John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt was born into an English royal family, and through wise marriage and family inheritance he became the richest Western European who was not a monarch.

He was born in Flanders as the youngest son of King Edward III (r. 1327-1377), and hence the term Gaunt, as a corruption of the name of his birthplace, Ghent. In his early childhood he was guided by his elder brother, Edward the Black Prince.

In 1359 he participated in expedition in France led by his father, who as a member of the house of Plantagenet claimed the French throne. In the same year John married Blanche, a daughter of the immensely wealthy Henry of Grasmont, first duke of Lancaster. Since he died two years later, John obtained the earldoms of Lancaster, Derby, and Lincoln as his son-in-law, and the next year, when Blanche’s sister died without heir, he also inherited her portion of inheritance. Consequently, in 1362 he was appointed the new duke of Lancaster. In the following period he remained active in warfare serving as the commander in the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) and managed his properties. His annual income was impressive and at one time amounted £7,000.

Blanche died in 1368, and two years later John married Constance, a daughter of the deposed and murdered king of Castile. After he was unable to acquire the Castilian throne for himself, he arranged marriage between his daughter Catalina and the King Henry III of Castile (r. 1390-1406). In 1390 he was named duke of Aquitaine, a region in France.

In 1396 after he was once again widowed, John married his longtime mistress, Katherine Swynford but died soon, only three years later. At the time of his death John was worth around £100,000, the equivalent of £42.6bn in 2010.