John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset

Beauforts coat of arms

John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset KG (* 1404 - 27 May 1444 ) was an English nobleman from the Beaufort family .

He was the second son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland . He succeeded his older brother Henry in 1418 as 3rd Earl of Somerset . His grandfather was John of Gaunt , who was a son of King Edward III. from England was.

Life

After the early death of his father in 1410, John Beaufort came to the court of his great cousin King Henry V of England as a page and later became the king's squire.

His military career began in France in 1419 . In 1421 John accompanied his stepfather Thomas, Duke of Clarence, to the battle of Anjou . His stepfather, who was a brother of the king, fell at the Battle of Baugé and John was taken prisoner. His imprisonment lasted 17 years as Parliament refused to exchange him for the Count of Eu, Charles d'Artois , who was a British prisoner of war. His uncle, Cardinal Henry Beaufort , and his brother Edmund tried for years to find an exchange, which they succeeded in 1438. He used his time as a noble prisoner to study books. After his release he came to the court of the English King Henry VI. where, thanks to his education, he quickly rose to become a consultant.

Grave of John Beauforts and his wife Margaret in the Minster of St. Cuthburga

In 1439 he married Margaret Beauchamp . With her he had a daughter named Margaret , whose son Henry Tudor ended the War of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York and was crowned Henry VII .

In 1443 he was promoted to Duke of Somerset , Commander in Chief of the English Armed Forces in France and a member of the Order of the Garter. However, his campaign failed, after which his opponent Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York took his place as commandant and advisor to the king.

After a quarrel with the York House, John Beaufort was eventually banished from court. He died possibly by suicide on May 27, 1444 and was buried next to his wife in the Minster of St. Cuthburga in Wimborne Minster .

family

Pedigree

progeny

Illegitimate children:

• Jacinda (* 1434; † after 1469), wife of Reginald Gray, 7th Baron Gray de Wilton
• Thomasine Beaufort (* before 1444; † 1494)
• John of Somerset (* 1444; † 1453)

From the marriage to Margaret Beauchamp:

• Margaret (* 1443; † 1509), married to Edmund Tudor and mother of King Henry VII of England

Web links

• Entry about John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset in the Luminarium Encyclopedia

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry Beaufort	Earl of Somerset 1418-1444	Edmund Beaufort
New title created	Duke of Somerset Earl of Kendal 1443-1444	Title expired