The Last Knight by Norman F. Cantor

A Biography of John of Gaunt

Much has been written about the Plantagenets. In bringing us the biography of John of Gaunt in “The Last Knight," Professor Cantor has brought to life one of the most important men of the Middle Ages. This is a time period filled with larger-than-life men and John was, in his own way, one of them.

John of Gaunt was the son of Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault. He was the third son born to this young power couple and since he was born in the city of Ghent, he was known as John of Gaunt. He is the younger brother of the Black Prince and the father of King Henry IV. He was raised to be a warrior prince and was the epitome of the chivalrous knight.

What this book does, is place him in the context of the late Middle Ages as it transitions into the modern era. John was a man of his times and yet often flirted with what was the way of the future. He married three times. Two of the marriages were for dynastic reasons and one was for love, an unusual thing in this time period. 

John married Blanche of Lancaster and through her gained the Duchy of Lancaster and most of his wealth. He lost her to the Black Death and it was the nurse to his two daughters who would become the love of his life. Katherine Swynford is a story in and of herself and through her, the Tudors and the Stuarts descended. His second wife was Constance of Spain, another dynastic marriage. In his old age, he married Katherine, and his nephew, King Richard II, legitimized the children of their union, the Beauforts. From his daughter Philippa by his wife Blanche, he is the grandfather of Henry the Navigator of Portugal. He has left quite an amazing legacy.

John of Gaunt was the richest man of his time. As the third son, he had no real hope of inheriting the throne and had no interest in the Church which left the army for him. He was the companion of his brother Edward for as long as Edward was able to fight but was not up to the grind without the companionship. After Edward’s death, he fought for the rights of his sister-in-law Joan and nephew Richard. If he ever thought that he would have made a better king than Richard, he never verbalized it, and there is no hint that he ever did anything but support the heir to the throne. It was left to his son Henry to depose the King and steal the throne.

In his time, he had contact with some of the great men of the Middle Ages, among them John Wyclif and Geoffrey Chaucer. This is a fascinating book about an amazing man who was indeed the last knight and who lived in a time when change, was very much in the wind.

While The Last Night is not given very good ratings on Amazon, I personally enjoyed it. It is an easy read and while perhaps not for historians, it will entertain the less critical and give a good overview of the man and his times. It certainly is as much history as the average reader wants to have.