Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, gained his popular title of "Good Duke Humphrey" not for his public actions and political intrigues but as a patron of learning. The grandson of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; the youngest son of the future King Henry IV; and the youngest brother of the future King Henry V, Humphrey was destined to play a part on the English political scene. As a book collector and as a sponsor of Renaissance scholarship, he did much to bring the "new learning" to England and inspired others to continue where he had begun.

Humphrey was born in 1391, the youngest son of Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, and his first wife, Mary de Bohun, daughter of Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford, after whom he was named. His exact date of birth is not known, but it was probably in January or February of 1391. During Bolingbroke's exile...