John and Margaret Beaufort, 1st Duke and Duchess of Somerset.

Name and Title: John Beaufort and Margaret Beauchamp, 1st Duke (also 3rd Earl of Somerset) and the Duchess of Somerset (also Lady St John and Lady Welles).

Born: John Beaufort b.1404; Margaret Beauchamp c. 1410

Died: John Beaufort Died: 3 May 1444, Corfe Castle, Dorset. Margaret Beauchamp Died: before 3 June 1482.

Buried: Wimborne Minster, Dorset.

The Beaufort Lineage: From Royal Stock…

One of the most confusing issues to grapple with regarding the Tudor dynasty is what its claim to the Crown was. Where did the royal blood flow from which imbued Margaret Beaufort with such conviction that her son, Henry Tudor, was the rightful heir to the English throne? This is a long and convoluted story of ambition, treachery and lust for power between two rival medieval families: the Houses of York and Lancaster. My recommendations for further reading on this subject are included at the end of this blog. However, in short, the line of descent for both families can be traced back to Edward III (1327-1377). Edward’s fourth son (third surviving) was John of Gaunt, founder of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Gaunt was married three times. The first was to his third cousin, Blanch of Lancaster (they were both great-great-grandchildren of King Henry III). The descendants of this marriage would inherit the throne as Henry IV, V, and VI (following the usurpation of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke, a.k.a. King Henry IV).

During John’s second marriage, he began an affair with Katherine Swynford. Ultimately, the couple had four children together, all born out of wedlock and only legitimised after their parents’ eventual marriage. These children were given the surname ‘Beaufort’ (after one of the Gaunt’s lordships in France—see below). They would dominate the English political landscape during the reign of the unstable Henry VI.

For completeness, I should say that the House of York descended from the second and fourth surviving sons of Edward III. They emerged as the dominant force for a period in the fifteenth century, following the union of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville (herself a grand-daughter of John of Gaunt).

That said, in summary, Margaret was a direct descendant of the aforementioned Beaufort line. Her great-great-grandfather was King Edward III, and her great-grandfather was the omnipotent John of Gaunt.

17 Years a Prisoner…

John Beaufort was born the second son and namesake of his father, John the 1st Earl of Somerset. In essence, John was born ‘the spare’, while his elder brother, Henry, was in line to inherit his patrimony when their father died, which he duly did, aged 37 on 16 March 1410. At this point, Henry Beaufort became the 2nd Earl of Somerset.

Like all young noblemen of the age, John Beaufort grew up close to the battlefield, fighting against England’s erstwhile enemy, the French. When John was just 12 years old, his cousin, the famed virile warrior-king Henry V, declared war on France in 1415, reviving a conflict which became known as the 100 Years’ War (1337-1453). Two years later, John’s older brother died during the Siege of Rouen, aged 16 or 17. The 2nd Earl was unmarried and without heirs. Thus, John became the 3rd Earl of Somerset.

It was not long before ‘our’ John and his younger brother, Thomas, also joined the fray in England’s epic tussle with the French on mainland Europe. In 1421, they accompanied their stepfather, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, to Anjou. Their undoing soon followed. Clarence was killed at the Battle of Baugé (22 March 1421), while John and his brother were captured by enemy forces. 

Being so close to the King, they were valuable prisoners. However, no ransom would be paid until a decade later when young Thomas was the first of the brothers to be released. John remained in captivity (although as a nobleman, treated at least reasonably well) for a further seven years. However, in an excellent blog which delves more deeply into the details of John’s life, Rebecca Starr Brown states, ‘What he lacked, however, was his liberty, which may have had a severe mental and emotional impact on him. His existence was in limbo, his career and potential stalled, and he was completely separated from his home and family.’

John Beaufort was eventually ransomed and released in 1438. 

The Marriage and Death of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset.

The following year, John Beaufort married the wealthy heiress, Margaret Beauchamp, who we shall come to in a moment. I suspect he realised the necessity to make up for lost time and the urgent need to beget a legitimate heir to the sizable Beaufort fortune. There must have been some disappointment when the first, and as it turns out, their only child was a daughter, Margaret, named after her mother. Little could they have realised that their daughter would have the heart and guts to carry her son, Henry Tudor, all the way to the throne.

Lady Margaret Beaufort by Meynnart Wewyck, ca. 1510. Margaret is shown at prayer in her closet. Perhaps this may have even depicted her closet at Collyweston!

The story of John’s final years and eventual death is shrouded in mystery and guesswork. Although reluctant to engage further in the French wars, he seems to have been ultimately ‘bribed’ to do so by an elevation to become the Duke of Somerset in 1443. He was also created ‘Earl of Kendal’, was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Captain-General of Guyenne.

