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LANCASTER, HOUSE OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 146 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LANCASTER, See also:HOUSE OF . The name House of Lancaster is commonly used to designate the See also:line of See also:English See also:kings immediately descended from See also:John of Gaunt, the See also:fourth son of See also:Edward III. But the See also:history of the See also:family and of the See also:title goes back tothe reign of See also:Henry III., who created his second son. See also:Edmund, See also:earl of Lancaster in 1267. This Edmund received in his own See also:day the surname of Crouchback, not, as was afterwards supposed, from a See also:personal deformity, but from having worn a See also:cross upon his back in token of a crusading See also:vow. He is not a See also:person of much importance in history except in relation to a See also:strange theory raised in a later See also:age about his See also:birth, which we shall See also:notice presently. His son See also:Thomas, who inherited the title, took the See also:lead among the nobles of Edward II.'s See also:time in opposition to Piers See also:Gaveston and the Despensers, and was beheaded for See also:treason at See also:Pontefract. At the commencement of the following reign his See also:attainder was reversed and his See also:brother Henry restored to the earldom; and Henry being appointed See also:guardian to the See also:young See also:king Edward III., assisted him to throw off the yoke of See also:Mortimer. On this Henry's See also:death in 1345 he was succeeded by a son of the same name, sometimes known as Henry See also:Tort-See also:Col or See also:Wryneck, a very valiant See also:commander in the See also:French See also:wars, whom the king advanced to the dignity of a See also:duke. Only one duke had been created in See also:England before, and that was fourteen years previously, when the king's son Edward, the See also:Black See also:Prince, was made duke of See also:Cornwall. This Henry Wryneck died in 1361 without See also:heir male. His second daughter, See also:Blanche, became the wife of John of Gaunt, who thus succeeded to the duke's See also:inheritance in her right; and on the 13th of See also:November 1362, when King Edward attained the age of fifty, John was created duke of Lancaster, his See also:elder brother, Lionel, being at the same time created duke of See also:Clarence.

It was from these two See also:

dukes that the See also:rival houses of Lancaster and See also:York derived their respective claims to the See also:crown. As Clarence was King Edward's third son, while John of Gaunt was his fourth, in See also:ordinary course on the failure of the elder line the issue of Clarence should have taken See also:precedence of that of Lancaster in the See also:succession. But the rights of Clarence were conveyed in the first instance to an only daughter, and the ambition and policy of the house of Lancaster, profiting by advantageous circumstances, enabled them not only to gain See also:possession of the See also:throne but to maintain themselves in it for three generations before they were dispossessed by the representatives of the elder brother. As for John of Gaunt himself, it can hardly be said that this sort of politic See also:wisdom is very conspicuous in him. His ambition was generally more See also:manifest than his discretion; but See also:fortune favoured his ambition, even as to himself, somewhat beyond expectation, and still more in his posterity. Before the death of his See also:father he had become the greatest subject in England, his three elder See also:brothers having all died before him. He had even added to his other dignities the title of king of See also:Castile, having married, after his first wife's death, the daughter of See also:Peter the Cruel. The title, however, was an empty one, the throne of Castile being actually in the possession of Henry of Trastamara, whom the English had vainly endeavoured to set aside. His military and See also:naval enterprises were for the most See also:part disastrous failures, and in England he was exceedingly unpopular. Nevertheless, during the later years of his father's reign the weakness of the king and the declining See also:health of the Black Prince threw the See also:government very much into his hands. He even aimed, or was suspected of aiming, at the succession to the crown; but in this See also:hope he was disappointed by the See also:action of the See also:Good See also:Parliament a See also:year before Edward's death, in which it was settled that See also:Richard the son of the Black Prince should be king after his grandfather. Nevertheless the suspicion with which he was regarded was not altogether quieted when Richard came to the throne, a boy in the See also:eleventh year of his age.

The duke himself complained in parliament of the way he was spoken of out of doors, and at the outbreak of Wat See also:

Tyler's insurrection the peasants stopped pilgrims on the road to See also:Canterbury and made them swear never to accept a king of the name of John. On gaining possession of See also:London they burnt his magnificent See also:palace of the See also:Savoy. Richard found a convenient way to get rid of John of Gaunt by sending him to Castile to make good his barren title, and on this expedition he was away three years. He succeeded so far as to make a treaty with his rival, King John, son of Henry of Trastamara, for the succession, by virtue of which his daughter See also:Catherine became the wife of Henry III. of Castile some years later. After his return the king seems to have regarded him with greater favour, created him duke of See also:Aquitaine, and employed him in repeated embassies to See also:France, which at length resulted in a treaty of See also:peace, and Richard's See also:marriage to the French king's daughter. Another marked incident of his public See also:life was the support which he gave on one occasion to the Reformer Wycliffe. How far this was due to religious and how far to See also:political considerations may be a question; but not only John of Gaunt but his immediate descendants, the three kings of the house of Lancaster, all took deep See also:interest in the religious movements of the times. A re-action against Lollardy, however, had already begun in the days of Henry IV., and both he and his son See also:felt obliged to discountenance opinions which were believed to be politically and theologically dangerous. Accusations had been made against John of Gaunt more than once during the earlier part of Richard II.'s reign of entertaining designs to supplant his See also:nephew on the throne. But these Richard never seems to have wholly credited, and during his three years' See also:absence his younger brother, Thomas of See also:Woodstock, duke of See also:Gloucester, showed himself a far more dangerous intriguer. Five confederate lords with Gloucester at their See also:head took up arms against the king's favourite ministers, and the Wonderful Parliament put to death without remorse almost every See also:agent of his former See also:administration who had not fled the See also:country. Gloucester even contemplated the dethronement of the king, but found that in this See also:matter he could not rely on the support of his associates, one of whom was Henry, earl of See also:Derby, the duke of Lancaster's son.

