John of Gaunt: His Mission To Become A King

John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III of England, laid claim to the throne of Castile, through right of his second marriage to Constance of Castile. She was the daughter of King Peter, or Pedro, of Castile who had died in 1369. John had an ally in his quest to claim the throne, the king of Portugal, John I. John I would be married to Gaunt’s daughter, Phillipa, in 1387 and so by the time Gaunt had launched his expedition in the summer of 1386, he would have been in marriage negotiations with the Portuguese king. . Gaunt was an extraordinarily wealthy man, the richest in England. And these riches had made him a target of the wrath of the Peasants Revolt of 1381. John escaped with his life as he was on campaign in the North of England but his Savoy Palace was destroyed and his son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, had a very narrow escape indeed. An opportunity to escape his continuing unpopularity would be more than welcome and John had more than enough resources to launch his expedition to Castile.

Gaunt and his men landed in Castile in 1386 and made some headway, capturing towns and castles. But it wasn’t long before they found themselves being bogged down and their advance slowed to snail’s pace. Whilst the English forces were being aided by the Portuguese, the Castilians were being helped by the French. Gaunt’s expedition began in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Gaunt’s father, Edward III, had led England to some spectacular successes but in the last years of his reign, his health began to decline and the French, under King Charles V, began to turn the tide. However, by 1386, both countries had new kings. England was ruled by Richard II, Gaunt’s nephew, who became king in 1377 aged 10. And France was now ruled by Charles VI, who became king in 1380. Charles would suffer from mental problems throughout his reign and with Richard II showing little inclination to continuing hostilities, the Hundred Years War fell ino an impasse for several decades and would not be shaken from it until the emergence of Henry V. This, however, did not mean the French did not want to put a dent in Gaunt’s machinations. The last thing France would have wanted was an already powerful English prince becoming a king on the continent and right next door, to boot. The fact he was Edward III’s son would have also made them extremely wary of these latest developments.
As I mentioned, the situation quickly became difficult for Gaunt and his men. Somewhat bizarrely Gaunt had brought his wife Constance, perhaps wishing to see her homeland once again, and his daughter Phillipa. Whilst Gaunt undoubtedly expected to push through Phillipa’s marriage to John I, it seems more than a little odd that he’d bring the two ladies on campaign. The conditions were trying in the extreme. Oppressive summer heat beat down and to lower the spirits of Gaunt’s men, there was a serious shortage of food. Unsurprisingly, this led to discontent and some fingers pointed at Phillipa and Constance for holding the advance up even further.

Gaunt and his forces advanced to Medina Del Campo where the incumbent Castilian king was residing. Rather confusingly, his English title is also John I, the same as Gaunt’s Portuguese ally, so to avoid getting in a muddle, we shall call him Juan. The situation for Gaunt didn’t particularly improve as they reached the Del Campo region. The French had laid waste to the surrounding area so hopes of finding sufficient food and provisions were dashed.

The English horses began to grow weak, listless before they eventually died and disease began to set in amongst the men. Perhaps with desperation beginning to set in, a number of English knights broke away from the main force and headed towards the town of Villalpando where a French garrison was stationed. Absolutely nothing was gained from this. The exhausting heat, with sand and dust being blown in the knights' faces making their thirst even greater, meant the fighting was reduced to an absolute mininmum. The knights returned rather dismally to their camp where more than a few contracted fevers and died miserably.

By this stage, Gaunt would have been extremely exasperated. Grapes became a main staple of his men’s diet and large amounts of wine was consumed. Obviously, wine would do nothing for their dehydration but by this point, the English knights and soldiers may have been drinking to forget rather than quench their unspeakable thirst. Dysentry and other horrid diseases now inflicted the army and, again unsurprisingly, the soldiers turned their frustations towards the leader of the expedition, Gaunt. They accused him of leading them to their deaths and it’s not difficult to see why they felt that way.
Finally, Gaunt could see nothing else for it but to sue for peace with King Juan. Juan was more than ready to agree to this but only if the knights would leave his kingdom as soon as they were fit to leave. The English were more than happy to agree to this. Before his soldiers departed, Gaunt paid what was owed to them or at the very least made generous promises of payment and so his men went their separate ways. King Juan may have been relieved at their departure but in reality his throne had never been put in serious jeopardy.

As for John of Gaunt, his attempts to become a king had failed dreadfully. But when he returned to England, he found a country in turmoil as Richard II’s reign went from bad to worse. And this provided John with an opportunity to enhance his poor reputation with the English population. And for the remainder of his life, he’d be a prominent figure in English politics.