Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

Alison Weir's new biography of Katherine Swynford (1350-1403) is compelling and almost novelistic in detail, fleshed out with information about the people around Katherine, including the English royals and Geoffrey Chaucer (her brother-in-law).Weir paints a nicely detailed picture of the late fourteenth century (including feudalism, the plague, the Church, capitalism, national and international politics, and social mores)--and an impressionistic portrait of Katherine and even her character emerges. (This is a pleasant contrast to Jeannette Lucraft's continual complaints about the paucity of information about Katherine and her character in another recent, but much less enjoyable, book on Katherine.) Weir weaves in details of the royals' financial records to good effect, for instance, drawing out patterns associated to the births of Katherine's illegitimate children. Weir also speculates candidly and sometimes persuasively on details that can't be ascertained from the sources.Katherine was born into the knightly family of Roet in Hainault (a historical county in what is now Belgium and France). The Roets probably had connections to the ruling family of Hainault, and Katherine traveled to England as a young girl in the train of Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault and future queen of Edward III. Thus Katherine had the best upbringing possible in the 14th century--one in the royal court--and that she was able to rise to such an important position from relatively humble birth.In her late teens, Katherine also married a knight in the royal circle, Hugh Swynford, who had a little property and by whom she had three or four children. Around this time Katherine became attached to the household of Blanche, heiress to the Lancastrian duchy and cousin to the King. In 1359, Blanche married John of Gaunt (1340-1399), the third son of Edward III and Philippa. Much like the marriage of the King and Queen, theirs was a love match as well as a dynastic one--Blanche had seven children, including the future Henry IV. The material aspect of their marriage was soon fulfilled when Blanche's father and sister died and John inherited the Lancastrian lands in his wife's right; soon after, the king created him Duke of Lancaster in 1362.Unfortunately for John, Blanche died shortly after giving birth in 1369. Hugh Swynford died several years later, leaving Katherine a widow just when John of Gaunt was arranging his political marriage to Constance of Castile, who had a claim to that throne through her father. This marriage was not a happy one--Katherine became the governess of the Duke's children and his mistress within months of his wedding. (This was after Swynford's death, Weir persuasively argues.)During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, John's London palace was destroyed, and understanding this as God's judgement on his immoral private life, he pubicly renounced Katherine. Arguing against the Lucraft's claim that the affair resumed quietly when the furor died down, Weir makes a convincing argument that John and Katherine resisted temptation and did not become lovers again until their marriage more than a decade later. She cites in particular the fact that Katherine had no more children by John--she'd borne four Beauforts in the nine years of their affair, and she was still young enough to bear more.After Constance's death, John obtained a papal dispensation, married Katherine in 1396 (the obstacle was that he had stood godfather to one of her Swynford sons), and legitimated their Beaufort children. Her marriage to the most powerful man in England put Katherine in a very select society--only a few other mistresses who married their royal lovers spring to mind: Anne Boleyn, Madame de Maintenon (Louis XIV's second wife), and the current Duchess of Cornwall. Richard II had always liked Katherine, and the nobility gradually accepted her.After John of Gaunt's death in 1399, Katherine retired to the country, probably due to ill health (maybe the venereal disease that probably killed the Duke), and kept out of the political turmoil that followed. Her children were quite involved, but on the side of Henry IV (at least privately). She died in 1403, the mother of rich and powerful children (one was almost elected Pope) who would have illustrious descendants of their own. Her granddaughter Joan Beaufort married James I of Scotland; another granddaughter, Cecily Neville, married Richard, Duke of York, and was the mother of two kings; her great-great-grandson Henry Tudor ended the Wars of the Roses in 1485 and founded the Tudor Dynasty. Several American presidents are descended from Katherine.Two things mar this otherwise enjoyable book: an annoying occurence of wrongly placed hyphens (perhaps from a previous typesetting), and overly precise modern equivalents of ancient monetary amounts (e.g., on page 41, she has 4000 pounds back then being equivalent to 1,075,396 pounds now--surely the uncertainty of the conversion factor is large enough that saying "about 1 million pounds" would be better).Notwithstanding those small criticisms, Weir should be applauded for elucidating the life of an unfamiliar but important figure in English history. I would recommend this book to fans of Weir's books and Anya Seton's  Katherine --and to anyone interested in medieval society.

