John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford

Also known as: Iohn duke of Bedford / John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford / John of Lancaster / John, Duke of Bedford / duke of Bedford / lord Iohn / lord Iohn of Lancaster · Family: House of Lancaster · Role: duke of Bedford · First appears: Richard II 30

By c. 1385, John of Lancaster was one of the six children of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun, alongside Henry V, Blanche of Lancaster, Duchess of Bavaria, Philippa of Lancaster, Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, and Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. In c. 1399, an act named him among Henry IV’s lawful sons in the succession to the crown. Around c. 1405, he joined Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, Henry FitzHugh, Ralph Eure, and Robert Umfreville against the rebels of Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, who submitted to the king and to John.

During Henry V’s reign, John became duke of Bedford and was appointed regent of England while his brother fought in France. As the king’s lieutenant, he arrested Joan of Navarre and committed her to safe keeping, and in 1421 led the army ahead to Calais. After Henry V’s death, he was made regent of France for the young Henry VI, while Humphrey Duke of Gloucester became protector of England; in 1423 he married Anne of Burgundy at Troyes and renewed alliances with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and John IV, Duke of Brittany.

As regent, John worked with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, Robert Scales, Lord Scales, Robert Poynings, Lord Poynings, John Fastolf, and others in campaigns across France. He opposed Charles VII, entered Paris against conspirators supporting him, challenged his claim to battle, recovered Saint-Denis and other fortresses, and appointed Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy as his deputy in Paris. He also took John Fastolf’s garter over doubts about his conduct, though it was later returned, and raised and led armies against French forces including those of Jean de Dunois and Gawcourt.

After Anne of Burgundy’s death, John agreed to marry Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and their marriage was solemnized at Terwine in 1433. He died at Rouen on 14 September 1435 and was buried in the cathedral church of Our Lady there; the account describes him as “a man both politike in peace, and hardie in warre, and yet no more hardie than mercifull when he had the victorie”.