John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

John Beaufort
Earl of Somerset
refer to caption
Drawing of his tomb effigy
Born c. 1371
Died 16 March 1410 (aged c. 39)
Hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower
Buried St Michael's Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral
Family Beaufort
Spouse Margaret Holland
Issue
Father John of Gaunt
Mother Katherine Swynford

John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, KG (c. 1371 – 16 March 1410) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the first of the four children of John of Gaunt and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he married in 1396. Beaufort's surname probably reflects his father's lordship of Beaufort in Champagne, France.[1][2][3]

The Beaufort children were declared legitimate twice by parliament during the reign of King Richard II of England, in 1390 and 1397,[4] as well as by Pope Boniface IX in September 1396.[5] Even though they were the grandchildren of Edward III and next in the line of succession after their father's legitimate children by his first two wives, the Beauforts were barred from succession to the throne by their half-brother Henry IV.[6]

Early life

Early arms of John Beaufort with a bend dexter

Between May and September 1390, Beaufort saw military service in North Africa in the Barbary Crusade led by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon.[5] In 1394, he was in Lithuania serving with the Teutonic Knights.[7]

John was created Earl of Somerset on 10 February 1397,[5][8] just a few days after the legitimation of the Beaufort children was recognized by Parliament. The same month, he was also appointed Admiral of the Irish fleet, as well as Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports.[9] In May, his admiralty was extended to include the northern fleet. That summer, the new earl became one of the noblemen who helped Richard II free himself from the power of the Lords Appellant. As a reward, he was created Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset on 29 September, and sometime later that year he was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Lieutenant of Aquitaine.[5] In addition, two days before his elevation as a Marquess he married the king's niece, Margaret Holland, sister of Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, another of the counter-appellants.[5] John remained in the king's favour even after his older half-brother Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) was banished from England in 1398.

Later career

Arms of Beaufort family, Earls and Dukes of Somerset: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Azure, three fleurs de lis or (France); 2nd & 3rd: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England); all within a bordure compony argent and azure[10]

After Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399, the new king rescinded the titles that had been given to the counter-appellants, and thus John Beaufort became merely Earl of Somerset again. Nevertheless, he proved loyal to his half-brother's reign, serving in various military commands and on some important diplomatic missions. It was Beaufort who was given the confiscated estates of the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr in 1400, although he would not have been able to take possession of these estates unless he had lived until after 1415. In 1404, he was named Constable of England.

Family

John Beaufort and his wife Margaret Holland, the daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan, had six children. His granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort married Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, the son of Dowager Queen Catherine of Valois by Owen Tudor.

Somerset died in the Hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower. He was buried in St Michael's Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral.

His children included the following:

Appointments

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Arms

As a legitimated grandson of the sovereign, Beaufort bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a bordure gobony argent and azure.[11]

The family emblem featuring the portcullis was shown on the reverse of British pennies minted between 1971 and 2008.

According to genealogists, a few of Beaufort's notable descendants include British actor Benedict Cumberbatch and codebreaker Alan Turing. Coincidentally, Cumberbatch portrayed Turing in the film The Imitation Game.[12]

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑  Pollard, A. (1901). "Beaufort, John (1373?-1410)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement​. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ↑ Armitage-Smith 196-199
  3. ↑ Lundy, Darryl. "John de Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset". The Peerage.
  4. ↑ Chris Skidmore, The Rise of the Tudors: The Family That Changed English History, (St.Martin's Press, 2013), 22.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (Cambridge University Press, 1995), 19-20.
  6. ↑ This prohibition was not specified in the original act of 1397, but appears in a 1407 confirmation by Henry IV (Pollard 158), making the ultimate legality of the addition uncertain. While this legal wrangling ultimately caused an enormous amount of bloodshed and destruction, it did result in one of the Beaufort descendants ascending the throne as Henry VII.
  7. ↑ G. E. C., ed. Geoffrey F. White. The Complete Peerage. (London: St. Chaterine Press, 1953) Vol. XII, Part 1, p. 40.
  8. ↑ Pollard 158
  9. ↑ Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, 23.
  10. ↑ Debtett's Peerage, 1968, p.125
  11. ↑ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
  12. ↑ Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Turing are related, genealogists claim
  13. 1 2 Weir 2008, p. 87.
  14. 1 2 Weir 2008, p. 92.
  15. ↑ Weir 2008, p. 232.
  16. 1 2 Weir 2008, p. 89.
  17. ↑ Brown 2004.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Weir 2008, p. 93.
  19. ↑ Weir 2007, p. 6.
  20. ↑ Marshall 2003, p. 50.

References

  • Armitage-Smith, Sydney. John of Gaunt, King of Castile and Leon, Duke of Lancaster, &c.. Constable, 1904.
  • Brown, M.H. (2004). "Joan [Joan Beaufort] (d. 1445)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14646. Retrieved 21 November 2013. (subscription required)
  • Jones, Michael K, and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby. Cambridge University Press, 1992. see especially pp. 17–22
  • Marshall, Rosalind (2003). Scottish Queens, 1034-1714. Tuckwell Press.
  • Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.
  • The Beaufort Family
  • The Courtenay Family
  • Lundy, Darryl. "John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset at thePeerage.com". The Peerage.
Political offices
Preceded by
The Duke of York		 Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
1398–1399		 Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Erpynham
Peerage of England
New creation Marquess of Dorset
1st creation
1397–1399		 Forfeit
Marquess of Somerset
1397–1399
Earl of Somerset
2nd creation
1397–1410		 Succeeded by
Henry Beaufort
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