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trueslicky OP t1_itqay25 wrote

Interesting story about how a mistress with four illegitimate children can include amongst her descendants the House of Stuart, the Hanovers, and the Windsors--and also connected to six U.S. presidents.

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Ferengi_Earwax t1_itrjo1y wrote

John of gaunt was one of the sons of Edward the 3rd. He was the richest man in England basically. The couple recieved papal dispensation for their marriage and to make their children legitimate. You know he paid a whole lot of fleeces to the pope for that one. Kathryn swynfords sister was married to geophrey chaucer. It's said chaucer and his wife profited greatly from this family connection. Getting appointments for his family and pensions. Chaucer was given an annual stipend of a gallon of wine a day for life by Richard the 2nd. Given on a st. Day that honors artists. He had traveled Europe serving both John of gaunt and Lionel of anterp. Both sons of Edward 3. Chaucer must have been creating literary works during this time to lead up to the stipend/pension. When Henry the 4th (bolingbroke,, son of John of gaunt) took the throne, the stipend was turned into a monetary payment. By the time of his death, it seems he wasn't receiving it for whatever reason. It's the last record of chaucer asking for his pension repeatedly.

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trueslicky OP t1_itrqh0q wrote

The relationship to Chaucwr is mentioned in the link I posted, but you offered more context. Thank you!

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MAGolding t1_itwrjj4 wrote

Chaucer would have been rather old when Edward iV took the throne for the first time in 1461. I think that you probably ment to write Henry IV who usurped more than 60 years earlier.

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Ferengi_Earwax t1_itynvrb wrote

Thank you! Man I can't believe nobody let me know sooner! Fixing it now

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Dynamiquehealth t1_itt2n6v wrote

I have a history podcast and I just finished a series of three episodes on John of Gaunt. I think he gets overlooked due to the Wars of the Roses and being the younger brother of the Black Prince. I was actually really impressed by him marrying Kathrine Swynford years after their relationship ended and legitimising their children. It was probably both a romantic and thoughtful decision.

I find it interesting that every single monarch in Europe except the monarch of Andorra and the Vatican are descended from him (and with the number of children their daughter Joan had I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those three could be descended from him). I’m actually about to read Katherine’s biography even though I won’t be doing an episode on her. I’ll add this to my reading list.

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NoonieP t1_itt7uo7 wrote

Could you share the name of that podcast?

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Dynamiquehealth t1_ittcq8j wrote

Yes, I didn’t want to post unless asked. It’s called Passed. The podcast about those who would never rule. You can find it on Apple and most other podcast hosts (though not Google, we’re working on it). The hosting website is below. Please let me know what you think.

https://shows.acast.com/passedpod

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NoonieP t1_iturt4p wrote

Ah! Of course I just switched over to Google from Stitcher. I'll download stitcher and see if I cam find it. Thanks!

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NoonieP t1_itus9tx wrote

And clicking the link, I can listen from that. Perfect!

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DrunkOnRedCordial t1_ittq2i5 wrote

Once you are connected to the Windsors, you are automatically connected to Tudor, Stuart and Hanover. But there would be a lot of Tudors, Stuarts and Hanovers who didn't progress so far in the heritage game.

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