When I want to read a book on a topic that interests me and I don't know much about the author, I really enjoy reading the reviews - both for and against. I especially value the reviews that summarize the contents briefly so I can get some idea of how the topic is treated. Sometimes the evaluations for are unbelievably favorable, and I could well believe they are written by friends and relatives. On the other hand, the negative reviews go far in the other direction, especially when the author has hit nerves on sensitive issues or debunked a point of view. The negative reviews of this book are good illustrations of that.I read KATHERINE by Anya Seton in the late 1950s, and I loved it. I reread it many times. I've been fascinated by medieval England since I first read Howard Pyle's stories of King Arthur and Robin Hood when I was in grade school. As I grew older and started reading nonfiction and histories, I started putting myth and legend into perspective with historical research. I went through a period of almost sadness to learn my favorite stories had maybe just a smidgen of fact, but I quickly shifted into appreciating the imagination of the storytellers who could bring dry records to life to form a picture of what life was like in the distant past.One of my college professors in a history of England class gave us a beginning assignment - write your version of the conquest of England using only sources dating no later than 100 years (I think - maybe 200 years) of 1066. These included the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Bayeaux tapestry, three or four other chroniclers - when we looked at them, there was maybe five or six pages of information mostly from Norman French sources. None of us had brains enough in gear to attempt to evaluate who the writers of these "histories" were and who they were trying to impress or were paid by, or to think that just maybe none of them even attempted to give us the whole story. Yup, I was one of those who flunked the paper big time.Historical research is not for sissies. I knew even back in the late 50s that KATHERINE was a romance. It wasn't until maybe 10-15 years later when I had studied the sociology as well as the history of the middle ages that I realized just how romanticized it was. We surely don't think about ourselves and our values today as did people living centuries ago. Ms Seton's book is still a good story (I still own it and reread it with pleasure), and it fed my interest in studying history. Thank you, Anya Seton. And thank you, Alison Weir. You have both made my life much richer.

Alison Weir's scholarship is in no doubt, and the immersive detail she brings to her historical biographies cannot be faulted, but her writing style can be, not to put too fine a point on it, quite boring. I have always loved the story of Katharine Swynford, the mistress, then wife, of John of Gaunt, one of medieval histories most formidable, fascinating, and flamboyant characters. My introduction to Katherine, like many before me including actress Hayley Mills, was the novel by Anya Seton, and I really enjoyed the novel.This biography does not capture the beautiful woman whose influence and capability, perseverance and tact through scandal and intrigue, deserves a more dramatic treatment. Alison Weir not only dispels the myths, she bogs the reader down in rather boring domesticity and confuses with conjecture and dubious possibilities. While Weir herself admits that Anya Seton's novel was also inspirational to her, she unfortunately drowns in detail, and reading this book becomes a chore rather than a fascination.However, not to over-criticise, Alison Weir's research does mean that her descriptions of medieval courtly life, the personages and events of this turbulent time after Edward III died and John of Gaunt effectively rules England, offer the reader a comprehensive history of a time of such different mores and standards than today's. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the period at the turn of the 13th into 14th century, when Chaucer was writing his tales, chivalry still alive, and high-born women tolerated mistresses. Just don't expect a lively portrayal of one of the more interesting women of the Middle Ages. If Katherine Swynford interests you, read the novel.

