Katherine Swynford

Written by Alison Weir

Narrated by Judith Boyd

In her remarkable new book, Alison Weir recounts one of the greatest and most remarkable love stories of medieval England. It is the extraordinary tale of an exceptional woman, Katherine Swynford, who became first the mistress, and later the wife, of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. But Katherine Swynford was much more than that. She was the mother of the Beauforts, and through them the ancestress of the Yorkist Kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts and every other sovereign since - a prodigious legacy which has shaped the history of Britain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: May 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781407426372

Reviews for Katherine Swynford

[briandrewz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book about an obscure figure in British history. Alison Weir does a good job in trying to piece together the life of Katherine Swynford, mistress and later wife of John of Gaunt. It must have been a difficult undertaking, because as the author states, there is almost no source material for Katherine. When she died, basically all of her material presence on her died with her. Alison Weir has given us a glimpse into this medieval period of history, telling us what we know about the period and how Katherine's life most likely fit into the world of that time. Highly enjoyable and interesting to learn about an ancestor of most of the royal houses of Europe.

[philsyphe · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Having been absorbed by two of Alison Weir's works of fiction I commenced reading this non-fiction biography of Katherine Swynford with high hopes. Unfortunately, I found this a tedious experience. At times it was engaging but on the whole it read more like an English research essay.To be fair to the author, she had little to work with, as hardly any conclusive evidence of Katherine Swynford's life has been preserved. This is a great pity, for she is ancestor to many members of European monarchy throughout the ages, including England's Elizabeth II, plus six American presidents.Because of the lack of info available, it's virtually impossible to write a bio on Katherine. This book would have been better titled as, "Katherine Swynford and Her Circle", or "The Elusive Katherine Swynford and Her Times", or even "John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford". There's much more historic info available on John of Gaunt, him being Edward III's brother, and as a result the majority of this tome is about him.Lengthy sections of this volume don't feature Katherine at all, other than tagging a sentence at the end of numerous paragraphs, stating something like, "Could Katherine have been present on this occasion?"I also felt the in-depth descriptions of buildings where Katherine had lived or visited should have been summarised, or failing that include them in an appendix. I found myself skipping over these sections.Being a huge admirer of Ms Weir's works of fiction, I feel she would've done better to write a fictional account of Katherine's life and added an author's note at the end, explaining the lack of info available to her. That said, the author does include details of Anya Seton's 1954 novel of Katherine, thus I suspect - owing to the success of that book - Ms Weir would not want to compete with it.Although I am disappointed with this historic account, owing to its essay-feel and lack of info on its main subject, I maintain my respect for Alison Weir's authorship and will read more of her works.

[teckelvik · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book, Alison Weir attempts to create a factual narrative about Katherine Swynford, based on what she admits are very limited sources. As she states up front, her subject was brought to vivid ife by Anya Seton, in her novel Katherine, and Weir is at something of a disadvantage when she is forced to stick with reality. Like so many other readers, I loved "Katherine," and I was interested to see how much of it was grounded in reality.As I read this book, I was reminded of two other histories. The first was "Son of the Morning Star." While this is in theory about the Battle of Little Big Horn, a perceptive reviewer remarked that it was more accurately about everything Evan S. Connell knows about Custer, the American West, 19th century cavalry and military matters, geography, politics, and random other facts tangentially connected to that battle. In the same way, "Mistress of the Monarchy" is really about how the House of Lancaster pushed the larger Plantagenet dynasty aside, with comments on architecture, the Hundred Years War, the build up to the Wars of the Roses, 14th century English political history, and Geoffrey Chaucer, all weaving around a hundred or so contemporary references to Katherine Swynford.The second book is "Franks, Moravians, and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube" by Charles Bowlus. I did some work in Central European history and wanted to use his argument, but it was rejected by my professor because, as he put it, "there isn't anything here without could have, might have, must have, or probably." Bowlus and Weir are both in this position because they are working with a very limited set of facts, and trying to work from there. Weir's task in some ways is easier, she is only trying to flesh out one woman's life, rather than an entire clash of civilizations, but the problem is the same - there is simply too much that isn't known.Weir clearly likes Katherine (she admits to also loving Seton's novel), and early on asserts what she is trying to show - that Katherine was intelligent, charming, well-liked and loved by all who knew her, gracious, dignified and kind. As I read along, each time Weir stated that some event "must be" because of Katherine's good qualities, I entertained myself by inventing a narrative in which Katherine was evil and despised, but these events still took place. It wasn't hard, but that is more because the source material is so scanty than because I have any great facility with storytelling.All that said, Katherine's story is a good narrative frame to examine an interesting and complicated period, and Weir uses it well. She does a good job of weaving different strand together, of clearly stating when she is using which sources, and what she sees as their biases and strengths. I recommend this as an introduction to the period for anyone who isn't familiar with how it all works.A minor quibble is Weir's treatment of Richard II. She is somewhat notorious in Edward II fandom (yes, there is such a thing) for her homophobic interpretation of his character. She does the same here, with far less justification. There is enough negative to say about Richard without inventing more. (To be clear, my objection is that, having brought up existing interpretations that Richard was gay, she assumes that therefore he was deceitful, perverted and debauched. It doesn't follow.)Overall, however, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that, if you take away the conditional mood, there is nothing left.

