biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1340–99)
|
| biography:
| Duke of Lancaster, born in Ghent, NW Belgium, the fourth son of Edward III, and ancestor of Henry IV, V, VI, and VII. In 1359 he married his cousin, Blanche of Lancaster, and was created duke in 1362. After her death (1369), he married Constance, the daughter of Pedro (Peter) the Cruel of Castile, and assumed the title of King of Castile, though he failed by his expeditions to oust his rival, Henry of Trastámara. In England he became highly influential as a peacemaker during the troubled reign of Richard II. He was made Duke of Aquitaine by Richard (1390), and sent on several embassies to France. On his second wife's death (1394) he married his mistress, Catherine Swynford, by whom he had three sons; from the eldest descended Henry VII. |
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