Elizabeth of Lancaster ★

1360s–1380s

Born before 21 February 1363 at Burford, Shropshire, the third child of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster, and raised under the care of Katherine Swynford. Made a Lady of the Garter in 1378. Married John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, at Kenilworth on 24 June 1380; that marriage was annulled, and on 24 June 1386 she married John Holland at Plymouth.

1400s–1420s

Holland was executed in 1400 after the failed Epiphany Rising. That same year she married Sir John Cornwall, later Baron Fanhope. Died on 24 November 1426 and was buried at Burford.

Family Background

Elizabeth of Lancaster was born before February 21, 1363, at Burford, Shropshire, the third child of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his first wife Blanche of Lancaster. She was raised in her father's household under the care of Katherine Swynford, whom she came to respect greatly, and grew into a spirited and headstrong young woman by contrast with her more serious elder sister Philippa.

First Marriage: John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke

Elizabeth married John Hastings on June 24, 1380, at Kenilworth Castle; she was seventeen, her husband only eight, becoming Countess of Pembroke in name. The mismatch could not last, and the marriage was annulled six years later once she had grown well beyond her child husband.

Second Marriage: John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter

By her early twenties Elizabeth had become involved with John Holland, Richard II's half-brother and a notorious schemer, and became pregnant by him; her father compelled the annulment of her first marriage so she could marry Holland at Plymouth on June 24, 1386. Holland was executed in 1400 for his part in the Epiphany Rising, a failed plot to restore the deposed Richard II against Elizabeth's own brother, the new King Henry IV.

Third Marriage: John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope

That same year, 1400, Elizabeth married Sir John Cornwall, later 1st Baron Fanhope, without first securing her brother the king's permission, briefly landing Cornwall under arrest for the oversight. Despite the rocky start, the marriage is said to have been a genuinely happy one.

Children

With John Holland she had six children, including Constance Holland, Elizabeth Holland, and John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter; with John Cornwall she had two more, including a son who died at the Siege of Meaux in 1422 at just seventeen. She was recognized as a Lady of the Garter in 1378.

Death

Elizabeth died November 24, 1426, and was buried at St Mary's Church, Burford, Shropshire, the town of her birth.