Beaufort (noble family)

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The Beauforts were an English noble family in the Middle Ages. They were the illegitimate descendants of John of Gaunt , a son of Edward III. and his lover Catherine Swynford . After the parents' marriage, the Beauforts were legitimized, but excluded from the line of succession .

In 1397 the eldest of the Beauforts, John, received the title of Earl of Somerset from his cousin Richard II . His brother Henry became Bishop of Winchester the following year .

After their half-brother Henry IV of Lancaster came to power in 1399, the Beauforts became an important family at the English court. Bishop Henry was chancellor of his brother for a long time, and later also of his nephew Henry V. John's second son John was appointed Duke of Somerset in 1443 . His daughter Margaret Beaufort married Edmund Tudor , the half-brother of Henry VI , in 1455 . Her son Heinrich Tudor ascended the English throne as Henry VII as heir to the Lancasters in 1485 and ended the Wars of the Roses against the House of York .

family

Coat of arms of John Beaufort
  1. John of Gaunt (1340-1399), Duke of Lancaster and Duke of Aquitaine ⚭ 1396 Catherine Swynford (1350-1403)
    1. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373–1410), ⚭ Margaret Holland
      1. Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset (1401-1418)
      2. John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (1404–1444), ⚭ Margarete Beauchamp
        1. Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), ⚭ Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
          1. Henry Tudor , King of England from 1485
      3. Thomas Beaufort, Count of Perche (1405-1432)
      4. Joan Beaufort (1406–1445), ⚭ 1424 James I , King of Scotland
        1. James II , King of Scotland
      5. Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (1406-1455)
        1. Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1436–1464)
          1. Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester (around 1460–1526), ​​illegitimate son with Joan Hill, later legitimized. He founded the Somerset family , the last bastard line of the House of Plantagenet , which is still flourishing today , Somerset's descendant Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort (1629–1700) was raised to Duke of Beaufort , his descendants still use the title today.
        2. Margaret Beaufort (1427–1474) ⚭ Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford
          1. Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
        3. Edmund Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1439-1471)
      6. Margaret Beaufort (1409–1449) ⚭ Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon
    2. Henry Beaufort (1375–1447), Bishop of Winchester, "Cardinal of England"
    3. Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter (1377-1426)
      1. Henry Beaufort
    4. Joan Beaufort (1379–1440), ⚭ Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland