John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 1371/73 in Beaufort, Anjou, † March 16, 1410 ) was the first of four children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress, Catherine Swynford.
He, as well as his three full siblings were illegitimate birth. The name is derived from the Beaufort Castle in Champagne (now Montmorency -Beaufort ), which had once belonged to the Dukes of Lancaster. At the request of their father they were in 1397, legitimized by her cousin, King Richard II with the addition that they had no rights to the English throne. John Beaufort, was designed for the title and the associated lands of the Marquess of Dorset and Earl of Somerset, still he was appointed a Knight of the Garter.
In 1390, John Beaufort took part in the crusade against Mahdia Duke Louis II of Bourbon. After his return, he was entrusted with various offices such as the governorship in the Guyenne or the command of the Cinque Ports and Calais. After his death he was buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury.
John Beaufort had married in 1397 Margaret Holland, daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent ( home Holland ). They had six children:
- Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset ( * 1401, † November 25, 1418 )
- John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset ( * 1404, † May 27 1444 )
- Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Perche (1405-1432)
- Joan Beaufort ( * 1406, † July 15, 1445 ), the King James I of Scotland married
- Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset ( * 1406, † May 22 1455 )
- Margaret Beaufort (1409-1449), Thomas de Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon, married