JOHN

See also:

• BEAUFORT
• BEAUFORT, FRANCOIS DE VENDOME
• BEAUFORT, HENRY (c. 1377–1447)
• BEAUFORT, LOUIS DE (d. 1795)

BEAUFORT (1403—1444)  . The latter fought under Henry V. in the French wars, and having been taken prisoner remained in France as a captive until 1437 . Soon after his release he returned to the war, and after the death of Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, in 1439, acted as commander of the English forces, and, with his brother Edmund, was successful in recapturing Harfleur . Although chagrined when Richard, duke of York, was made regent of France, Beaufort led an expedition to France in 1442, and in 1443 was made duke of Somerset . He died, probably by his own hand, in May 1444 . He married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Beauchamp, and left a daughter, MARGARET BEAUFORT, afterwards countess of Richmond and Derby, who married, for her first husband, Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, by whom she became the mother of King Henry VII . In this way the blood of the Beauforts was mingled with that of the Tudors, and of all the subsequent occupants of the English throne . The title of earl of Somerset descended on the death of John Beaufort in 1444 to his brother EDMUND BEAUFORT, duke of Somerset (q.v.), who was killed at St Albans in 1455 . By his marriage with Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of the fifth earl of Warwick, he left three sons, Henry, Edmund and John, and a daughter, Margaret .