This Day in History: 1340-11-18

On 18th November 1340, Edward III wrote to Pope Benedict XII stating that the Archbishop of Canterbury had ‘spoken to me separately of my wife, and to my wife of me, in order that, if he were listened to, he might provoke us to such anger as to divide us forever.’ This communication is thought by some to refer to rumours that John of Gaunt, the king’s son and later lord of Pontefract, had been switched in infancy, in Ghent, with the baby of a Flemish woman, due to the death of a royal baby and the queen’s wish to avoid the king’s anger. In 1376, Queen Philippa was said to have confessed on her deathbed in 1369 to Bishop Wykeham that John of Gaunt had been switched; the truth being told just in case there was the likelihood that John would ever become king.