Henry Beaufort

This article is about Bishop Henry Beaufort. For the commander in the Wars of the Roses, see Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset .

Bishop Henry Cardinal Beaufort

Beaufort's cardinal coat of arms on Southwark Cathedral

Henry Beaufort (* 1375 in Anjou , † April 11, 1447 in Winchester ) was the second illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Catherine Swynford . As a child, a career in the church was planned for him.

biography

The cousin Richard II declared him and the three siblings to be married in 1390 after their parents had married. In 1398 he became Bishop of Lincoln . His half-brother Henry Bolingbroke, who ascended the throne as Henry IV in 1399 , appointed him Lord Chancellor in 1403 , which he gave up in 1405 to become Bishop of Winchester . Not only was this a prestigious religious position, it was so profitable that it made him the richest man in England.

Between 1411 and 1413, the bishop fell out of favor as he turned on the side of Henry of Monmouth, the Prince of Wales , against the king. After Monmouth had been crowned Henry V , he made him chancellor again in 1413, which Beaufort renounced again in 1417.

Pope Martin V offered him the cardinal's hat , but Beaufort had to decline under pressure from the king. When Heinrich V died in 1422, the minor son followed him as Heinrich VI. to. The great-uncle Bishop Beaufort and the uncles Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , and John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford , were installed as regents , in 1424 Beaufort became Lord Chancellor for the third time, in 1426 he was forced to resign due to differences with the co-regents.

In 1427 the Pope finally made him cardinal and papal legate for Germany, Hungary and Bohemia. He was assigned to lead the 4th “crusade” against the Hussite heretics in Bohemia . In the meantime, his Catholic troops were defeated near Tachov in 1427 .

In 1431, Henry Cardinal Beaufort was a driving force behind the “tribunal” that sentenced Joan of Arc to death.

He died on April 11, 1447 and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Henry Beaufort had an illegitimate daughter, Jane, who was probably born in 1402 and married Edward Stradling in 1424 . Alice FitzAlan, a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel , to be found as Jane's mother is unproven to be attributed to a legend of Jane.

Web links

• Beaufort, Henry. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed December 22, 2016.
• Henry de Beaufort on thepeerage.com , accessed July 26, 2015.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 236
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 85
3. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 258
4. ↑ Joachim Ehlers: The Hundred Years War. CH Beck, 2012, ISBN 978-3-40-664032-2 , p. 90 f.

predecessor	Episcopal offices	successor
William of Wykeham	Bishop of Winchester 1404–1447	William Waynflete
John Bokyngham	Bishop of Lincoln 1398–1404	Philip Repyngdon

predecessor	Terms of office as Lord Chancellor of England	successor
Thomas Langley	Lord Chancellor of England 1424–1426	John Kemp
Thomas Arundel	Lord Chancellor of England 1413–1417	Thomas Langley
Edmund Stafford	Lord Chancellor of England 1403–1405	Thomas Langley