Raymond Biswanger Slide Collection
William Shakespeare:1597
(Richard II) Westminster, London
John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, was Richard II's uncle, and the father of Henry Bolingbrooke. In Shakespeare's Richard II, John of Gaunt is portrayed as a dignified patriot and a model of statesmanship.In Richard II, John of Gaunt makes the following well-known speech:
This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth
Richard II; (II.i.42-54)
In contrast to Shakespeare's John, the historical John of Gaunt was an aggressive and ambitious duke who had spent three years waging an unsuccessful war in Spain in an attempt to seize the crown of Castile. He was a generally disliked figure, and his residence in London, Savoy Palace was sacked by mobs in the Revolt of 1381. After Savoy Palace was destroyed, John of Gaunt moved to Ely Palace.
John of Gaunt plaque, Savoy Court, London [21 March 1976]
Ely Place Chapel, Saint Ethelreda, London [Top image--10 April 1985; Bottom image--21 March 1976]
Interior of Ely Place Chapel, Saint Ethelreda, London [31 March 1983]
