Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, 4th Earl of Somerset, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1st Marquess of Dorset styled 1st Count of Mortain (1406 – 22 May 1455), was an English nobleman and an important figure during the Hundred Years' War. His rivalry with Richard, Duke of York, was a leading cause of the Wars of the Roses.
Edmund Beaufort was the fourth surviving son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and his wife, Margaret Holland. Edmund's father John Beaufort was the eldest son of John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of King Edward III, and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford. Although John Beaufort had been born out of wedlock, he was legitimised in 1396. Edmund's mother, Margaret Holland, was a daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, and his wife, Alice FitzAlan. Alice was the daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, and his wife, Eleanor of Lancaster. Eleanor in turn was the daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, a grandson of King Henry III. Edmund was thus a cousin of both Richard, Duke of York, and the Lancastrian King Henry VI.
Around the time of Edmund's birth in 1406, the House of Beaufort was among the most significant noble families in England. The Beauforts were half-brothers of King Henry IV, who was the son of John of Gaunt and his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, and held significant royal favor. Edmund's father John was considered "one of Henry IV's most trusted councillors." Edmund's uncles Henry and Thomas Beaufort were also significant political figures: Henry was the Bishop of Lincoln and Winchester and would serve on three occasions as Lord Chancellor; Thomas held various military posts and would later become Chancellor.
Edmund's father John died in 1410, soon after his birth. Margaret Holland, Edmund's mother, remarried Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, the younger brother of King Henry V, and Edmund may have been raised by the pair. In 1419, Edmund and his surviving brothers John and Thomas Beaufort travelled to Normandy, where the Duke of Clarence had command over the English army. Because of his youth, Edmund likely remained with his mother's household in Rouen instead of joining Clarence's campaign, which culminated with the death of the Duke of Clarence and the capture of both Edmund's brothers in 1421 at the Battle of Baugé.
Although Edmund's older brothers were imprisoned, they had inherited the vast majority of their father's estates. Edmund himself did not hold any land in England until his marriage to Eleanor Beauchamp provided him with an annual income of £205 that was modest by the standards of major nobles. By contrast, Edmund's eventual rival Richard, Duke of York, received annual incomes exceeding £5,000. Edmund's attempts to secure lands and offices with an income that would support his claim to be a leading magnate of the realm would prove a driving force of his career.
Affair with Catherine of Valois
In 1425, rumors began to circulate of an affair between Edmund Beaufort and Catherine of Valois, King Henry V's widow and the mother of King Henry VI. The liaison may have been the impetus for a parliamentary statute issued in 1427–28 seeking to regulate the remarriage of queens of England. Although Catherine of Valois later remarried Owen Tudor in secret, it is not clear when any relationship between the queen and Edmund ended (if it had existed at all), and Catherine's choice to name her first son through this new marriage Edmund Tudor has led to serious speculation as to whether Edmund Beaufort was the real father.
The historian G. L. Harriss wrote: "By its very nature the evidence for Edmund Tudor's parentage is less than conclusive, but such facts as can be assembled permit the agreeable possibility that Edmund 'Tudor' and Margaret Beaufort were first cousins and that the royal house of 'Tudor' sprang in fact from Beauforts on both sides."
Early military career and marriage
Edmund returned to Normandy in February 1427 with a significant retinue (likely paid for by his wealthy uncle Henry Beaufort, now a cardinal and one of the leading churchmen in England) to fight in the Hundred Year's War. Soon after reaching Rouen, Edmund was made Count of Mortain on 22 April, 1427 by John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, the Regent of England and overall commander of English forces in France. Although Mortain's position on the French border made it the target of frequent raids and made collecting the county's revenues a mostly "theoretical" prospect, it still represented an important title that placed Edmund on a par with England's earls.
Edmund spent much of the next few years campaigning in Normandy, first seeing battle in the unsuccessful Siege of Montargis. By August 1429, the English Crown's dependence on loans from Henry Beaufort to fund the war effort allowed the cardinal to exercise significant patronage on behalf of his nephew, and Edmund was given command of the section of the English army operating in the Norman Vexin. He achieved significant successes over the next years, capturing several border towns and fortresses in the region, most notably the great castle of Château-Gaillard in April 1430 and the fortified town of Louviers in October 1431.
After the fall of Louviers, Beaufort was one of many lords accompanying King Henry VI for his coronation as King of France in Paris on 16 December 1431. Edmund then returned to England with the King in February 1432, ending his first period of military service.
After returning to England, Edmund married Eleanor Beauchamp without obtaining royal license. At least one historian has speculated that Edmund and Eleanor may have forced their marriage's recognition by getting Eleanor pregnant. In addition to the modest lands she held as the widow of Baron Roos, Eleanor was expected to receive a significant inheritance from her wealthy parents Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth Berkeley. However, whether out of pique at finding himself with an unwanted son-in-law or for other family reasons, Richard de Beauchamp entailed his entire estate, including the lands of his first wife, to the children of his second marriage with Isabel Despenser. Edmund and Eleanor's disinheritance created an ongoing legal dispute that set Edmund at odds with Richard Neville, the primary beneficiary of Richard de Beauchamp's new inheritance scheme, but also forged a close relationship between Edmund and his new brother-in-law John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was married to Margaret Beauchamp, another disinherited daughter of Richard de Beauchamp's first marriage.
In March 1436, Cardinal Beaufort lent the Crown the funds to equip a 2,000-man expedition to Normandy led by Edmund. Edmund came under the overall command of the Duke of Gloucester, who was planning a campaign to punish Duke Phillip of Burgundy for his decision to align with France in the Hundred Year's War. Under Gloucester's command, Edmund led a series of chévauchées into Burgundian Picardy.
Edmund's performance sufficiently impressed Gloucester that the Duke left the army in Beaufort's hands while he returned to England to gather reinforcements. During Gloucester's absence, Duke Philip of Burgundy raised a large army and laid siege to Calais. Edmund conducted an aggressive defense of the stronghold, preventing a Burgundian attempt to seal the harbor with blockships and leading sallies while Gloucester assembled a relief army of 8,000 men that finally forced Philip to abandon the siege. For his role in the victory, Edmund was made a Knight of the Garter and constable of several royal castles in 1436, and in 1438, he was appointed governor of the County of Maine.
1438 also saw the final conclusion of the 17-year negotiations for the ransom of Edmund's older brother John Beaufort, and, despite his more extensive military experience, seniority meant that Edmund was placed under his brother's command in 1439 and 1440. In October 1440, Edmund recaptured Harfleur, an important port and stronghold on the mouth of the Seine after defeating a French relief force.