focus. Her name is, as in the chronicles of that time, hardly ever mentioned here, which irked me to no end. Most of the book was pure fill to make it longer, describing the lives of, for instance, Katherine's sister Philippa in detail, though this is not at all relevant to the rest of the story. I wanted to read about Katherine and John, not Philippa. But the end result is a very good view of the life of Katherine Swynford and her contemporaries, giving insight into both domestic and foreign trials during the beginning of the Hundred Years War. 0712641971 Alison Weir is a wonderful historian in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman and Lady Antonia Frasier. I first read Anya Seton's Katherine as a young teenager and became a lifelong student of Plantagenet history. I've always looked for reliable information on Katherine. Carol Sargeant published a John of Gaunt trilogy billed as history, and it was absolutely dreadful-I gave it to my local bookstore-Seton's novel was much more accurate in the facts. Having read many of Weir's bios, I took this up eagerly and was not disappointed. It is so beautifully researched and footnoted that it takes my breath away. (I am one of those weird nerds who revels in footnotes.) I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 9780712641975 I think everyone who has read this, me included, was drawn to Katherine's story after reading Anya Seton's novel. While this book contains a few interesting illuminations into this fascinating 14th-century woman, so little is known--and that fact is reflected in the construction of the book. If you take out all the repetitions, I think it would be a third of its current length (how many times were we told that her petitions for a private altar showed her piety and that the petitions were granted spoke highly of how the church viewed her in spite of her relationship with John of Gaunt? Or that the two stayed in contact for the sake of their children? or, or, or...) And if you take out the speculation, there'd be almost nothing left. The book is far more about the better-documented people she associated with.

Bill Bryson's book on Shakespeare faced similar documentation problems, yet he turned it into a delightful romp through Elisabethan London. This one rather plods through the intrigues of Katherine's time. If you're curious about Katherine, it's worth the speed-read treatment. If not, Weir's other books are supposedly far better written. Alison Weir

' Weir combines high drama with high passion while involving us in the domestic life of a most remarkable woman in an equally remarkable book' Scotland on Sunday

The first full-length biography of an extraordinary love affair between one of the most important men of English History and a thoroughly modern woman.

Katherine Swynford was first the mistress, and later the wife, of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster. Her charismatic lover was one of the most powerful princes of the fourteenth century and Katherine was renowned for her beauty and regarded as enigmatic, intriguing and even dangerous by some of her contemporaries.

In this impressive book, Alison Weir has triumphantly rescued Katherine from the footnotes of history, highlighting her key dynastic position within the English monarchy. She was the mother of the Beaufort, then the ancestress of the Yorkist kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts and every other sovereign since - a prodigious legacy that has shaped the history of Britain. Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess

I'm about fifty pages in, and while I'm fascinated by the subject (Anya Seton's Katherine was one of the first historical romances I ever read, along with everything by Thomas B. Costain), the writing in this book is so sloppy and pedestrian I'm having difficulty continuing to read it. Was there no editor involved in the publication of this book? For crying out loud!

I wish Marion Meade had written the bio of Katherine Swynford. Sigh...

Update on 4/26--

I stuck with it because Katherine is a fascinating character but this book does not serve her well. Or at all. Never would have made it to the end if it hadn't been for the subject matter. Bad writing, bad editing, the people written about have all the life of stick figures, and the author hasn't even a passing acquaintance with logic.

I find it incredible that anyone could have written a biography of Katherine Swynford that was this lifeless. Run away, run very far away. 9780712641975 I've been reading Alison Weir's history books since 1992, as her topics encompass the historical periods I've been interested in for a long time now. I'm always impressed with her insights (usually each book has a fresh, persuasive reinterpretation of some long-held belief) and her clarity (I thought The Wars of the Roses would bore me in its details, but I couldn't have been more wrong). Here, I have to say there were times when I was bored, but that was no fault of the author's writing or of her research, which always seems to be impeccable, or of her subject, except the inescapable fact that there's just not a lot of primary records on Katherine to be found (which the author admits straight off) so, unavoidably, a lot of inferences are made, which is not a problem in and of itself, except her conclusions get repetitive after only a short while.

