GAUNT, JOHN OF

duke of Lancaster, uncle to the king, and father of Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) in Shakespeare's Richard II. Gaunt is a true patriot who represents the old order and adherence to the tradition of a divinely anointed monarch. This is especially evident in his great speech on this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. Historically, John of Gaunt was the founder of the house of Lancaster, which battled the house of York in the Wars of the Roses.