Richard soon afterwards, by declaring himself of age, shook off his See also:

uncle's See also:control, and within ten years the acts of the Wonderful Parliament were reversed by a parliament no less arbitrary. Gloucester and his See also:allies were then brought to See also:account; but the earl of Derby and Thomas See also:Mowbray, earl of See also:Nottingham, were taken into favour as having opposed the more violent proceedings of their associates. As if to show his entire confidence in both these noblemen, the king created the former duke of See also:Hereford and the latter duke of See also:Norfolk. But within three months from this time the one duke accused the other of treason, and the truth of the See also:charge, after much See also:consideration, was referred to trial by See also:battle according to the See also:laws of See also:chivalry. But when the combat was about to commence it was interrupted by the king, who, to preserve the peace of the See also:kingdom, decreed by his own See also:mere authority that the duke of Hereford should be banished for ten years—a See also:term immediately afterwards reduced to five—and the duke of Norfolk for life. This arbitrary See also:sentence was obeyed in the first instance by both parties, and Norfolk never returned. But Henry, duke of Hereford, whose milder sentence was doubtless owing to the fact that he was the popular favourite, came back within a year, having been furnished with a very See also:fair pretext for doing so by a new See also:act of injustice on the part of Richard. His father, John of Gaunt, had died in the See also:interval, and the king, troubled with a See also:rebellion in See also:Ireland, and sorely in want of See also:money, had seized the duchy of Lancaster as forfeited See also:property. Henry at once sailed for England, and landing in See also:Yorkshire while King Richard was in Ireland, gave out that he came only to recover his inheritance. He at once received the support of the See also:northern lords, and as he marched southwards the whole kingdom was soon practically at his command. Richard, by the time he had recrossed the channel to See also:Wales, discovered that his cause was lost. He was conveyed from See also:Chester to London, and forced to execute a See also:deed by which he resigned his crown.

This was recited in parliament, and he was formally deposed. The duke of Lancaster then claimed the kingdom as due to himself by virtue of his descent from Henry III. The claim which he put forward involved, to all See also:

appearance, a strange falsification of history, for it seemed to See also:rest upon the supposition that Edmund of Lancaster, and not Edward I., was the eldest son of Henry III. A See also:story had gone about, even in the days of John of Gaunt, who, if we may See also:trust the rhymer John See also:Hardyng (See also:Chronicle, pp. ego, 291), had got itinserted in See also:chronicles deposited in various monasteries, that this Edmund, surnamed Crouchback, was really hump-backed, and that he was set aside in favour of his younger brother Edward on account of his deformity. No chronicle, however, is known to exist which actually states that Edmund Crouchback was thus set aside; and in point of fact he had no deformity at all, while Edward was six years his See also:senior. Hardyng's testimony is, moreover, suspicious as reflecting the prejudices of the Percys after they had turned against Henry IV., for Hardyng himself expressly says that the earl of See also:Northumberland was the source of his See also:information (see See also:note, p. 353 of his Chronicle). But a statement in the continuation of the chronicle called the Eulogium (vol. iii. pp. 36g, 370) corroborates Hardyng to some extent; for we are told that John of Gaunt had once desired in parliament that his son should be recognized on this flimsy plea as heir to the crown; and when See also:Roger Mortimer, earl of See also:March, denied the story and insisted on his own claim as descended from Lionel, duke of Clarence, Richard imposed silence on both parties. However this may be, it is certain that this story, though not directly asserted to be true, was indirectly pointed at by Henry when he put forward his claim, and no one was then bold enough to See also:challenge it. This was partly due, no doubt, to the fact that the true lineal heir after Richard was then a See also:child, Edmund, who had just succeeded his father as earl of March. Another circumstance was unfavourable to the house of Mortimer—that it derived its title through a woman.

