Was Katherine Swynford Really a “She-Devil”?

How Lincoln cathedral choir to promote Katherine Swynford tours

Looking at the information apropos the 2026  Lincoln Cathedral Katherine Swynford tours I was struck by the descriptions of Katherine used.

“Sorceress.”

“She-devil and enchantress.”

“Unspeakable concubine.”

“An adulterer and pursuer of luxury.”

These phrases are not inventions. Hostile commentary directed at Katherine appears in late fourteenth-century political discourse, particularly during the period surrounding the Good Parliament of 1376 and subsequent anti-Lancastrian agitation (Goodman, 1992; Saul, 1997).

But quotation is not interpretation.When such language is foregrounded without contextual framing, it risks reproducing factional rhetoric rather 

John of Gaunt was the wealthiest and most powerful magnate in England for much of Richard II’s reign. Criticism of Gaunt frequently surfaced in parliamentary complaint and popular unrest (Goodman, 1992; Saul, 1997). Women associated with political power in the later Middle Ages were often attacked through moralised and gendered language — accusations of sorcery, sexual manipulation, or corrupting influence were common tropes (Barron, 1984; Walker, 1990).

The language used about Katherine reflects this political climate. It tells us more about factional hostility and anxieties surrounding Gaunt’s influence than about Katherine’s documented conduct.

To present such rhetoric without explanation risks perpetuating precisely the narrative constructed by her opponents.

More Than a Mistress

Katherine married John of Gaunt at Lincoln in January 1396. The marriage was public and canonically valid (Goodman, 1992). Following their union, she became Duchess of Lancaster — the highest-ranking noblewoman in England outside the royal family.

Her four Beaufort children, born before the marriage, were legitimated by papal bull (1396) and confirmed by royal letters patent (1397) (Given-Wilson and Curteis, 1984). Through the Beaufort line, she stands in the ancestry of the Tudor dynasty and, by extension, the present monarch These are not marginal details.

Rehabilitation and Respectability

By the end of her life, Katherine was not a political scandal but a recognised duchess and widow of Gaunt. She was buried with dignity in Lincoln Cathedral in 1403, and her daughter Joan Beaufort was later interred nearby (Goodman, 1992).Her chantry foundation and burial location signal status, not disgrace. If fourteenth-century England could accommodate her rehabilitation, modern heritage interpretation can surely manage nuance.

The Responsibility of Heritage

It is I personally believe important that any use of this type of language is balanced by recognising Katherine Swynford was:

• Duchess of Lancaster
• A substantial landholder
• Political consort to the realm’s most powerful magnate
• Matriarch of the Beaufort line
• Ancestress of later ruling dynasties

Reducing her primarily to the language of scandal risks replicating medieval propaganda rather than illuminating it.

History deserves proportion, and so does Katherine.

References

Barron, C.M. (1984) ‘The Good Parliament and the Peasants’ Revolt’, in Hilton, R. and Aston, T.H. (eds.) The English Rising of 1381. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Given-Wilson, C. and Curteis, A. (1984) The Royal Bastards of Medieval England. London: Routledge.

Goodman, A. (1992) John of Gaunt: The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe. London: Longman.

Saul, N. (1997) Richard II. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Walker, S. (1990) ‘Political Saints? Women and Power in Late Medieval England’, History Today, 40(6), pp. 14–20.