John's baptism presumably took place in Ghent shortly after the sea
battle on 24 June 1340 - Edward landed at Sluys and rode on to Ghent
after sending news of the victory to his allies including Jean III of
Brabant and supporters including Jacob van Artevelde at Thun-l'Évêque
near Cambrai. Jean of Brabant was the godfather after whom John of Gaunt
was named, and he held him at the font according to Froissart. An
early-15th-century chronicle written at Saint-Denis claims that Jakob
van Artevelde was the boy's godfather and held him at the font, but it
is scarcely plausible that a burgess of Ghent was chosen as godfather to
an English prince, or that if this actually happened it would not have
been widely reported as a very extraordinary incident.
Peter Stewart