Civil unrest, a deadly sickness and trouble in the north? We’re visiting the year 1381 in this episode to examine a dramatic moment in ‘the calamitous fourteenth century.’ Our guide is the historian Helen Carr, author of a newly released biography of John of Gaunt - The Red Prince, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

John of Gaunt is a compelling figure. He was the son of Edward III, uncle of Richard II, Father of Henry IV and progenitor of the Tudor dynasty. Gaunt lived his life, as Carr explains, against some of the most challenging circumstances in English history.

Helen Carr is an historian of the Fourteenth Century and author of The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (April 2021) and What is History, Now? (September 2021).

As ever, much, much more about this episode is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com.

Show notes

Scene One: June London, Wat Tyler and thousands of rebels arrive in London, where they are joined by disgruntled locals and go on a rampage through they city. Their main target is John of Gaunt’s sumptuous home, the Savoy Palace, which they break into and annihilate – theft is not part of their plan, just destruction.

Scene Two: June Berwick on Tweed. Fortunately for him, John of Gaunt, was far away in Berwick on the Scottish border at this time, negotiating a truce. When he heard the terrible news from London, and the rumours that a huge peasant army was on its way north to find him, he ordered his numerous castles to be stocked up.

Scene Three: August the Scottish Borders. John of Gaunt is left hanging for weeks by his young nephew Richard II, awaiting word that he can return to his lands in the south and regain his authority. Percy, the most powerful northern Earl, takes advantage of John’s vulnerability and refuses to give him shelter.

Memento: One of John of Gaunt’s luxurious tapestries that hung in the Savoy Palace before it was destroyed by the rebels. 

People/Social

Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Helen Carr

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Colorgraph

Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_

Or on Facebook

See where 1381 fits on our Timeline