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. In my opinion Alison Weir is one of our best biographers and I know her books are going to be good whenever I see her name. Katherine Swynford was a fascinating woman who was one of the key figures of the Middle Ages and this biography hasn't failed to do either her or her biographer justice. Katherine Swynford's blood has flowed in the veins of all the English monarchs since Henry VI as well as other royal families in Europe. From her are descended the Yorkist kings, the monarchs of the Houses of Tudor and Stuart and her blood flows today in the veins of Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor. Katherine also had close ties to the Chaucer family as her sister Philippa married the great diplomat and author Geoffrey Chaucer.Katherine Swynford was the third wife of John of Gaunt, the son of Edward III known as the 'grandfather of Europe'. Their children were the Beaufort family - their great-granddaughter Margaret Beaufort for example being the mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VIII and great-grandmother of the Tudor monarchs Elizabeth and Mary. That's just a example of how the blood of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford flow through the royal houses of England and their importance to history. Katherine died in 1403 living quietly by herself in her beloved Lincoln and today she lies in Lincoln Cathedral beside Joan Beaufort, her eldest daughter with John of Gaunt.Alison Weir has lived up to her usual standards here and this book is very good indeed. Katherine Swynford's life and times, as well as her family relationships, could so easily be very confusing but Alison Weir has approached and presented her subject in a manner that is clear, informative and a pleasure to read. This is a very good book which I recommend to anyone interested in this period of history.

This book tells the medieval love story of the most powerful prince in the land and his beautiful mistress. Yes, there is such a thing as a real life medieval love story!Katherine is a great woman to learn about, and Weir manages to provide an engaging history of her using the scant evidence of the time. There are so many intelligent and strong women in this book, as well as handsome and chivalrous men, and so much love! Edward III and Philipa of Hainault are the mama and papa who are devoted to each other and bring up their massive brood to respect their siblings. John of Gaunt has two love-filled marriages (and one in the middle).But, what I like most is that all this love, family, and mutual respect goes to hell 100 years later when their descendants start killing each other in the wars of the roses!Through Katherine's life, we see the huge changes in England....especially the journey from sturdy royal family, to a tyrant King, to a usurper. There's the changes forced on society by the Black Death, the changes in the English language, and we get to see Katherine's like woven into this rich world.This being a historical biography, it can get a bit dry at times. But I really enjoyed this book, and the story is incredible!

Having read Anya Seton's book 'Katherine' and being fascinated by the life of John of Gaunt, I was eager to read Alison Weir's book about Katherine Swynford. However, I was disappointed, not by the massive amount of research the author put into her subject, but by the fact that I finished the book feeling I knew little more about Katherine (although more factually correct) than I did after reading Seton's book. The title is misleading because the main content is about John of Gaunt, his contempraries and other characters such as Geoffrey Chaucer in great detail.This book is, I think, given the amount of detail and pages of reference at the back, more of reference book. The author starts by giving information about one of the characters then completely digresses into minute detail about not only where they lived but the architecture, what they wore, etc. This is fascinating but eventually becomes tiresome unless you are a student of the period as well as the people who lived then. I haven't read any of Alison Weir's other books so don't know whether this is a known trait of hers.One last point. I was also disappointed when, in her reference to Anya Seton's book on Katherine which is known to be semi-fictionalised, Weir becomes personal in her criticism of that author to the point where she was rather scathing about Seton changing the spelling of her Christian name.

I have been interested in Katherine for a long time. I have read the usual 'twinkly' novels but Alison Weir has clearly carried out an amazing amount of investigation into the characters in and around the life of Katherine Swynford. I love the in-depth discussions and deductions of information gleaned from contemporary sources. The accepted myths are blasted by Alison's concise reasoning which is backed by her serious research.For those interested in the meat and bones of Katherine Swynford's life, love and family - this book is for you. This book will make you feel like you are following in her footsteps and are almost a witness to pivital events in the 14th and 15th century. It is interesting and well written.I have it on Kindle which enables me to pick it up whenever I wish and jump straight back into Katherine's unique life.