Duke of Lancaster

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Dukedom of Lancaster
Coronet of a British Duke.svg
Arms of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Leicester and Lancaster.svg
Arms of Henry of Grosmont: the arms of his grandfather Edmund Crouchback (arms of King Henry III, a label France of three points)
Creation date1351 (first creation)
1362 (second creation)
1399 (third creation)
Created by Edward III (first creation)
Edward III (second creation)
Henry IV (third creation)
Peerage Peerage of England
First holder Henry of Grosmont
Last holder Henry V (merged in the Crown)
Subsidiary titlesFirst creation
Earl of Derby
Earl of Leicester
Earl of Lancaster
Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Moray
Second creation
Earl of Richmond
Earl of Leicester
Earl of Lancaster
Earl of Derby
Third creation
Earl of Chester
(subsidiary of Prince of Wales)
Status Extinct (merged in the Crown)
Extinction date1361 (first creation)
1399 (second creation)
1413 (third creation)
Former seat(s) Lancaster Castle

The dukedom of Lancaster is a former English peerage, created three times in the Middle Ages, which finally merged in the Crown when Henry V succeeded to the throne in 1413. Despite the extinction of the dukedom the title has continued to be used to refer to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom in relation to the County Palatine of Lancaster and the Duchy of Lancaster, an estate held separately from the Crown Estate for the benefit of the sovereign. [1]

Contents

History

There were three creations of the dukedom of Lancaster during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The first creation was on 6 March 1351 for Henry of Grosmont, 4th Earl of Lancaster, a great-grandson of Henry III; he was also 4th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Derby, 1st Earl of Lincoln and Lord of Bowland. When he died in 1361 the peerage became extinct.

The second creation was on 13 November 1362, for John of Gaunt, 1st Earl of Richmond and third surviving son of King Edward III. [2] He became Henry of Grosmont's son-in-law through his marriage to Blanche of Lancaster, Henry's second daughter and eventual heir. When Gaunt died on 4 February 1399 the dukedom passed to his son, Henry of Bolingbroke, 1st duke of Hereford. Later that same year Bolingbroke usurped the throne of England from Richard II, becoming Henry IV, at which point the dukedom merged in the Crown.

Henry re-created the dukedom on 10 November 1399 for his eldest son Henry of Monmouth, Prince of Wales. In 1413 Monmouth ascended the throne as King Henry V and the dukedom merged in the crown again, where it has remained ever since.

Nevertheless, the title continues to be used to refer to the monarch in relation to Lancashire and the Duchy of Lancaster, the estate associated with the former dukedom. It was customary at formal dinners in the historic county boundaries of Lancashire and in Lancastrian regiments of the armed forces for the Loyal Toast to be announced as "The King, Duke of Lancaster". In addition, in Lancaster it is still common to hear the national anthem sung as "God save our gracious King, long live our noble Duke". [3] [4] However, the legal basis for the sovereign to use the title has been disputed as the right to inheritance of the title only arises upon each creation, which is different than the crown's right to the duchy's estate after the merger. In particular, George V was given legal advice that it was “extremely unlikely” that he was the duke of Lancaster. [5]

First creation, 1351–1361

DukePortraitBirthMarriage(s)Death
Henry of Grosmont
House of Plantagenet
also Earl of Derby (1337), Earl of Leicester (1345), Earl of Lancaster (1345), Earl of Lincoln (1349), Earl of Moray (1359), Lord of Beaufort and Nogent (1345)		 Portrait of Henry, Duke of Lancaster - William Bruges's Garter Book (c.1440-1450), f.8 - BL Stowe MS 594 (cropped).jpg c. 1310
Grosmont Castle
son of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth 		Isabel of Beaumont
c. 1337
2 children		23 March 1361
Leicester Castle
aged 50–51
Henry of Grosmont died in 1361 without male issue.

