The Red Prince
The Life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster
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The Red Prince
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Narrated by:
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Helen Carr
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By:
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Helen Carr
About this listen
Medieval history from a rising star in the field, this is a biography of one of the most important figures of the age, John of Gaunt.
John Gaunt was the son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV, and the sire of all those Tudors. He has had pretty bad press: supposed usurper of Richard II’s crown and the focus of hatred in the Peasants’ Revolt, as they torched his home, the Savoy Palace.
Helen Carr paints a complex portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, patronized the arts - and, if you follow Shakespeare, gave the most beautiful oration on England: “this sceptred isle...this blessed plot.”
The Red Prince is an engrossing drama of political machinations, violence, romance, plague, revolt, and tragedy played out at the cusp of a new era.
©2021 Helen Carr (P)2021 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
He was also at times hated by the public, which came to a head in the peasants revolt and the burning of his magnificent Savoy Palace in London. This also left a bitter taste as Richard II left a 14 year old future Henry IV in great danger in the Tower of London, narrowly avoiding capture and certain death by the rebels. With immense wealth and ambition Gaunt also attempted to become King of Castile through his second wife Constance of Castile. This ultimately failed, leaving him to return to England as Richard II was becoming a despot more and more paranoid of those around him. This forced John to constantly show his loyalty to the crown, even abandoning his brother Thomas of Woodstock in order to safeguard his children. This would eventually come to a head when Richard disinherited Henry after John’s death in 1399, causing Richard to be disposed and the beginnings of the War of the Roses. Eventually this would lead to the downfall of the Plantagenet line and the rise of the Beaufort/Tudor line through John’s son John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.
This is a story of war and peace, tyranny and kindness, love and hate and Helen Carr does a good job of presenting the facts in a clear and coherent way. She is a good writer, who gets her point across easily (the writing is like Hemingway, no meat on the bones, just to the point). Although the book is short I came away satisfied with the content, I felt I know what I need to about John and having read about his other family members, his father, nephew, wife, brothers and son, this book slots nicely into my understanding of the period. A great debut book by Carr and I have no reason to complain. The story of English history over the past 550 years begins with Gaunt, it all leads back to Gaunt and so it is great Carr also begins her career with him too.
Father of English Kings
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Great listen
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I found it so engrossing I did a binge listen over a day & a half. It was well-written & well read by the author. I hope she publishes many more.
Illuminating!
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Great work thanks, more please.
Excellent
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Very informative
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