John (John of Gaunt, First Duke of Lancaster 1340-1399) fathered five children outside marriage, one early in life by a lady-in-waiting to his mother, and four surnamed "Beaufort" by Katherine Swynford (after a former French possession of the Duke), Gaunt's long-term mistress and third wife.
The Beaufort children, three sons and a daughter, were legitimized by royal and papal decrees after John and Katherine married in 1396, with the proviso that they were specifically barred from inheriting the throne ('excepta regali dignitate').
Descendants of this marriage included Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and eventually Cardinal; Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, grandmother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III; John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, the great-grandfather of King Henry VII; and Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots, from whom are descended, beginning in 1437, all subsequent sovereigns of Scotland, and successively, from 1603 on, the sovereigns England, of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the United Kingdom to the present day.
The three preceding houses of English sovereigns from 1399 - the Houses of Lancaster, York and Tudor - were descended from John through, respectively, Henry Bolingbroke, Joan Beaufort and John Beaufort.
That, and $2.00, will get me a cup of coffee anywhere. :{)
Say 25 years/generation 670/25=26
2^26 = about 120 million ancestors.
I'm actually related to the Katherine Swynford
Really, impressive.
Say 25 years/generation 670/25=26
2^26 = about 120 million ancestors.
I'm actually related to the Katherine Swynford
Really, impressive.