Blanche of Lancaster

Blanche of Lancaster (1342–1368) was the younger daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. In 1359 she married John of Gaunt, son of Edward III; the great Lancaster inheritance she brought him became the foundation of his power and of the Duchy of Lancaster, and she bore seven children, including the future Henry IV.

She died at Tutbury Castle on 12 September 1368, probably of the Black Death, while Gaunt was overseas. He held annual commemorations of her death and in 1374 commissioned a joint tomb for them at St Paul's Cathedral, and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess is generally thought to have been written in her memory.