Hello and welcome to the History Extra podcast from BBC History Magazine, Britain's best-selling history magazine.

I'm Ellie Cawthorne.

The 14th century prince John of Gaunt was one of the most powerful figures in medieval English history.

He amassed huge wealth and influence, and his progeny would rule England for centuries.

But his own

quest to secure a European crown ended in dismal failure. The historian, author and podcaster

Helen Carr has explored John's life in her new biography, The Red Prince, as well as in a recent

article for BBC History magazine. In today's episode, she reveals the highs and lows of his remarkable career.

Putting the questions to Helen was BBC History magazine editor, Rabatah. So John of Gaunt was the son of a king and also the father of a king.

But how much do you think the fact that he himself never wore the

crown shaped his life? I think hugely. I think he spent most of his life trying to wear some

form of crown. This started quite early on for him. In 1357, few people know this, but he was actually floated as a potential heir for the Scottish

Crown following David II, who was the son of Robert the Bruce. And this was part of diplomatic

negotiations between Edward III and David to have his son as heir to the throne of Scotland.

Even though this never materialised, I think it did give a sort of

craving for kingship and status to a very ambitious prince. John of Gaunt was hugely ambitious.

And I think that this sparked something in him that led to his pursuit of Castile, later on in his

life of which he spent 20 years trying to claim

the throne of Castile by right of his wife. So if we could just look a little bit at John's

family background. So he was the third son, I believe, of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault.

What were his prospects when he was born then? Yeah, so he was the third surviving son of Edward and

Philippa, and he was born three years into the Hundred Years' War. So he was born shortly before

...