The Lancastrian influence during the 14th and 15th centuries behind adopting the code of chivalry by the Illustrious Generation in Portugal

Abstract

The present research grew out from my personal interest in Philippa of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt, the powerful Duke of Lancaster. Philippa was also the sister of King Henry IV (Bolingbroke), the niece of King Richard II and the granddaughter of the great chivalric king Edward III. For sealing the Treaty of Windsor, she married King John I of Portugal in February 1387, becoming the first queen of the Portuguese Avis dynasty. The marriage produced several talented and well-educated children, the so-called Illustrious Generation of Portugal, including the legendary seafarer Henry the Navigator, who among others further distributed their English mother’s chivalric ideals, good education and pious behavioural etiquette to the Portuguese court. The upbringing of Philippa’s children, the Illustrious Generation, was greatly influenced by Lancastrians’ acceptance of the code of chivalry, having a strong effect on the distribution of the English chivalric ideals in Portugal.