ABSTRACT
Henry, the eldest son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster, was born at the Lancastrian castle of Bolingbroke in 1366. Like Mowbray he was then only just of age. Henry was among the young nobles knighted with Richard by Edward III at Windsor in April 1377 and in December he visited St Albans Abbey in the company of his royal cousin and of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. By the 1390s, Derby had a well-developed household and estate organization. Derby, apart from his adherence to the Appellants in 1387-8, is a somewhat enigmatic figure politically until the end of Richard’s reign. Derby was well educated and cultivated. His great love was music, in the study of which he showed talent and expertise. Mowbray’s burdensome pretensions and pressing need for royal favour are indicated by the large number of life annuities charged on his properties.
