John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (20 June 1389 – 14 September 1435), also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI.

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (left).

He was created Earl of Kendal, Earl of Richmond and Duke of Bedford in 1414 by his brother, King Henry V. On 14 June 1423, at Troyes, he married Anne, daughter of John the Fearless. After Anne's death in childbirth in 1432, he married Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

When Henry V died in 1422, Bedford vied with his younger brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, for control of the Kingdom. Bedford was declared Regent of France, his nephew technically being heir to the throne of that country as well as to England. Bedford defeated the French several times, until the arrival of Joan of Arc rallied the opposition. In 1431, Bedford had Joan tried and executed at Rouen, then arranged a coronation for the young Henry VI at Paris. While negotiating the Treaty of Rouen, he died at his home and was buried at Rouen Cathedral. Bedford had been Governor in Normandy between 1422-1432.

He was an extremely important commissioner of illuminated manuscripts, both from Paris (from the Bedford Master and his workshop) and England. The three most important surviving manuscripts of his are the Bedford Hours (British Library Ms Add 18850) and the Salisbury Breviary (Paris BnF Ms Lat. 17294), which were both made in Paris, and the Bedford Psalter and Hours of about 1420-23, which is English (BL Ms Add 42131). This last is signed in two places by Herman Scheere. All are lavishly decorated and famous examples of the style of the period.

Ancestors

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford's ancestors in three generations

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford	Father: Henry IV of England	Paternal grandfather: John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster	Paternal great-grandfather: Edward III of England
			Paternal great-grandmother: Philippa of Hainault
		Paternal grandmother: Blanche of Lancaster	Paternal great-grandfather: Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
			Paternal great-grandmother: Isabel de Beaumont
	Mother: Mary de Bohun	Maternal grandfather: Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford	Maternal great-grandfather: William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton
			Maternal great-grandmother: Elizabeth Badlesmere
		Maternal grandmother: Joan FitzAlan	Maternal great-grandfather: Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel
			Maternal great-grandmother: Eleanor of Lancaster