Origins
The House descended from Edward III's third surviving son, John of Gaunt. Gaunt did not receive a large inheritance, so he made his fortune through marriage to the heiress Blanche of Lancaster, who brought with her the considerable lands of the Earls of Leicester and Lancaster, which made Gaunt the wealthiest landowner in England after the King. He was conferred the second creation of the title of "Duke of Lancaster" by his father Edward III in 1362, a year following the death of John of Gaunt's father-in-law Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Gaunt enjoyed great political influence during his lifetime, but upon his death in 1399, his lands were confiscated by Richard II.
Gaunt's exiled son and heir Henry of Bolingbroke returned home the same year with an army to reclaim the Lancaster estates, but ended up riding a tide of popular opposition to Richard II that saw him take control of the Kingdom. Richard II was deposed and died in captivity, and Bolingbroke was declared King Henry IV of England. In doing so he bypassed the descendants of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. A senior heiress from the line of Lionel would marry a member of the House of York (another cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet), which gave the Yorkists a strong claim to the throne.
Henry IV was succeeded by his son Henry V, and eventually by his grandson Henry VI in 1422.
Read more about this topic: House Of Lancaster
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