Second creation, 1362–1399

DukePortraitBirthMarriage(s)Death
John of Gaunt
House of Lancaster (founder)
also Duke of Aquitaine (1390), Earl of Richmond (1342–1372), Earl of Leicester, Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Baron of Halton (1361)		 Johnofgaunt.jpg 6 March 1340
Ghent
son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault 		Blanche of Lancaster
19 May 1359 – 12 September 1368
8 children
Constance of Castile
21 September 1371 – 24 March 1394
2 children
Katherine Swynford
13 January 1396
4 children		3 February 1399
Leicester Castle
aged 58
Henry Bolingbroke
House of Lancaster
also Duke of Hereford (1397), Earl of Northampton (1337)		 Illumination of Henry IV (cropped).jpg c. April 1367
Bolingbroke Castle
son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster 		Mary de Bohun
c. 1381 – 4 June 1394
6 children
Joan of Navarre
7 February 1403
no children		20 March 1413
Westminster
aged 46
Henry Bolingbroke seized the throne as Henry IV in 1399, and all of his titles merged with the crown.

Third creation, 1399–1413

DukePortraitBirthMarriage(s)Death
Henry of Monmouth
House of Lancaster
also Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester (1399), Duke of Cornwall (1337), Duke of Aquitaine (1390)		 Henry5.JPG 16 September 1386
Monmouth Castle
son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun 		Catherine of Valois
2 June 1420
1 child		31 August 1422
Château de Vincennes
aged 35
Henry of Monmouth succeeded to the throne as Henry V in 1413, and his titles merged with the crown.

Family tree

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York</span> 14th-century English prince and nobleman

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Hereford</span> Title in the Peerage of England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Lancaster</span>

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Blanche of Lancaster was a member of the English royal House of Plantagenet and the daughter of the kingdom's wealthiest and most powerful peer, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. She was the first wife of John of Gaunt, the mother of King Henry IV, and the grandmother of King Henry V of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Beaufort</span> English noble family and quasi-royal family

The House of Beaufort is an English noble and quasi-royal family, which originated in the fourteenth century as the legitimated issue of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his long time mistress Katherine Swynford. Gaunt and Swynford had four children: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373–1410); Cardinal Henry Beaufort, (1375–1447), Bishop of Winchester; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (1377–1426) and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (1379–1440). When Gaunt finally married Swynford as his third wife in 1396, the Beaufort children were legitimized by Pope Boniface IX and by royal proclamation of the reigning monarch King Richard II, who was John of Gaunt’s nephew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issue of Edward III of England</span> Descendants of English monarch

King Edward III of England and his wife, Philippa of Hainault, had eight sons and five daughters. The Wars of the Roses were fought between the different factions of Edward III's descendants. The following list outlines the genealogy supporting male heirs ascendant to the throne during the conflict, and the roles of their cousins. However to mobilise arms and wealth, significant major protagonists were Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, and Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, and their families. A less powerful but determining role was played by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and Elizabeth Woodville and their families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barony of Halton</span>

The Barony of Halton, in Cheshire, England, comprised a succession of 15 barons and hereditary Constables of Chester under the overlordship of the Earl of Chester. It was not an English feudal barony granted by the king but a separate class of barony within the County Palatine of Chester.

The honour of Pontefract, also known as the feudal barony of Pontefract, was an English feudal barony. Its origins lie in the grant of a large, compact set of landholdings in Yorkshire, made between the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the completion of the Domesday Survey in 1086. An expansive set of landholdings spanning sixty parishes and six wapentakes in Yorkshire, the honour was created primarily to serve a strategic, defensive function in a potentially hostile frontier zone. The first lord was Ilbert de Lacy, who built a castle at Pontefract which became the caput of the honour. Alongside the Yorkshire holdings, a smaller number of dispersed possessions elsewhere in England belonged to the honour.

Sir Hugh Waterton, was a trusted servant of the House of Lancaster.

References

  1. ↑ "HM The King, Duke of Lancaster". Duchy of Lancaster. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Duchy of Lancaster". Lancaster Castle. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Reverend John Williams". The Daily Telegraph . 24 December 2003.
  4. ↑ Tulloch, Alexander (2013). The Little Book of Lancashire. Stroud, Gloucestershire: History Press. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-7524-9746-4.
  5. ↑ Hibbert, Christopher; Weinreb, Ben; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (9 September 2011). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. p. 250. ISBN   978-0-230-73878-2.
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