After a fair degree of dithering and delaying his voyage to France, the ‘campaign’ that followed showed a mixture of ineptitude, reluctance, and personal greed. Again, although the story is convoluted, his actions in France during the summer of 1443 set his own House of Lancaster up as the mortal enemy of the House of York, headed by Richard, Duke of York. This powder keg would soon erupt into what we now know as The Wars of the Roses.

Beaufort returned to England early in 1444. He died a few months later, on 27 May 1444, at Corfe Castle in Dorset. There are reports that the Duke was ill during the final few months of his life, although rumours of suicide circulated at the time. He was buried in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, with his wife following him to the grave some 30 years later. It is to Margaret that we will now turn our attention.

Margaret Beauchamp, 1st Duchess of Somerset.

Margaret was born c. 1410 and was the daughter of Sir John Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire and his second wife Edith Stourton, daughter of Sir John Stourton of Stourton, Wiltshire. When her only sibling and brother died, Margaret became a wealthy heiress. However, it should be noted that her family came from the landed gentry, not the aristocratic class of medieval England.

Like her daughter would be some 25 years later, ‘our’ Margaret was married young. She was just 15 when she became the bride of Sir Oliver St John. Seven children followed over the next 13 years, all of whom survived to adulthood. However, like many men of the time, Sir Oliver died fighting for English glory in France in 1438. This left Margaret as a widow with a brood of young children to support.

I have not come across any accounts of Margaret’s character or looks. However, her wealth as an heiress must have made her an attractive marriage prospect, and she was soon wed again, this time to ‘our’ John Beaufort. At the time, John was still the Earl of Somerset. Nevertheless, this marriage was a piece of social climbing for Margaret. The union saw her elevated to the nobility, first as a countess. Then, in 1443, she became a duchess when John was created 1st Duke of Somerset. 

As we have noted above, Margaret Beaufort was the only child of this union. She was born to the couple on 31 May 1443 at Bletsoe Castle. When her second husband died in 1444, Margaret became a widow once more.

Wimborne Minster and the tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset. Images: Author’s Own.

Margaret Beauchamp and her children lived a quiet life at Bletsoe Castle and the Beaufort home of Maxey in the Lincolnshire Fens, raising little Margaret alongside her St John brood. It was not long, though, before the dowager duchess married for the final time. Her husband was Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles. The licence for the marriage is dated 14 April 1447. While Lionel was killed fighting for the Lancastrian side at Towton in 1461, their son, John (through some fascinating twists and turns), would eventually fight for Henry Tudor at Bosworth. He was rewarded for his loyalty with the hand in marriage of Elizabeth of York’s younger sister, Cecily.

Sadly, Margaret did not live to see this ultimate triumph. She died three years earlier, in 1483, aged around 70. She joined her husband in death and was buried alongside him at Wimborne Minster, Dorset.

The Tomb of John Beaufort and Margaret Beauchamp.

The Duke and Duchess of Somerset’s tomb sits on the high altar’s right-hand side. The tomb chest is carved from local Purbeck marble, while their effigies are fashioned from alabaster. It has been noted that the Duke is dressed in armour from the 1440s with the Lancastrian ‘SS’ chain of office around his neck. The Duchess is shown wearing clothes that were fashionable in the 1480s—the time of her death. 

There seems to be a lot of debate about whether the effigies were carved separately around the time the Duke and Duchess died or whether the Duke’s was carved at the same time as his Duchess at the time of her death. The couple hold hands with seemingly no joint to suggest a later addition. However, if the latter is the case, this retrospective carving of John Beaufort’s effigy, so long after the Duke’s body had been laid to rest, considering the fashions from 30 years earlier, is apparently unusual.

If you want to see more of the tomb, check out this video, which I recorded on location in 2024.

Visitor Information

If you want to visit the tomb of John and Margaret Beaufort, 1st Duke and Duchess of Somerset, you will find the church in the Dorset town of Wimborne Minster. You can park in the town. One of the closest car parks we found was Westfield Close Car Park (Pay & Display). To check the minister’s opening hours, see the website here.

Other Locations Nearby

Corfe Castle (17 miles)
Althelhampton House (17 miles)
Cerne Abbey (26 miles)
Sherborne Old Castle (30 miles)
Sherborne Castle (30 miles)
Sherborne Abbey (30 miles)
Mapperton House (40 miles)

Sources

Did John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset Commit Suicide?

The tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset at Wimborne Minster. Once I was a Clever Boy blogspot.

For further reading about the Wars of the Roses, check out Thomas Penn’s books, The Brothers York: An English Tragedy and The Winter King. For a great read about the Beauforts, check out Nathan Amin’s House of Beaufort.