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Katherine Swynford

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Mistress

The Resume

    (1350-May 10, 1403)
    Born in Hainault (part of modern Belgium)
    Birth name was Katherine de Roet
    Daughter of a minor Flemish knight Payne de Roet
    Longtime mistress and third wife of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III

Why she might be annoying:

    She and John didn’t hide their affair from the public or John’s then-wife Constanza of Castile.
    She’s often described as a medieval Camilla Parker-Bowles.
    She is mainly known through the inaccurate bodice-ripper ‘Katherine’ by Anya Seton.
    Her immediate descendants plunged England into civil war over succession to the throne.
    Her son by her first marriage may have killed Richard II by starving him to death.
    She was called a ‘she-devil,’ ‘witch’ and ‘unspeakable concubine’ by contemporary chroniclers.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was probably married off to her first husband, Hugh Swynford, when she was only 12.
    His early death left her a teenage widow with three children.
    She was a governess to John’s daughters from his first marriage.
    Her brother-in-law was Geoffrey Chaucer.
    She and John eventually got permission from the pope to marry and legitimize their four children.
    She is the direct ancestor of all British monarchs since 1461.
    Five American presidents are also descended from her.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 60.87% Annoying