John of Gaunt is my 17th great grandfather, John is also a descendant of the GREAT GENGHIS KHAN,
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
→
Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of England
his mother
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Jeanne de Valois
her mother
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Marguerite d'Anjou, comtesse d'Anjou et du Maine
her mother
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ÁRPÁD(házi) Mária
her mother
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KUN Erzsébet of the Kumans, Queen consort of Hungary
her mother
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Kotian / Kuthen / Köten Khan of Cumania
her father
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Suthoi Khan, Of Kumanien
his father
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Genghis Khan (Temüjin) Borjigin, Khagan of the Mongol Empire
his father
John of Gaunt was my 16 x great grandfather and quite stunning.
By his 3rd marriage to Katherine Swynford I am descended from their son John Beaufort 1st Earl of Somerset, and onwards from John Beaufort's daughter Joan who became Queen Consort to James I of Scotland.
A few weeks ago at a special ceremony held at St Paul's Cathedral I was sworn in as a Churchwarden of a well-known Anglo-Catholic London parish church...even more relevant given the fact I am Roman Catholic. Yet the fact this was happening in St Paul's Cathedral where John of Gaunt was buried made the occasion even more special. His name is mentioned on a special monument listing all those all tombs were lost in the Great Fire of London of 1666. His 3rd wife's father, Sir Payne de Rouet is also mentioned as having been buried there.
John of Gaunt was like the rest of his country men and women a Roman Catholic. When he was buried St Paul's was a Roman Catholic cathedral and his burial would have according to the Catholic rites accorded to a nobleman.
England was then a Catholic kingdom which made the event I took part in so personal and special.
The Anglo-Catholic church I am part of within the Diocese of London practices and upholds ancient Catholic traditions such as the Sung High Mass and use of processions, incense, and Veneration of the Virgin Mary and celebration of Saints and Martyrs almost as if the Reformation never happened.
It is a church that John of Gaunt would recognise and has the full support and appreciation of the current Lord Bishop of London.
I feel so privileged to have a family connection to John and St Paul's cathedral at the same time.
Stephen R Johnson