Coat of arms of Henry Beaufort.
Henry Beaufort (1436 - 1464) was the third Duke of Somerset and a leading military leader of Lancaster House during the War of the Two Roses. He was the son of Edmund Beaufort and Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, making him the nephew of Margaret Beaufort and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and uncle of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham.
The Earl of Somerset fought in the first battle of St. Albano (22 May 1455), where he was seriously wounded and his father killed in combat. He inherited the title and influences of his father in the court of King Henry VI, directing the victories of the Lancaster in the battles of Wakefield and second of San Albano, and the decisive defeat in Towton, having to flee to Scotland after the latter.
From his exile he traveled to France to negotiate help, where he was arrested for a short time, then going to Flanders and from there back to England via Scotland. He mutinied several castles in the Northumberland region, which prevented the kingdom from being pacified by the new King Edward IV. He urgently needed to defeat other Lancaster uprisings, so after besieging and defeating all the Somerset castles, he agreed to his request to reach agreement. In this way Enrique Beaufort obtained the real pardon, obtaining to be released the 10 of March of 1462, and recovering all its titles and possessions.
During the following year Somerset remained close to King Edward, living in his court and granting him military advice. However, at the end of 1463 he was changed back to the Lancaster side, providing key military aid that allowed the success of the invasion of the troops of deposed King Henry VI and his wife Queen Margaret of Anjou. But as a result of defeats during Eduardo's counteroffensive, in May 1464 he was defeated in Hexham, taken prisoner and later hanged. He is buried in the Abbey of Hexham.
The duke had no legitimate offspring. He had a son named Carlos Somerset, Earl of Worcester.
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