While I am very interested in this time period and this woman (and I did love Anya Seton's novel, Katherine when I read it way back in the 80s), I think this biography is only worth the time for those who are extremely interested in this time period and/or this woman. 0712641971 This is biography done the old-fashioned way--tracking down every trace of a record and pursuing every obscure sideline. Weir tells the story of Katherine Swynford (c 1350-1403) who had a long affair with John of Gaunt, a younger son of King Edward III, and ultimately married him when they were both well into middle-age (no pun intended). This was a brazen love match in a century when marriage was strictly for political and financial gain and no one expected it to have anything to do with affection. Even more unusually, Katherine and John's four bastard children were later legitimized. Katherine's descendants were major players in the War of the Roses, became the Stuart and Tudor dynasties, and the the ancestors of every British monarch since 1461. Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess So who was Katherine Swynford? Most have never heard the name before. She was the daughter of a page from Hainault who arrived in England under the service of Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. She was brought up in the royal household of Edward & Philippa, married a knight, one Hugh Swynford.
She became the mistress and later wife of John of Gaunt (Ghent). Here is 14th century scandal. However at the courts of Edward III & later Richard II, she was highly thought of. Geoffrey Chaucer was her brother-in-law.
Alison Weir's expert research pulls Katherine from the mists of history, to tell a story that reads like a novel. Her genealogy is part of Elizabeth II and nearly every monarch in Europe. Five American presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Franklin D.Roosevelt & George W.Bush. Sir Winston Churchill, Alfred Lord Tennyson & Bertrand Russell. Alison Weir This is overall a very satisfying book. The author, Alison Weir, takes what scraps of information we have about Katherine Swynford and creates what is at least a plausible tale of her life and times. In addition, we get a detailed portrait of her lover and, later, husband--John of Gaunt, son of a king and father of kings. Indeed their liaison produced several lines of rulers--York, Lancaster, Tudor, and Stuart/Stewart. Indeed, the last paragraph of the book notes the even more remarkable descendants of the two focal figures in this book--Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales, and most monarchs in Europe today, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush, Winston Churchill, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Bertrand Russell, and others.

Weir seems careful to separate what is speculation and what is known about Katherine (e.g., she speculates that Katherine might have been in the royal court and might have met some future associates at that time). The context of the times is well described, so that even thought details are scarce on Katherine, the context in which she lives is richly depicted. Katherine herself comes off well as a character. Weir speculates that she might have been the model for one virtuous woman in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer was her brother-in-law). Katherine wed Hugh Swynford, who served as a soldier in the king's army and was often away for long periods of time. As were most marriages of the time, this was more of a business deal than an exemplification of love. Indeed, the record is unclear as to whether or not Katherine was happy with her husband. After having lived at court for a lengthy time, it must have been disheartening for her when she saw the rather plain housing into which she moved upon marriage.

Then, there is the twinned story of John of Gaunt. He was an important figure in royal circles. He married Blanche of Lancaster, and--odd enough for the time--they were truly in love with one another. His story details his role in English politics and international politics as well as his life with Blanche. One of their sons became Henry IV, succeeded by Henry V and the hapless Henry VI. Upon Blanche's untimely death, he married Constance of Castile; their daughter later married the King of Castile. After his marriage to Constance, and after the death of Hugh Swynford, Katherine became his mistress for some time (they may have separated at one point). She bore him, out of wedlock it goes without saying, four children--from those children came the Stuart kings (Scotland), the House of Tudor, and the Yorkist kings (Plantagenets--Edward IV and Richard III). In an extraordinary twist of history, one of the daughters of Edward IV, Elizabeth, married the first Tudor King, Henry VII.

After Constance's death, Katherine wed John and they lived as husband and wife for the few year together left them.

This is a fast moving story, covering an important part of English history. Weir, as best she can given limited information, brings the different characters to life as much as possible under those circumstances. I found this a fascinating book; it is well sritten. And, the genealogical tables at the end were absolutely vital for keeping the players straight (the notables include: The Roet family (Katherine's ancestors and her siblings), the descendants of Edward III (including John of Gaunt), the House of Lancaster, the Swynford family, the Chaucer family, and the Beauforts (descendants of John and Katherine, including Stuarts, Tudors, and Plantagenets).
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