The Beauforts were a powerful and wealthy family from the start, and rose to greater power after their half-brother became King
Henry IV in 1399, having deposed his 1st cousin King Richard II. However, in 1406, Henry IV decided that although the Beauforts were legitimate, their line could not be used to make any claim to the throne. John Beaufort had already been created
Earl of Somerset in 1397. His second son
John became the first
Duke of Somerset in 1443. The second son (of John of Gaunt),
Henry, became a bishop,
Lord Chancellor, and a
Cardinal; the third son,
Thomas, became
Duke of Exeter; and the daughter,
Joan, married
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, as his second wife. Joan's many descendants include the Dukes of York,
Warwick the "Kingmaker", the
Dukes of Norfolk, the
Dukes of Buckingham, the
Earls of Northumberland, and
Catherine Parr, the last queen of
Henry VIII. When the dynastic struggle of the
Wars of the Roses broke out in the later fifteenth century, the Beauforts were the chief supporters of
Henry VI and the
House of Lancaster.
Henry VII traced his claim to the English crown through his mother,
Margaret Beaufort, granddaughter of
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. The Beauforts suffered heavily in the Wars of the Roses.
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and his three elder sons (the 3rd and 4th Dukes and the Earl of Dorset), all lost their lives, leaving no legitimate male heir. The male line was however continued through
Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, the illegitimate son of
Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, who adopted the surname "Somerset" and used the arms of Beaufort but with a
baton sinister for bastardy.
Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester (1629–1700), sixth in descent from Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, assisted in the
Restoration of the Monarchy to King
Charles II, who in 1682 created him
Duke of Beaufort. The title
Duke of Somerset was no longer available, having been granted in 1547 by King Edward VI to his uncle
Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, which family and title survives today. Thus the Beaufort family is today represented in the male line by its illegitimate continuation, the
House of Somerset, whose senior representative is
Henry Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort. The Somerset family has long borne the arms of Beaufort undifferenced, with the baton sinister adopted by Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, discontinued. ==Notable Beauforts==