Elizabeth Beaufort

Notes:

As a young man he became a commander in the English army in France. After his re-capture of Harfleur he was named a Knight of the Garter in 1436. After subsequent success he was created Earl of Dorset (1442) and the next year Marquess of Dorset. The year after that (1444) he succeeded his brother John as 4th Earl of Somerset in 1444. During the five year truce from 1444 to 1449, Somerset was Lieutenant of France. In 1448 he was created Duke of Somerset. Somerset found military success elusive after hostilities began again in 1449. By the summer of 1450 the bulk of the English possessions in northern France were in French hands. This loss lead to the fall of the king's chief minister, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Somerset returned to England, where he took Suffolk's place as the king's counselor. A handsome and urbane courtier, his affair with King Henry V's widow, Queen, Katherine of France in 1427 created a political scandal. The focus of the war with the French now turned to Gascony, in the south of France. Here the English were no more successful, losing all by 1453. Soon afterwards the king went insane, Somerset's rival Richard, Duke of York was named Lord Protector, and Somerset was imprisoned in the Tower of London. His life was probably saved only by the king's recovery. Henry VI had Somerset released and returned to his position at court. The Duke of York was determined to depose Somerset by one means or another, and thus in May 1455 Richard, Duke of York raised an army and confronted Somerset and the king. Somerset was killed in the resulting engagement, known as the First Battle of St Albans. It was the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, which would go on to claim many of Somerset's sons and relatives. He was succeeded as duke by his son Henry. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edmund married Eleanor Beauchamp in 1431/1435. Eleanor (daughter of 13th Earl of Warwick Richard Beauchamp 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley) was born in Sep 1407 in Walthamstow, Essex, England; died on 6 Mar 1466 in Baynards Castle, Middlesex, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Margaret Holland on 28 Sep 1397. Margaret (daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan) was born in 1385; died on 30 Dec 1429. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Age: 57

Richard married Elizabeth de Berkeley before 5 Oct 1397. Elizabeth was born in Apr 1386 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales; died on 28 Dec 1422 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a Knight of the Order of the Garter. He was Prince of England, in 1342 he was Earl of Richmond, in 1361 he was Earl of Lancaster, and, in 1362 he was Earl of Derby, Earl of Leicester and Earl of Lincoln. Also he was Titular King of Castile and Leon and Duke of Aquitane. In 1377, he became Earl Palatinate.

Duke of Lancaster, Earl of Richmond, Earl of Derby, Earl of Lincoln, Duke of Aquitaine, Lord of Beaufort and Nogent, Rey de Castilla y Leon, Seigneur de Bergerac et Roche-sur-Yon, Knight of the Garter.

He virtually ran England during his Father's declining years. He was one of the wealthiest men in the realm. --- He had wealth and power over the lives of others of a type we find it hard to even imagine today. His progeny became rich and powerful in his train. Perhaps he mused that he would go down in History as Duke of Lancaster, honored, feared, magnificent and respected. And yet, because William Shakespeare [1564-1616], 200 years after the Duke of Lancaster's death --- writes a play called Richard II [1595-1596] and calls him John of Gaunt, an infant nickname that John enjoyed until the age of three, and not thereafter --- this sobriquet --- corrupted from his birthplace in Ghent, Flanders, Netherlands --- sticks to him forever. Ghent is now in Belgium. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Rey de Castilla y Leon has been dead for almost 600 years --- but Shakespeare's christening wins the historical palm and is the name he sleeps with for the eons. Scribblers are often powerful beyond belief. -- Spencer Hines

He was only able to marry her after Constanza's death, at which time her children by him were retro-actively legitimated. -- Brant Gibbard

The four original Beauforts were born to Katherine Roet Swynford and John of Gaunt while John's second wife was still alive. On her death in 1394 John married Katherine, and in 1397 Richard II, as a favour to John of Gaunt and in order to neutralize John's son Derby (later King Henry IV) legitimatized the children who had been born out of wedlock. Richard's Act of Parliament did not bar the Beauforts or their descendants from the throne. But Henry IV later wrote in, between the lines of the document, a clause excluding the Beauforts from the succession. This interlineation was, bluntly, a forgery of an Act of Parliament, and Henry VII's sccession confounded it. -- from Kings & Queens of England & Scotland (by Allen Andrews, Marshall Cavendish, London 1985)

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399), English soldier and statesman, the fourth son of King Edward III of England, and brother of Edward, the Black Prince. John was born in March 1340 in Ghent (M.E., Gaunt), now in Belgium. In 1359 he married Blanche, daughter of Henry, duke of Lancaster; when Henry died, John became duke.

John of Gaunt played an important part in the wars of the period between England and France and between England and Spain. He commanded a division of the English army, led by the Black Prince, that defeated the army of Henry (later Henry II, king of Castile and Leon) at N jerera in 1367. As a result of his second marriage, to Constance, daughter of Peter the Cruel (king of Castile and Leon), John laid claim to the throne ofofof Castile. . During the Hundred Years' War, he aided (1370-1371) the Black Prince against France and established English rule over most of southern France. After a severe illness forced the return of the Black Prince to England, John took command of the English armies; by 1380 he had lost much of the territory the English had previously won. In 1386 John invaded Castile, but was defeated by John I, king of Castile and Leon. John of Gaunt gave up his claim to Castile and Leon in 1387, whe when his daughter married d Henry, later Henry III, king of Castile and Leon.

John of Gaunt was also prominent in English affairs. Together with Alice Perrers, his father's mistress, John dominated the English government. He was opposed by Parliament and by the Black Prince. In 1376 Parliament banished Alice Perrers and curtailed John's powers. The death of the Black Prince that year and the dissolution of Parliament, however, enabled John to regain his power. In 1377, on the death of Edward III and the accession of Richard II (John's nephew and son of the Black Prince), John gave up his control of the government and thereafter played the role of peacemaker; he also supported the king, by whom he was made (1390) duke of Aquitaine. In 1396, after the death of his second wife, John married his mistress Catherine Swynford, and Richard legitimized their children the following year. Saddened by the exile (1398) of his son, Henry of Lancaster (later King Henry IV of England), John died on February 3 of the following year.

Birth:
Abbaye De St Bavon, Ghent, Flandre Orientale, Belgium

John married Katherine de Roët on 13 Jan 1396 in Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire, England. Katherine (daughter of Paon de Roët) was born on 25 Nov 1350 in Hainault, Belgium; died on 10 May 1403 in Lincolnshire, England; was buried in Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Katherine Swynford

Notes:

Governess to the Duke's daughter by his first wife, became John's mistress in 1388. All their children were before they were married. They were legitimated later by the Pope.

Thomas married Alice FitzAlan. Alice (daughter of 10th Earl of Arundel Richard FitzAlan and Eleanor "of Lancaster" Plantagenet) was born in 1352 in Arundel, Sussex, England; died on 17 Mar 1416. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Margaret de Ferrers. Margaret (daughter of 3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby William de Ferrers and Margaret de Ufford) was born in 1355 in Groby, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]