nanshe-of-nina:Women’s History Meme || Scandals (big or small) (2/5)↬ The adulterous affair and preg
nanshe-of-nina:Women’s History Meme || Scandals (big or small) (2/5)↬ The adulterous affair and pregnancy of Elizabeth of Lancaster… Preoccupied as he was with the myriad aspects of his venture, he yet had to find time to deal with the unseemly conduct of his strong-willed daughter, Elizabeth of Lancaster. Bored with her child husband, who was still only 14 to her 23 years, Elizabeth had willingly allowed herself to be seduced by the King’s half-brother, Sir John Holland, a volatile schemer who in 1384 had been involved in the plot hatched against John of Gaunt at the Salisbury Parliament; it was he who in 1385 had caused outrage —and grief to his mother, the Princess Joan —by killing Stafford’s son, as a result of which he had been forced to flee to sanctuary until the King’s wrath abated. Holland was licentious too, and around 1380, he had reputedly enjoyed a torrid affair with the flirtatious Isabel de Castilla, Constanza’s sister and the wife of Edmund of Langley. Now, Higden says, he had been “struck down passionately” by his love for Elizabeth of Lancaster, “so that day and night he sought her out”. When John of Gaunt learned that Elizabeth was pregnant by Holland, he arranged for her unconsummated marriage to Pembroke to be annulled; that unfortunate boy was to remarry, but he would die horribly, pierced through his genitals, in a jousting accident at Christmas 1389. On 24 June 1386, Elizabeth and Holland were hastily wed in or near Plymouth, narrowly averting a scandal and effecting his complete rehabilitation. The Duke was to show great favour to this son-in-law, so obviously the scoundrel had charm and ability. The couple’s daughter Constance was born the following year, and four other children —the eldest being named John, after the Duke— would follow.— Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess -- source link