Mistress of the monarchy : the life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster / Alison Weir.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weir, Alison, 1951-

Contributor:

Richard Wakeman Collection of Tudor History (University of Pennsylvania)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Standardized Title:

Katherine Swynford

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Katherine, Duchess of Lancaster, 1350?-1403.

Katherine.

John, of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 1340-1399.

John.

Nobility--Great Britain--Biography.

Nobility.

Courts and courtiers.

History.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Court and courtiers--History--To 1500.

Nobility--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Great Britain--History--Edward III, 1327-1377.

Great Britain--History--Richard II, 1377-1399.

Genre:

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Wakeman, Rollin (dono)

Physical Description:

xxii, 392 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ballantine Books, [2009]

Summary:

Historian Alison Weir brings to life the tale of Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who became a crucial figure in the British royal dynasties. Born in the mid-14th century, Katherine experienced the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death, and the Peasants' Revolt, and crossed paths with many eminent figures, among them her brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer. At age ten, she was appointed to the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of King Edward III; at twelve, she married Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. Widowed at 21, Katherine, gifted with beauty and charms, later became John of Gaunt's mistress. Throughout their illicit union, John and Katherine were devoted to each other. In middle age, after many twists of fortune, they wed, and her children by John, the Beauforts, would become direct forebears of the Royal Houses of York, Tudor, and Stuart, and of every British sovereign since 1461 (as well as four U.S. presidents).--From publisher description.

Notes:

Originally published under title: Katherine Swynford : the story of John of Gaunt and his scandalous duchess. London : Jonathan Cape, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [359]-375) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Miller fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780345453235

0345453239

OCLC:

232129161