Edmund Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset

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Edmund Beaufort , self-appointed 3rd Duke of Somerset (* around 1439; † May 6, 1471 in Tewkesbury , Gloucestershire ) was an English nobleman and commander of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses . With his death, the House of Beaufort died out and all associated titles of nobility were extinguished.

Life

Coat of arms of the Earls and Dukes of Somerset

Edmund Beaufort was born around 1439, the second son of Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th  Earl of Warwick . After the Battle of Towton in 1461, the family, along with other supporters of the House of Lancaster, fled to France, where Edmund was brought up with younger brother John Beaufort, Earl of Dorset. After the Battle of Hexham in 1464, his eldest brother, Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset , was executed and his titles were forfeited by a parliamentary resolution ( Bill of Attainder ). Even so, Edmund was proclaimed the Duke of Somerset by the supporters of the House of Lancaster on February 27, 1471 .

When Queen Margaret left France to rejoin the struggle against the House of York under Edward IV , Edmund also returned to England. It is reported that he and the Earl of Devon met Queen Margaret at Cerne Abbey in Dorset, where they also brought her news of the defeat of Barnet . Together they were able to convince the queen to raise an army against Edward, for which Edmund also gathered troops, with which they then went to the west of England. But when Edward and his army caught up with them before they could cross the Severn , the Battle of Tewkesbury broke out on May 4, 1471 .

Edmund commanded the Lancaster Army vanguard during the battle. According to his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography in 1901, Edmund found himself in a good starting position at the start of the battle:

Execution of Edmund Beaufort in Tewkesbury in 1471.

“ His position was almost unassailable […], but, for some unknown reason, after the battle began he moved down from the heights and attacked Edward IV's right flank. He was assailed by both the king and Richard, duke of Gloucester, and was soon put to flight, his conduct having practically decided the battle in favor of the Yorkists […]. ”( Albert Frederick Pollard : Dictionary of National Biography 1901, p. 156, German:“ His position was almost invulnerable […], but for some unknown reason he came down from the heights after the beginning of the battle and attacked Edward IV right Flank. He was attacked by both the King and Richard, Duke of Gloucester and was soon put to flight, so that in practice his behavior decided the fight for the Yorkists [...]. ")

The battle was a great loss for the House of Lancaster, as the seventeen-year-old heir to the throne Edward of Westminster fell victim to the fighting, as did many of his followers, including Edmund's younger brother. Edmund himself, like many of the rest of the Lancaster survivors, sought refuge in Tewkesbury Abbey . He was then captured and two days later, on Monday, May 6, 1471, together with the other men, briefly tried by a court martial and then beheaded. He was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey.

With his death, the House of Beaufort went extinct, as all his brothers had died and he himself was not married and left no heirs. All of his titles of nobility or entitlement to a revoked title expired with his death.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Royal and Noble Genealogical Data on the Web ( Memento of December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Edmund Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset on thepeerage.com , accessed August 27, 2015.
  3. ^ Albert Frederick Pollard:  Beaufort, Edmund (1438? –1471) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Suppl. 1, Volume 1:  Abbott-Childers. MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1901, pp 156 - 157 (English).
  4. ^ Albert Frederick Pollard:  Beaufort, Edmund (1438? –1471) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Suppl. 1, Volume 1:  Abbott-Childers. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1901, p. 156 (English).
  5. ^ AL Rowse: Bosworth Field & The Wars of the Roses . Wordsworth Editions, 1999, pp. 168-169.
  6. ^ AL Rowse: Bosworth Field & The Wars of the Roses . Wordsworth Editions, 1999, p. 169.
personal data
SURNAME Beaufort, Edmund, 3rd Duke of Somerset
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Titular Duke of Somerset and English military leader in the War of the Roses
DATE OF BIRTH around 1439
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1471
Place of death Tewkesbury