No See also:

case precisely similar had as yet arisen, and, notwithstanding the precedent of Henry II., it might be doubted whether succession through a See also:female was favoured by the constitution. If not, Henry could say with truth that he was the See also:direct heir of his grandfather, Edward III. If, on the other See also:hand, succession through See also:females was valid, he could trace his descent through his See also:mother from Henry III. by a very illustrious line of ancestors. And, in the words by which he formally made his claim, he ventured to say no more than that he was descended from the king last mentioned " by right line of the See also:blood." In what particular way that " right line " was to be traced he did not venture to indicate. A brief See also:epitome of the reigns of the three successive kings belonging to the house of Lancaster (Henry IV., V. and VI.) will be found elsewhere. With the death of Henry VI. the direct male line of John of Gaunt became See also:extinct. But by his daughters he became the ancestor of more than one line of See also:foreign kings, while his descendants by his third wife, Catherine See also:Swynford, conveyed the crown of England to the house of Tudor. It is true that his See also:children by this See also:lady were See also:born before he married her; but they were made legitimate by act of parliament, and, though Henry IV. in confirming the See also:privilege thus granted to them endeavoured to debar them from the succession to the crown, it is now ascertained that there was no such See also:reservation in the See also:original act, and the title claimed by Henry VII. was probably better than he himself supposed. We show on the following See also:page a See also:pedigree of the royal and illustrious houses that traced their descent from John of Gaunt. (J. GA.) LANCASTER, HENRY, EARL OF (c. 1281-1345), was the second son of Edmund, earl of Lancaster (d.

1296), and consequently a See also:

grandson of Henry III. During his See also:early days he took part in See also:campaigns in See also:Flanders, See also:Scotland and Wales, but was quite overshadowed by his elder brother Thomas (see below). In 1324, two years after Thomas had lost his life for opposing the king, Henry was made earl of See also:Leicester by his See also:cousin, Edward II., but he was not able to secure the titles and estates of Lancaster to which he was heir, and he showed openly that his sympathies were with his dead brother. When See also:Queen See also:Isabella took up arms against her See also:husband in 1326 she was joined at once by the earl, who took a leading part in the proceedings against the king and his favourites, the Despensers, being Edward's gaoler at See also:Kenilworth See also:castle. Edward III. being now on the throne, Leicester secured the earldom of Lancaster and his brother's lands, becoming also steward of England; he knighted the young king and was the foremost Philippa, married to John I., king of See also:Portugal. EdwIard, king of Portugal. See also:Alphonso V. See also:Ferdinand, of Portugal. duke of Viseu. John II. See also:Emmanuel, of Portugal. king of Portugal; whose descendants have reigned in that country ever since. John of Gaunt, = Blanche, duke of Lancaster, titular king daughter and heiress of Henry, of Castile. duke of Lancaster. Henry IV., =See also:Mary de See also:Bohun, = See also:Joan, See also:Elizabeth, king of ' daughter and daughter of married to John England. co- hei r o f See also:Charles the Holand, duke of See also:Humphrey de See also:Bad, king See also:Exeter, who was Bohun, earl of of See also:Navarre. beheadedbyHenry Hereford and No issue.

IV.; afterwards to See also:

Essex. See also:Sir John Cornwall, created See also:Baron Fanhope. Henry V., = Catherine, Tho i as, John, Humphrey, Philippa, king of daughter of duke of duke of duke of m a r r i e d England. Charles IV. Clarence. See also:Bedford. Gloucester. to See also:Eric of France, VII . o f afterwards See also:Denmark married to and XIII. Sir See also:Owen of See also:Sweden. Tudor. Henry VI. Edward, prince of Wales. See also:Constance, — Catherine, the elder of the two daughters daughter of Sir See also:Payne Roet, and heiresses of Peter, king of widow of Sir See also:Hugh Swynford.

Castile and See also:

Leon. John II., Henry king of Castile. See also:Beaufort, earl of Isabella of Castile, See also:Somerset. queen of Ferdi- nand of See also:Aragon; whose descendants were kings of See also:Spain Edmund, till the See also:accession earl of See also:Rich- of the Bourbons in See also:mond, son of 1700. Sir Owen Tudor by Catherine, widow of Henry V. Catherine, John married to Prince Beaufort, Henry, afterwards earl of Henry III. of Somerset. Castile. Henry Thom' as Joan Bieaufort, Beaufort, Beaufort, wife of See also:Ralph Nevill, 1st See also:cardinal. duke of earl of Westmoreland, by Exeter. whom she became an ancestor of Edward IV., Richard III., See also:Warwick the King Maker and many See also:noble families. Join Beaufort, earl, after- wards duke, of Somerset. See also:Margaret Beaufort. Frances, Eleanor, wife of Henry wifeof Henry, See also:Grey,See also:marquess 2nd earl of of See also:Dorset, See also:Cumberland. created duke of See also:Suffolk. Lady Jai ne Grey and others. Henry VIII.

Edward VI. Mary, Elizabeth, queen of England. queen of England. Henry VII., king of England. Margaret. = See also:

James IV., Mary. = Charles See also:Brandon, king of Scotland. ( duke of Suffolk. James V., I king of Scotland. Henry, earl of Mary See also:Stuart. See also:Lincoln. James VI. oI of Scotland and I. of England, whose descendants have reigned in See also:Great See also:Britain ever since. See also:East Indies .

, ed. Sir Clements See also:

Markham, See also:Hakluyt See also:Soc. (1877), Calendars of See also:State Papers, East Indies. The original See also:journals of Lancaster's voyage of 1601—1603 have disappeared, and here we have only See also:Purchas to go on.

End of Article: LANCASTER, HOUSE OF

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