The ‘natural lord’, natural loyalty, and the construction of English legitimacy in late-medieval Gascony

This article examines references to the English king as ‘natural lord’ in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Gascony. The ‘natural lord’ represents an important, yet understudied, political concept with respect to English rule in Gascony. As a shorthand for superior legitimacy, this concept sought to work around the problems thrown up by a sustained contest between the English and French crowns for allegiance, such as the one taking place in Gascony following the onset of the Hundred Years’ War between c. 1337 and c. 1453. Describing the king as natural lord served as a statement of the king’s right to Gascon allegiance; underlined that allegiance was a right, rather than a contract that could be made and broken at will; and sought to persuade Gascons to direct their loyalties to the correct (natural) place. This article is part of a Special Issue on Loyalty in Medieval Europe.