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Katherine Swynford

The History of a Medieval Mistress

The History Press

Katherine's Life and Family

Katherine's father, Gilles or Paon Roet, native of Roeulx near Mons in Hainaut, travelled to England in the entourage of Philippa, member of the ruling family of Hainaut and future bride of Edward III. Paon was possibly the son of Jean de Ruet (d. 1305), who was in turn son of Huon de Ruet, giving Katherine a Hainauter, rather than English, heritage. The year of Jean de Ruet's death necessitates a birth date for Paon of, at the latest, the early years of the fourteenth century, making Paon middle-aged when he became a father to Katherine.

It would appear that Paon was not yet a knight when he made his journey to England with the future English queen, but on his arrival he impressed Edward III sufficiently in the art of chivalrous warfare to be appointed King of Arms for Guienne, possibly gaining this rank as early as 1334. Paon remained within the households of the King and Queen during his time in England, obviously a trusted member of their retinue, and is mentioned by Froissart in connection with Philippa's famous plea for the burgesses of Calais in 1347:

Then she rose and had the six burgesses set on their feet and took away the ropes from their necks and led them with her to her hostel and had them clothed and set at dinner and made comfortable that day. And in the morning, she gave each six nobles and had them let out of the army by Monsieur Sanse d'Aubrecicourt and Monsieur Paon de Roet, as far as they could and until it seemed to the two knights that they would be out of danger; and at parting the knights commended them to God and returned to the army, and the burgesses went to St Omer.

By 1350 Paon had left the services of the English court and returned to his native land of Hainaut. The reason for this is unknown. He appears in the Cartulaire des Comtes de Haynault several times between 1350 and 1352 as an official of Margaret, Empress of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut and sister to Queen Philippa. The official scribes record his name as Gilles de Roet, Ruet or Rueth 'dit' Paon, Paonnet or Paunet. In 1351 he is designated as both 'maistre vallet del hotel medame' and 'maistre chevalier de no hostel'.

It is possible that Paon had a familial connection to the rulers of Hainaut. The younger brother of the last lord of Roeulx, descended from the counts of Hainaut, was Fastré de Ruet. This gentleman accompanied Sir John Beaumont in 1326 to assist the English against the Scots. Both Fastré and his brother Eustace died in the 1330s. It has been speculated that Paon was of a collateral line of this family, but whether this is so, or Paon was merely named after the town of his birth, remains unknown. It is nice though to believe that Katherine came from such a background, and the strong connection between the Roet family and the English throne does suggest that Katherine's forebears had some noble breeding. What is known is that Paon's last appearance in the records of Hainaut was in August 1352, and his death can be inferred to have followed soon after. A description of his monument in the old St Paul's Cathedral can be found in Weaver's Funeral Monuments, but this tomb dated from a time much removed from his death, as the inscription read: 'Here lies Paganus Roet, Guyenne King of Arms, father of Catherine Duchess of Lancaster...'.

Nothing is known of the woman or women whom Paon married, although it is possible to speculate that, given his time in the court of the English King and Queen, his wife or wives were of English origin. Nor is much known about his children. Evidence suggests that Paon had at least four children, all of whom had connections with either the English or the Hainaut court. Of these children it would appear that Elisabeth, or Isabelle as she also appears in the records, was Paon's first child. She entered the nunnery of Sainte Wandru at Mons in 1349, the prebend being vacant because of the death of Beatrix de Wallaincourt. The record of this event in the Cartulaire des Comtes de Haynault recounts how Countess Margaret granted the prebend of the Chapter of Sainte Waudru to Elisabeth, daughter of Paon Roet. Elisabeth's entrance into the monastic life in this year would suggest a birth date for her of c. 1335. The records of the convent show that she was still in residence there in May 1367, but she died the following year. An entry in the convent charters for 13 July 1368 records 'letters for which Albert, duke of Bavaria accords Jeanne d'Ecaussines, daughter of Gilles, the prebend of the chapter of Sainte-Waudru, vacant on the death of Isabelle de Roet'.

It is possible that Paon also had a son. The Black Prince's Register records the activities of a Walter Roet, yeoman of the Prince of Wales. The Prince paid this yeoman 40s on 10 May 1355. Further accounts for both 1354 and 1355 show that the Prince had ordered letters to be sent to Stephen Maulyns, the provost of the church of Mons, with regard to £40 owed to the prince under a bond. These letters requested that Maulyns pay the £40 in equal share to two of his retainers, Sir Eustace d'Aubrecicourt and a Walter de Roe or Rude.Presumably this Walter was the same yeoman previously mentioned. It would also seem likely that Sir Eustace d'Aubrecicourt was the Monsieur Sanse d'Aubrecicourt who, along with Paon Roet, escorted the burgesses of Calais to safety. A speculative birth date for Walter would be the late 1330s.