[limelite_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Should be titled “The Times of Katherine Swynford. . . “ since, as with all Medieval women, little or no direct record of her existence exists. She isn’t mentioned in the court records to speak of; she left no diary; there is no mention of her in John of Gaunt’s (her lover/ 2nd husband) papers; and her brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer, doesn’t immortalize her by name, either.Nevertheless, I like this book because it is chock full of lineages, relationships, political connivings, domestic machinations, and details of life in the England of the Middle Ages. That we know of Katherine at all, indicates she was impressive enough that her “scandalous” behavior has survived today in spite of the Church and her husband’s rivals' attempts to besmirch her reputation and erase her memory.Weir makes no bones about letting us know that we should be favorably impressed by the third and last wife of John of Gaunt and that she was a positive influence in major and minor events in the lives of her family and her husband’s circle. And I was.

[nlanthierl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very comprehensive and well written; sometimes based on conjecture.

[jcbrunner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you like Alison Weir's style you will enjoy this one too. Like many of her other medieval lives of famous medieval women, she fills the lack of source material with information about their men, inserting a good portion of romance. In the case of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, she offers the important nugget of information that John suffered heavily from venereal disease and as a forty-year-old looked like a sixty-year-old man only shortly before telling about his death. Offering the information earlier, however, would destroy the romance her readers expect.Like Camilla, Charles and Diana, John of Gaunt, Constance of Castile and Katherine Swynford lived in an arrangement where three is one too much. At least the children in this patchwork family didn't seem to mind. John contributed kids from his first two wives, Katherine from her first marriage with the unfortunately named knight Swynford. The university of Oxford is lucky that is named after a somewhat nobler animal. One interesting fact is that the poet Geoffrey Chaucer was unhappily married to Katherine's sister.John of Gaunt's military ineptitude meant that his fortunes in France and Castile didn't bear fruit. Thanks to his first marriage, he still was the richest man in England. Even today, the Duchy of Lancaster contributes millions to Prince Charles, tax-free.

[amerynth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've read all of Alison Weir's biographies (after stumbling upon "The Children of Henry VIII" while looking for information on Lady Jane Grey and enjoying it thoroughly.) "Mistress of the Monarchy" is my least favorite from this otherwise really fine author... mainly because there are so few records relating to Katherine de Swynford that she is relying on really dry source material, including household records and rental agreements. The more salacious, and admittedly unreliable accounts, are few. Like all of Weir's books, it is meticulously researched and her conclusions are drawn from source material that is well-documented. This book just wasn't as fun as the others and was pretty dry. Great for a scholar looking for material, but not really a fun read. If you're interested in Tudor history at all, definitely give Weir's other books on Henry VIII, his wives or his children a try instead.

[bhowell_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very good history book and a fascinating read. Katherine Swynford is an ancestor of almost all the royal houses of Europe.

[emberblack_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When this book was released, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture given by Alison Weir. It was hugely interesting, informative, commonsensical, and at times brilliantly humorous. Just as her books are.

[bonniejune54 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I don't usually read non-fiction and I had an audio-book. I found it very dry, just droning on and on with dates and lists of figures. Apparently a written book would have helped as I had no pictures. { The cover is lovely now that I see it } And I couldn't skim all the accounting records. But I would still warn away any fiction person thinking of trying a biography.

[annalena21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An enjoyable insight into the life of one of history's most fascinating female figures. Weir's narrative style makes it an easy read, and she explores the entirety of Katherine's life, and gives an informative look at her family too. People have criticised Weir's book for being too full of uncertainties and not having enough solid information, but the fact is that there are only few sources that can give us hard facts about Katherine. To compensate for this, Weir explores every possibility and weighs the most likely reasons or explanations. A great historical biography.

[meggo_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written and well researched, this is the fascinating story of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, first mistress and then wife of John of Gaunt, the last true knight. Her own history is fascinating - that of a bright, honourable, loyal woman in a man's age, and her legacy (through her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) was profound. An excellent book about someone who should be more well-known.

