HENRY CARDINAL BEAUFORT

'Henry Beaufort' (c. 1375 - April 11 1447), was an English clergyman.

Contents

Life

Notes

References

See Also

Life

The second son of John of Gaunt and his mistress Katherine Swynford, was born in Anjou (France) in about 1374 and educated for a career in the Church. In about 1390 their cousin Richard II of England declared him and his two brothers and one sister legitimate. (There is some confusion on this point; there seems to have been another such procedure in 1397, involving Parliament.) On February 27, 1398 he was nominated to be Bishop of Lincoln and on July 14, 1398 he was consecrated bishop.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 236 When his half-brother deposed Richard and took the throne as Henry IV of England, he made Bishop Beaufort Chancellor of England in 1403.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 85 Beaufort resigned that position in 1404 when he was tranlated to Bishop of Winchester on November 19.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258
Between 1411 and 1413 Bishop Beaufort was in political disgrace for siding with his nephew, the Prince of Wales, against the king, but then when Henry IV died and the prince became Henry V of England, he made his uncle Chancellor again in 1413; however, Beaufort resigned the position in 1417. Pope Martin V offered the Bishop a cardinal's hat, but Henry V would not let him accept it. Henry V died in 1422, shortly after making himself heir to France by marrying the French king's daughter, and their infant son became Henry VI of England. Bishop Beaufort and the baby king's other uncles were regents, and in 1424 Beaufort became Chancellor once more, but was forced to resign again in 1426 because of disputes with the king's other uncles.
The Pope finally made him a cardinal in 1426, and in 1427 made him Papal Legate for Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia. Beaufort continued to be active in English politics for years, fighting with the other powerful advisors to the king and always managing to extricate himself from the snares they set for him. He died on April 11, 1447 and was laid to rest in a tomb in Winchester Cathedral. He suffered from delirium on his deathbed and, as he hallucinated, offered Death the whole treasury of England in return for living a while longer (according to legend).
During his youth, most likely while studying at Cambridge, Henry had an affair with Alice Fitzalan (1378 - 1415), the daughter of Richard Fitzalan and Elizabeth de Bohun. The union produced an illegitimate daughter, Jane Beaufort, in 1402. In 1424, Jane Beaufort married Edward Stradling.

Notes

References

★ Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961

See Also

★ List of bishops of Lincoln and precursor offices

★ List of bishops of Winchester

★ List of Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers