Mistress of the Monarchy (56 page)

Joan Beaufort’s tomb effigy in Staindrop Church, Co. Durham. She is not buried here.

A drawing of Joan Beaufort’s effigy at Staindrop.

Joan Beaufort and her daughters by Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, from
The Neville Hours
. It has been suggested that a text in this manuscript reveals Joan’s feelings about her bastardy.

The brass of Thomas Chaucer and his wife, Maud Burghersh. The armorial shields on this tomb have given rise to the theory that Thomas was Philippa Chaucer’s son by John of Gaunt.

John of Gaunt in later life, from
The Golden Book of St. Albans
.

John of Gaunt, from the St. Cuthbert window in York Minster. This window may hold clues to the Duke’s final illness.

The dying John of Gaunt, by James Northcote. A romantic view, showing Katherine Swynford attired in the costume of the 1790s.

Katherine in widow’s weeds, from her lost brass tomb.

The Priory, Lincoln, and its vanished gatehouse.

D
uring her second widowhood, Katherine leased another house in Lincoln’s cathedral close, where she spent her last years.

The stone dresser from the former great hall of the Priory; it dates from Katherine’s time.

The exterior of the Priory, as it is today. Katherine’s longdemolished solar block was to the right of the building.

The lost tomb of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster in Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London. These effigies were not the originals, which were replaced in Tudor times. An inscription on this tomb paid tribute to Katherine Swynford’s famed beauty.

The tombs of Katherine Swynford and Joan Beaufort in their original positions in Lincoln Cathedral.