[soliloquies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't help thinking this should have been called 'Katherine Swynford, John of Gaunt and Geoffrey Chaucer". The recorded documentation on Katherine Swynford was scant, so there was some padding out of her life with her husband's and brother-in-law's lives. It was however interesting to read about Katherine, although the delivery was often dry.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like Alison Weir, I was first introduced to the story of Katherine Swynford through Anya Seton’s 1954 novel, Katherine. Weir’s biography is a pretty comprehensive look at this enigmatic, lesser-known medieval woman.I have a love-hate relationship with Weir’s books: I loved The Six Wives of Henry VIII; liked Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley, and Eleanor of Aquitaine; but detested Queen Isabella and Innocent Traitor (Weir doesn’t do fiction all that well). I put Katherine Swynford in the “like somewhat” category.Katherine Swynford was born Katherine de Roet in 1350, one of the daughters of Sir Paon de Roet. She then married Hugh Swynford, and spent time in the Lancastrian household as the governess to John of Gaunt’s children. Katherine’s affair with him probably began around the year 1372, and, after producing a number of illegitimate children, married John in 1396. Katherine is the ancestor of most of the royal houses of Europe, plus at least five American presidents. History has seen Katherine as bit of a homewrecker, but in this book, Weir attempts (and mostly succeeds) in portraying her in a more sympathetic light. This biography of Katherine Swynford is, as with all of Weir’s books, meticulously researched. It’s less overtly feminist and partisan than some of her other biographies. Pay attention to the subtitle of this biography: the book is more about John of Gaunt than it is about Katherine (in fact, we don’t even get a physical description of Katherine until after one is given of John). We also get very detailed biographies of everyone who was related or connected to her, especially Geoffrey Chaucer, her brother-in-law. After finishing this book, I still didn’t have a concrete impression of what Katherine was really like. And, because so little is actually known about Katherine’s life, Weir makes an awful lot of assumptions here about what her subject “might,” “perhaps,” or “probably” have done/ thought/ felt. However, Weir does a wonderful job bringing the details of the period to life. It’s an accessible, readable work of history that doesn’t get bogged down in pretentious language. For someone who doesn’t know medieval Latin or Norman French, Weir does an incredible job of interpreting her sources. And the style of this book is far more lively and engaging than other books written on the Lancasters that I’ve read. I look forward to reading what comes next from Weir (according to her website, the next book is about Anne Boleyn, though she may be re-treading familiar water with that one).

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absorbing and well researched as ever, but, due to the paucity of available information on its subject, this reads in many places more like a biography of John of Gaunt, as suggested by the book's subtitle. It does give a good feel for 14th century and life and mores, though. Annoyingly, the details/dates in the family trees at the back sometimes contradict the main text.

[indianajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I came at this book from two directions. Katherine, Anya Seton's historical fiction treatment of Katherine Swynford's life is one of my all time favorite books. (If any of my sons were a girl her name would have been Katherine.) So I have an emotional attachment to the character and her story as presented by Anya Seton. But I am also a historian who has struggled with constructing a plausible story from fragments of evidence. I think Alison Weir did a good job. When she speculated she stated such. This book will never rate in the same class as Katherine for me, but then fiction allows a lot more room for personality.

[ascexis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked up a book thinking huh, Christmas present for my mother, and then somehow it was gone 1 in the morning and I'm still. reading.it. I read the Anya Seton book, and I knew it probably wasn't quite like that, so when I saw a book on Katherine Swinford I may have pounced on it. I have mixed feelings about it. Alison Weir takes a very small amount of cloth and cuts an exceedingly large coat from it. The cultural and political stuff is fascinating -- I remember enough from socio-economic history of the middle ages that this all slots neatly into the hundred years war, the black death and the Lollards. And of course, there's Chaucer, and Lancaster and it's all good fun with 700 years distance :-). I did get a certain amount of whiplash from her attitude to Froissart -- depending on whether she likes the inferences or not he's reliable ... or not. And the whole business of taking a possibility and then treating it as established fact and relying on it for the next rather flimsy assumption -- and then taking to task other historians doing the exact same thing (such as assuming that every gift to Katherine related to her relationship with John, and then when similar or greater gifts are handed to other women then no, no those aren't evidence of affairs. Except when they are. *sigh*) is annoying and frustrating. Also, dishonest. The fire which destroyed the Savoy Palace also destroyed key financial records. More importantly, so little remains from the fourteenth century that much of our history of that period is anecdotal and based on accounts never intended for the purposes to which they are now put, and which bear the weight of historical enquiry with varying degrees of success. Weir makes no real attempt to derive Katherine's character except from the facts, and from a scattering of maybe fewer than fifty points it's hard to really feel that yes, this was the woman who captivated John of Gaunt. I was left fascinated but ultimately unsatisfied. That said, it's a riveting read. Flimsy fabric and all.