“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿” 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿.
Son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV and the sire of all the Tudors.
Always close to the English throne, John of Gaunt left a complex legacy.
Too rich, too powerful, too haughty… did he have his eye on his nephew’s throne?
Why was he such a focus of hate in the Peasants’ Revolt?
In examining the life of a pivotal medieval figure, Helen Carr paints a revealing portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, patronised the arts, ran huge risks to pursue the woman he loved… and, according to Shakespeare, gave the most beautiful of all speeches on England.