Much more is known of Paon's other children, Philippa and Katherine. Evidence for Philippa's life has led historians to place her birth date as c. 1345–7. In 1357 'damoiselle' Philippa Pan was in the household of Countess Elizabeth of Ulster, wife of Edward III's third son, Lionel. The meaning of the name 'Pan' and why Philippa was called this is unclear. There have been many interpretations of it and how it determines the identity and familial connections of this figure, even suggestions that this designation discounts Philippa from being Katherine's sister. 'Pan' was a shortened from of panetaria and could, therefore, signify that Philippa was mistress of the pantry. But this seems most unlikely bearing in mind the age that could be assumed of such an official and also because of the gifts made to Philippa Pan. However, Paon de Roet's name was occasionally recorded in the form of Panneto and therefore Philippa Pan could be a shortening of 'Philippa, daughter of Panneto'. This would seem a more likely scenario than that of a 10–12-year-old girl being mistress of the pantry. Furthermore, it is possible that Philippa's role in the household was that of rokestere to Philippa of Eltham, daughter of the Countess of Ulster and Prince Lionel. A rokestere was a member of the small retinue provided to royal children at birth, and the position was normally held by a young girl, whose main task was cradle rocking.

At some stage Philippa transferred to the household of the English Queen, possibly on the death of Elizabeth of Ulster in 1362; a grant to her in 1366 describes her as 'domicelle' of the Chamber of the Queen. At a similar time Philippa married the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who had also been a member of Elizabeth of Ulster's household. On the marriage of John of Gaunt to Constance of Castile, Philippa entered the household of Constance, the new Duchess of Lancaster. In the late 1370s she was resident in Lincolnshire, probably at the home of her sister Katherine, collecting her annuities within this county. Philippa was admitted to the fraternity of Lincoln Cathedral in 1386 but died shortly after. On 18 June 1387 annuities were paid to both her and her husband, but by 7 November the same year Chaucer was collecting his alone.

Katherine Swynford is the most famous of Paon's four children. The birth of Katherine is conventionally dated to c. 1350, making her the youngest known child of Paon. Her place of birth is unknown but was most likely somewhere in England, probably London, given the connections between her father and the royal court. There is a strong possibility, however, that Katherine was born earlier than 1348, making her the older sister to Philippa, and her birthplace was almost definitely England. In Thomas Speght's seventeenth-century work on Chaucer, Philippa is recorded as 'altera filiarum', which can be translated to mean either 'the other daughter' or 'the second of two daughters'. I believe that from this and other evidence, most notably the date by which Katherine was married to her first husband and the age at which she had her youngest child, Katherine was probably older than Philippa, with a birth date of c. 1345, while Philippa was born c. 1347.

It is from the writings of Froissart that the details of Katherine's early life are known. The chronicler tells us that she grew up within the English court, joining the household of Blanche of Lancaster after the marriage of the wealthy heiress to John of Gaunt in 1359. It is possible that Paon Roet, Katherine's father, on his departure from England early in the 1350s, entrusted the care of his daughters to Queen Philippa. The English Queen was known for her willingness to care for the children of those in her service. Almost all the letters of Philippa that are extant were written on behalf of others. If Paon was a favourite in the King's retinue, then it would seem highly likely that the Queen's good and kind nature would have led her to place his daughters in suitable positions. Within the royal court Katherine would have had a favoured upbringing, surrounded by the luxurious lifestyles of English noble society. While she may not have been privy to all these luxuries herself, this lifestyle would undoubtedly have had an influence on her. The Lancastrian household was especially known for sharing its privileges with those of lower ranks, particularly in the education of children. Katherine would have learnt to read, sew, play and appreciate music and dance, and undergone religious instruction alongside the children of lords and dukes. Desirable manners and social skills would also have been learnt alongside these children.

The earliest entry that confirms Katherine's activities is found in the public records for the year 1365. In this year she is mentioned in the records of Bishop Buckingham of Lincoln as Katherine Swynford, 'ancille', or servant, of the Duchess of Lancaster. This entry holds twofold interest. First, it provides early evidence of Katherine's piety. Her appearance in the records marks the granting of permission by Buckingham for Katherine to hear mass in a private ceremony. It was more usual at this time for people to go to the local church to hear mass. This grant followed an increasing fashion among the gentry for mass to be celebrated privately within a household chapel. Secondly, the reference to her as Swynford indicates that at this time she was already married to Hugh Swynford, retainer of the Duke of Lancaster. This match was most likely made during the years 1363–5.

For Katherine to be married by 1365 strongly suggests that the conventional birth date for her of 1350 is too late. This date would have made her 15 at the oldest when she married. It is something of a misconception that medieval people married young. On the Continent, there are records of medieval couples who were married in their teens. This can be explained by their notion of the extended family. Recently married couples were expected to live with, and to be partly supported by, their parents. In England, however, couples were much more independent and set up home on their own. To do so they had to have financial means and so were generally in their early twenties before marrying. The only exceptions were those of the highest ranks who married for political motives and gains. Here there were marriages among younger people, but Katherine and her first husband do not fall into this social rank. Moreover, Katherine was governess of the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster's children by 1366–70. Surely a girl under 20 years of age would not have been given this responsible position? Furthermore, the youngest of Katherine's own children was born in 1379. Given Katherine's proven fecundity, it seems odd that she had no further children if she was only 29 in 1379. If she was 34, however, having no further children does not seem quite so unusual.

