4 June 2026 Lincoln

 

Today was nothing but Lincoln. I spent the morning touring Lincoln Cathedral, and I spent the afternoon touring Lincoln Castle, and seeing only one of four original copies of the Magna Carta.

I arrived at the cathedral right as it opened, and the first floor tour was 30 minutes after I arrived. Our volunteer tour guide, Charles, did a great job showing us around to the highlights, and harping on the theme of Good vs. Evil, and constant theme in most of these Cathedrals. 

I had 9 of my ancestors buried in Lincoln Cathedral, so I was ready to get started finding out where they were. Luckily for me, 3 of them were near the High Altar, and the tour guide had a lot to say about them. No such luck with the other 6.

The tombs of Katherine Swynford and her daughter, Joan Beaufort in Lincoln Cathedral.

When I look at my family tree, I sometimes forget that the wives in the family tree are listed by their maiden name, while the husbands are listed in by their given name. When you have around 22,000 people in your family tree, it's already hard to keep up with them all, but sometimes you don't put two and two together to understand who is married to who. 

Katherine de Roet was from Hainaut, Belgium. She first married a man named Sir Hugh Swynford in 1366, and together they had 3 children. The marriage was supposedly arranged by Blanche of Lancaster and her Husband, John of Gaunt. John was the third son of King Edward III, and a man of high morals. John was the Duke of Lancaster when his wife Blanche passed away in 1368. John then married his second wife, Constance of Castile in 1371. 

The Imp of Lincoln Cathedral.

After the death of Hugh Swynford, Katherine Swynford became a member of the household of the Duke's new wife, Constance of Castile, and she was given management of the estates of her deceased husband in Lincolnshire: Coleby and Kettlethorpe. She soon became the mistress of John of Gaunt.

In addition, Gaunt gave his mistress several estates, and also provided her with a generous allowance. Since the relationship between Katherine and John of Gaunt caused public condemnation, in 1381 the Duke was forced to break their relationship. Katherine then settled in a rented house in Lincoln.

Despite the formal break, Katherine's relationship with her former lover and the rest of his family continued to be quite cordial. In 1387, she was made a Lady of the Garter by King Richard II,  and shortly thereafter she became a member of the household of Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry Bolingbroke, eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt, who later became King of England under the name of Henry IV.

 While John was married to Constance, they had 2 children together, but at the same time, Katherine gave birth to 4 (3 sons and 1 daughter) of hers and John's children. These illegitimate children were given the last name of Beaufort, after one of the French estates of their father, John. When Constance died in 1394, John rekindled the romance that he had for Katherine, and the two were married in 1396. 

After John and Katherine became married, their 4 children together became legitimized. They actually did quite well for themselves. John Beaufort, born in 1373, became the Earl of Somerset. Henry Beaufort, 1375, went the way of the clergy, and became a Cardinal in the Catholic Church. Joan Beaufort, 1375, married Sir Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland. The last son, Thomas (1377) became the 1st Duke of Exeter. I am a direct descendant of the three oldest Beaufort children, as well as Katherine's eldest son, Thomas Swynford, who became the Constable of Pontefract Castle. Katherine was my 19th and 18th Great Grandmother through both of her husbands. 

The story doesn't end here. Joan Beaufort eventually becomes the mother of Cecily Neville. Cecily Neville marries Richard, Duke of York, and they have five children together; Edward, Edmund, Richard, Elizabeth, and Margaret. Edward eventually becomes King Edward IV. Richard becomes King Richard III, and when Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he becomes Henry VII, marries Elizabeth of York (Joan's Great Granddaughter) and she gives birth to the future King Henry VIII. 

Joan Beaufort becomes the Grandmother of two English Monarchs, and her Great Granddaughter, Elizabeth of York, becomes the wife of Henry VII, and the father to Henry the VIII. Joan was my 25th, 18th, and 17th Great Grandmother.

Sorry that was so long, and sorry if it created confusion, but it really is an interesting story. Even though the last English King in my bloodline is Edward III, the offspring of those I am related to continued to become the Kings of England. 

Before I tell the story of Eleanor of Castile, here are some more pictures of Lincoln Cathedral.

This is the tomb of Sir Nicholas Cantilupe, not  Lieutenant Dan.

These are pictures from the WWII Memorial Chapel. Some of the stained glass here is dedicated to those who died for the British Bomber Command, Training Command, and the New Zealand Forces. 

Eleanor of Castile was the first wife of  Edward I "Longshanks" Plantagenet. She died at the age of 49 in 1290, while on her way to the City of Lincoln at Harby Manor in Nottinghamshire. Edward was so distraught, that as her body was taken back to Westminster Abbey for burial, he had a stone crosses erected at every spot on her way back where her body rested overnight. This is what remains of one of those crosses at Lincoln Castle.

Eleanor of Castile actually had three burials in different locations. The first was her entrails, that were buried in her tomb at Lincoln Cathedral. The second burial was her heart, at Greyfriars in London. The third burial was her body, at Westminster Abbey. Her are some pictures of Eleanor's Tomb at Lincoln Cathedral. She was my 22nd Great Grandmother

Lincoln Castle, about two blocks away from the cathedral, was started in 1068 after William the Conqueror's victory at Hastings. Over the years, it grew until what it was just before Oliver Cromwell and his men slighted it. Two of my ancestors were involved in the two wars that took place here, affectionately known at the First and Second Battles of Lincoln.  

The First Battle of Lincoln took place in 1141 during the Anarchy. King Stephen faced off against an Army commanded by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, Empress Maud's half brother. King Stephen was defeated, taken prisoner, and imprisoned in Bristol Castle. Meanwhile, Empress Matilda ruled, until her half brother, Robert of Gloucester, was taken captive at the battle of Winchester. A prisoner swap was made, and Stephen was released to become King again, until he died.  Matilda's son, Henry II, became Stephen's heir, and the King of England.

The Second Battle of Lincoln took place in 1217, two years after King John signed the Magna Carta. The 25 Surety Barons who were with John at the signing, rose up in revolt against the terms of the agreement being broken, in what became the First Barons War. Henry III, King John's Son, was only 9 years old, but his Protector and Regent, William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, fought on his behalf, defeating the Barons and their French Allies. This effectively ended the First Barons War.

My ancestors for the second war were William d' Aubigny (pronouced Albini), and William Marshall. Today, there are only 4 remaining original copies of the Magna Carta, two of which are in bad shape with the British Archives in London, one here at Lincoln Castle, and the other at Salisbury Cathedral, where I visited with my daughter Alex three years ago to view it.

Here's a final picture of the Castle with the Cathedral in the background.