John of gaunt was one of the sons of Edward the 3rd. He was the richest man in England basically. The couple recieved papal dispensation for their marriage and to make their children legitimate. You know he paid a whole lot of fleeces to the pope for that one. Kathryn swynfords sister was married to geophrey chaucer. It's said chaucer and his wife profited greatly from this family connection. Getting appointments for his family and pensions. Chaucer was given an annual stipend of a gallon of wine a day for life by Richard the 2nd. Given on a st. Day that honors artists. He had traveled Europe serving both John of gaunt and Lionel of anterp. Both sons of Edward 3. Chaucer must have been creating literary works during this time to lead up to the stipend/pension. When Henry the 4th (bolingbroke,, son of John of gaunt) took the throne, the stipend was turned into a monetary payment. By the time of his death, it seems he wasn't receiving it for whatever reason. It's the last record of chaucer asking for his pension repeatedly.