Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Edmund Beaufort | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| coat of arms of Beaufort, earls and dukes of Somerset | |
|
|
|
| Successor | Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke |
|
|
|
| Predecessor | John Beaufort, 1st Duke, 3rd Earl |
| Successor | Henry Beaufort, 5th Earl |
| Spouse | Eleanor Beauchamp |
| Issue | |
| Eleanor, Countess of Ormonde, Lady Spencer Elizabeth, Lady Fitz Lewis Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford, Lady Darell Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke Anne Paston John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset Joan, Lady St Lawrence, Lady Fry Thomas Beaufort |
|
| House | House of Beaufort |
| Father | John Beaufort, 1st Earl |
| Mother | Margaret Holland |
| Born | 1406 |
| Died | 22 May 1455 (aged 48/9) First Battle of St Albans |
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1406 – 22 May 1455), sometimes styled 1st Duke of Somerset, was an English nobleman and an important figure in the Wars of the Roses and in the Hundred Years' War.
[edit] Life
Edmund Beaufort was the fourth son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. His paternal grandparents were John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Katherine Swynford. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice Fitzalan. Alice was a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster.
Unlike his brothers who were taken captive at the Battle of Baugé in 1421, Edmund was too young at the time to fight and was able to build up much military experience while his brothers were imprisoned in France. He became a commander in the English army in 1431. After his re-capture of Harfleur he was named a Knight of the Garter in 1436. After subsequent successes he was created Earl of Dorset (1442) and the next year Marquess of Dorset. The following year, (1444) he succeeded his brother John as 4th Earl of Somerset in 1444. During the five year truce from 1444 to 1449 he served as Lieutenant of France.
Although head of one of the greatest family in the land, his inheritance was worth only 300 pounds. By contrast his rival, Richard, Duke of York, had a net worth of 5,800 pounds. King Henry's efforts to compensate Somerset with offices worth 3,000 pounds only served to offend many and as his quarrel with York grew more personal, the dynastic situation got worse. Another quarrel with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, over his right to enter the lordships of Glamorgan and Morgannwg, may have forced the leader of the younger Nevilles into York's camp.
Somerset's military failures left him vulnerable to criticism from the party led by the Duke of York, and after hostilities began again in 1449 Somerset lost even more territory. By the summer of 1450 the bulk of the English possessions in northern France were in French hands and the focus of the war now turned to Gascony, in the south of France. Here the English were no more successful, losing all by 1453. The loss of Castillon in 1453 ended the Hundred Years War.
Power had rested with Somerset from 1451 and was virtually monopolized by him until the king went insane and York was named Lord Protector. He imprisoned Somerset in the Tower of London and his life was probably saved only by the king's seeming recovery late in the 1454, which forced York to surrender his office.
By now York was determined to depose Somerset by one means or another, and in May 1455 raised an army. He confronted Somerset and the king in an engagement known as the First Battle of St Albans which marked the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Somerset was killed in a last wild charge from the house where he had been sheltering. His son, Henry, never forgave Warwick and York for their treachery at St Albans, and he spent the next nine years attempting to restore his family's honour.
[edit] Family
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset married before 1436, Eleanor Beauchamp, widow of Thomas, 8th Lord Ros, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas, Lord Berkeley. Eleanor was an older half-sister of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick and Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick.
Their unlicensed marriage was later pardoned on 7 March 1438, and they had the following children:
- Eleanor – married first James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormonde and second Sir Robert Spencer.
- Elizabeth (d. before 1472) – married Sir Henry Fitz Lewis.
- Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1436–1464)
- Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford (bef. 1439–1474) – married first Humphrey, Earl of Stafford and second Sir Richard Darell.
- Edmund Beaufort, styled 3th Duke of Somerset (c. 1439– 4 May 1471)
- Anne Beaufort (c. 1453 – c. 1496) – married William Paston, Esq.
- John Beaufort, styled Marquess of Dorset (c. 1455– 4 May 1471)
- Joan Beaufort (d. 11 August 1518) – married first Sir Robert St. Lawrence and second Sir Richard Fry.
- Thomas Beaufort (c. 1455–c. 1463)
[edit] References
- Tipping, H. A. (1908). "Edmund Beaufort, second Duke of Somerset". Dictionary of National Biography. 2. pp. 38-29.
- Harriss, G.L. (2008). "Beaufort, Edmund, first Duke of Somerset". Dictionary of National Biography. Online Edition.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Duke of York |
Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1453–1455 |
Vacant? |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Duke of Somerset 1448 – 1455 |
Succeeded by Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke, 5th Earl |
| Preceded by John Beaufort, 1st Duke, 3rd Earl |
Earl of Somerset 1444–1455 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
