Yet Katherine triumphed, and her children by John, the Beauforts, would become the direct forebears of the Royal Houses of York, Tudor, and Stuart, and of every British sovereign since 1461 (as well as four U.S. The marriage caused far more scandal than the affair had, for it was unheard of for a royal prince to wed his mistress. Throughout the years of their illicit union, John and Katherine were clearly devoted to each other, and in middle age, after many twists of fortune, they wed. Yet as intriguing as she was to many of her contemporaries, there were those who regarded her as scandalous and dangerous. She survived heartbreak and adversity, and crossed paths with many eminent figures of the day, among them her brother-in-law, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Katherine experienced the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death, and the Peasants' Revolt. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine, gifted with beauty and undeniable charms, was to become John of Gaunt's mistress.Their years together played out against a backdrop of court life at the height of the Age of Chivalry. But her story had already begun when, at just ten years old, she was appointed to the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of King Edward III, to help look after the Duke's children. Now this remarkable historian brings to life the extraordinary tale of the woman who was ancestor to them all: Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who was to become one of the most crucial figures in the history of the British royal dynasties.Born in the mid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Roet was only twelve when she married Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. Acclaimed author Alison Weir has been prolific with her books on English royalty covering everything from the Houses of York and Lancaster to the reigns of the Tudors and beyond.

Mistress of the monarchy by alison weir