After her marriage to Hugh, Katherine will presumably have spent some time living at the manors of her husband in Lincolnshire. The descriptions of the Colby and Kettlethorpe manors in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem on Hugh's inheritance in 1362 suggest that the living here would have been noticeably plainer than Katherine had become accustomed to at court. Furthermore, from the same entry, these would appear to have been Hugh's only landholdings. The land at Colby is described as 'hard, stony and uncultivated because of its barrenness', and, of the manor itself, 'the dovecot and windmill are said to be in ruins'. Kettlethorpe fares little better, with the meadows described as being 'overflowed by the waters of the Trent in ordinary years'. The high probability of flooding at Kettlethorpe during the second half of the fourteenth century was due to its location near the confluence of the Fossdyke and the River Trent. During the 1300s there were regular complaints about the silting-up of the Fossdyke, including one in 1365, in which year Katherine can be presumed to have been in residence at Kettlethorpe:

Commission to Philip de Lymburg, William de Skipwyth, Adam de Lymbergh, Illard de Usflet, Robert de Moston and Walter de Poynton, on complaint by the citizens of Lincoln for themselves and the merchants of York, Nottingham and Kyngeston upon Hull as well as for other merchants elsewhere, by petition in the next Parliament, that a dyke called 'Fosdyke' from the water of Trente to the city of Lincoln by which ships and boats with merchandise and victuals used to pass to and from Lincoln is so obstructed by some of those parts having lands, meadows and pastures on both sides of it who in summertime drive their cattle over it to their feedings, as well as by an usual growth of grass and the rising of the sand in it that there is now no passage by it, to survey the dyke, to find by inquisition in the county of Lincoln the names of those who are bound to cleane and repair the same, to compel these by amercements and other means to do this and to hear and determine the whole matter.

Katherine's request to Bishop Buckingham for permission to have private mass could indeed have been linked to the isolation she experienced, cut off in this remote and flooded part of Lincolnshire. However, curiously, there is no evidence that Katherine attempted to clear the dyke to prevent further flooding. In 1375 she was one of the landowners named as responsible for maintaining the dyke by a commission reporting into the condition of the waterway, but there are no records to suggest that any action was taken in response to the commission's findings. This is odd, given how badly her land, and therefore her income, were affected by this flooding.

Colby and Kettlethorpe were recent acquisitions of the Swynford family. Colby was in the hands of Katherine's father-in-law Thomas Swynford only by 1345 and Kettlethorpe as late as 1356. In the early 1340s Thomas was a member of the commission of the peace for Bedfordshire, in 1345 he was sheriff of Buckingham and in 1345–7 was escheator for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. After his acquisition of Kettlethorpe Thomas was a member of various commissions of the peace in Lincolnshire, implying that he made his new manor his home.

Little is known of Katherine's marriage to Hugh Swynford. Whether the marriage was formed through mutual love and respect or whether it was simply deemed a suitable match for these two members of the household and retinue of the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster is unknown. Anya Seton in her novel depicts Katherine as marrying against her will, a simple girl fresh from a convent upbringing who dreams of marrying a handsome knight but instead is forced into marrying someone she loathes. Hugh is described as ugly and lacking in personality but with a vast love for Katherine. Katherine, seeing that her sister, the Duchess of Lancaster and the Queen all agree to the marriage, feels unable to say no. But would this have been the reality? It is easy to believe that the fictional Katherine, naive and anxious to please, could easily have had her hand forced. But the real Katherine, used to the ways of court, educated within noble society – surely this young woman would have had a choice over her marriage partner? She was retained to the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster and therefore subject to their wishes. If they had wanted her to marry Hugh, she might have felt obliged to agree, whatever her personal view on the matter. But the Lancasters were known for caring for their retinue, and Katherine was someone held in such regard that only a few years after her marriage she was made governess to the ducal children. It seems strange, therefore, that Katherine was forced into an unwanted marriage. Hugh Swynford also seems a strange choice for the Duke and Duchess to have picked as the husband of their future governess. The description of his land suggests that his income was dependent on his Lancastrian grants; the yield from his landholdings was surely slight. The fact that his father had recently acquired the lands also suggests that Hugh's family and background were not of high estate. The most likely scenario therefore seems to be that Katherine wished to marry Hugh. She may already have developed feelings for Gaunt, but no doubt she believed him beyond her reach. Hugh, on the other hand, was within reach, was a knight and a landholder, however meagre, and was presumably someone for whom she had feelings. Indeed, Hugh may have been someone with whom she had a pre-marriage dalliance, and it could have been the discovery that she was pregnant that made Katherine agree to marry him.

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Excerpted from Katherine Swynford by Jeannette Lucraft. Copyright © 2011 Jeannette Lucraft. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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