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| place of birth = Bolingbroke Castle, Lindsey
| date of death = 12 September 1369 (aged 24)
| place of death = Bolingbroke Castle, Lindsey
| place of burial = St Paul's Cathedral, City of London
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Blanche of Lancaster (25 March 1345 – 12 September 1369) Countess of Derby was an English noblewoman and heiress. She was the first wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and the mother of King Henry IV of England.[The Complete Peerage]
LineageBorn on 25 March 1345, Blanche was the younger daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his wife Isabel de Beaumont. She and her elder sister Maud, Countess of Leicester were born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lindsey.
Her paternal grandparents were Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud de Chaworth. Her maternal grandparents were the 1st Earl of Buchan and Alice Comyn.
MarriageOn 19 May 1359, at Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, Blanche married her third cousin, John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III of England and his Queen consort, Philippa of Hainault.
The title Duke of Lancaster became extinct upon her father's death without male heirs in 1361. However, through his marriage to Blanche, John of Gaunt became Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Earl of Lincoln and Earl of Leicester (although Gaunt did not receive all of these titles until the death of Blanche's older sister, Maud, in 1362). The Duchy of Lancaster (second creation) was later bestowed on Gaunt. The influence associated with the titles would lead him to become Lord High Steward of England.
The marriage was said to have been happy. Blanche has been described as very beautiful with blonde hair, blue eyes and a serene, calm demeanour. Blanche and John had six children, three of whom survived infancy.
Bubonic plagueIn 1369, bubonic plague struck England for the third time, and among the dead was Blanche of Lancaster. She was living in Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire at the time, while her husband was away. Her funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral in London was preceded with a magnificent cortege attended by most of the nobility and clergy. John of Gaunt held annual commemorations of her death for some years thereafter. For one of these commemorations, Geoffrey Chaucer, then a young squire and mostly unknown writer of court poetry, was commissioned to write what became The Book of the Duchess, in her honour. Though Chaucer’s intentions can never be defined with absolute certainty, many believe that at least one of the aims of The Book of the Duchess was an attempt to make John of Gaunt see that his grief for his late wife had become excessive and to subtly prod him to try to overcome it.
In 1374, five years after her death, John of Gaunt ordered effigies made of himself and his wife. Twenty-five years later, Gaunt was laid to rest next to Blanche; the two are buried at an unknown location in St. Paul's Cathedral.
IssueBlanche’s Children with John of Gaunt:
Philippa (31 March 1360 – 19 July 1415). Queen consort of John I of Portugal.
John (1362 - 1362). Died at birth.
Elizabeth (21 February 1364 – 24 November 1426). Married firstly John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, secondly to John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, thirdly to John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope.
Edward (1365 - 1365).
Henry IV of England (3 April 1367 – 20 March 1413). Married firstly Mary de Bohun and secondly Joanna of Navarre.
Isabella (1368). Died young.
Blanche's daughter, Philippa, married John of Portugal and made Blanche the ancestor of kings of Portugal and this line leads to Isabella I of Castile, and through Isabella, Blanche is an ancestor of monarchs in many different countries. Her son, Henry, became King of England after he overthrew his cousin, Richard II of England, (Eldest son of John's brother Edward the Black prince). Henry's reign marked the beginning of a cadet branch of the Plantaganet line, making Blanche's family the House of Lancaster the new ruling house in England.
Blanche's grandchildren by her daughter, Philippa:
Blanche (1388-1389), named after her grandmother;
Afonso (1390-1400), named after several Kings of Portugal, including his great-grandfather Afonso IV;
Edward (1391-1438), named after his great-grandfather Edward III of England. He was a writer and an intellectual, who succeeded his father as King of Portugal in 1433;
Peter (1392-1449), named after his grandfather Peter I of Portugal. He was the First Duke of Coimbra, a remarkable ruler and well-travelled man, who served as Regent during the minority of his nephew Afonso V;
Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), first Duke of Viseu, who guided Portugal to the Great era of The Discoveries, named after his great-grandfather Henry of Grosmont;
Isabella (1397-1472), who married Philip III of Burgundy and was one of the most powerful and admired women in Europe;
Blanche (1398), died in childhood;
John (1400-1442), Duke of Aveiro, the grandfather of the two greatest Iberian monarchs in the 16th century, Manuel I of Portugal and Isabella I of Castile;
Ferdinand (1402-1443) "the Saint Prince," a warrior, who was captured during the Disaster of Tangier and died a prisoner of the Moors.
Blanche's grandchildren by her son, Henry:
Edward b&d. April 1382; buried Monmouth Castle, Monmouth
Henry V of England
Thomas, Duke of Clarence
John, Duke of Bedford
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Blanche of England (1392-1409) married in 1402 Louis III, Elector Palatine
Philippa of England (1394-1430) married in 1406 Eric of Pomerania, king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Blanche's youngest surviving daughter, Elizabeth, married twice and had children by both husbands. Blanche's grandchildren by Elizabeth:
Constance Holland (1387 - 1437) who married Thomas Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk and Sir John Grey
Richard Holland (c. 1389 - 3 September 1400)
Alice Holland (c. 1392 - c. 1406) who married Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter(1395 - 1447)
Sir Edward Holland (1399 - 1413)
With John Cornwall, she had two children:
Constance Cornwall (c. 1401 - c. 1427) who married John Fitzalan, 14th Earl of Arundel
John Cornwall (b&d. 1404)
The book of the Duchess
Geoffrey Chaucer was commissioned by John of Gaunt to write a poem after Blanche's death which was titled The Book of the Duchess. The poem tells the story of the poet’s dream. Wandering a wood, the poet discovers a knight clothed in black, and inquires of the knight’s sorrow. The knight, meant to represent John of Gaunt, is mourning a terrible tragedy, which mirrors Gaunt's own extended mourning for Blanche.
Ancestry
Notes
References The Complete Peerage
[http://www.thepeerage.com/p10189.htm#i101885 Blanche of Lancaster @thePeerage.com]
Category:1345 births
Category:1369 deaths
Category:House of Lancaster
Category:House of Plantagenet
Category:Women of medieval England
Category:14th-century English people
Category:14th-century deaths from bubonic plague
Lancaster
Category:Daughters of English dukes
Lancaster
ca:Blanca de Lancaster
de:Blanche of Lancaster
es:Blanca de Lancaster
fr:Blanche de Lancastre
id:Blanche dari Lancaster
it:Bianca di Lancaster
nl:Blanche van Lancaster
no:Blanche av Lancaster
pt:Branca de Lencastre
sk:Blanka Lancasterová
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