Mistress of the Monarchy (54 page)

Lincoln Cathedral. Katherine was to enjoy a long association with the cathedral and its clergy.

St. Margaret’s Church, Pottergate, Lincoln (now demolished). Katherine’s son, Thomas Swynford, was baptized here in 1367.

Kenilworth Castle. John of Gaunt’s great hall is one of the finest surviving fourteenthcentury rooms in England.

Constance of Castile, second wife of John of Gaunt. Within months of their marriage, Katherine Swynford had become John’s mistress.

John Wycliffe reading his translation of the Bible to his patron John of Gaunt. Painting by Ford Madox Brown. Among those listening is Chaucer; the lady with the baby is perhaps meant to be Katherine.

A
fter she became his mistress, John of Gaunt appointed Katherine Swynford governess to his two daughters by Blanche.

Philippa of Lancaster

Elizabeth of Lancaster

Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby (later Henry IV), John of Gaunt’s heir.

Richard II: detail from the Wilton Diptych.

B
oth Richard II and Henry IV were to show friendship for Katherine.

Plan of the Chancery, Lincoln. After the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, Katherine retired to Lincoln and leased the Chancery, a fine house in the cathedral close; for the next fifteen years, she would be based here and at Kettlethorpe.

The Chancery: Katherine’s solar and chapel block, her screens passage and the site of her great hall. The timbered range is Tudor.

The supposed effigy of Philippa Chaucer in Old (East) Worldham Church, Hampshire.

Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry of Derby, was close to Katherine.