ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES
John of Gaunt (far left, in blue, under the arms of England and France) feasts with João I of Portugal. Despite this depiction of amity, the Portuguese were deeply suspicious about English intentions on the Iberian peninsula
There was more friction between the English and Portuguese than war with the enemy
skirmishes until João galloped forward and ordered his soldiers to stand down. By this point, the relationship had completely disintegrated; there was more friction between the English and the Portuguese than there was action against the Castilian enemy. In an attempt to rescue the campaign, they took aim at Villalpando, a garrison south of León controlled by the constable of France, Olivier de Clisson, with the intention of an assault leading to a pitched battle. That hope was again thwarted by the climate. As spring turned to summer, the sun scorched the earth at midday and the horses,
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John marries Constance, the daughter and heir of the now deceased Pedro I. The following year, he is formally entitled king of Castile and León, by right of his wife.
Following the death of his brother and father, John becomes effective regent of England during the minority reign of his nephew Richard II.
His ambitious attempt to conquer the kingdom of Castile having ended in failure, John travels to Aquitaine and, the following year, returns from there to England.
Two years after the death of Constance, John marries Katherine Swynford. John’s children by Katherine are now legitimised with the title Beaufort.
John dies at Leicester, age 58. That October, after overthrowing Richard II, John’s eldest son is crowned Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king of England.
thus infiltrated the rest of the men. Abandoning hope of taking Benavente, the joint army advanced deeper into Castile to the small town of Valderas where, despite the inhabitants’ attempts to thwart pillaging, the ample pickings attracted the attention of hungry soldiers, deepening the rift. As the army entered the town, Portuguese and English began to fight over the potential booty, until it was decreed that the English could plunder for the first half of the day, then the Portuguese for the second. After a few hours, though, agitated Portuguese soldiers stormed the town, leading to further
The effigy of the Black Prince, John’s older brother, at Canterbury Cathedral
1371
1377
1387
A statue of Pedro I, whose murder led to John of Gaunt’s Castile campaign
1396
Richard II surrenders the English crown to John’s son Henry Bolingbroke
3 February 1399
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