Henry Cardinal Beaufort

Henry Beaufort (ca.1374-1447), 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.) In 1398 Henry Beaufort was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln. When his half-brother deposed Richard and took the throne as Henry IV of England, he made Bishop Beaufort Chancellor of England in 1403, but he resigned that position the next year to become Bishop of Winchester.

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; 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, 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 delerium 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 Oxford, Henry fathered a daughter, Joan. Henry's paramour and Joan's mother was said to be Alice Arundel, daughter of Richard de Arundel K.G., 11th Earl of Arundel and 10th Earl of Surrey, by his wife Elizabeth de Bohun. Joan Beaufort married John Cherleton of Powis and had three sons and one daughter.

Preceded by: John Bokyngham	Bishop of Lincoln 1398-1405	Succeeded by: Philip Repyngdon
Preceded by: William of Wykeham	Bishop of Winchester 1404-1447	Succeeded by: William Waynflete
Preceded by: '	Cardinal 1426-1447	Succeeded by: '

Preceded by: Edmund Stafford	Lord Chancellor 1403–1405	Succeeded by: Thomas Langley
Preceded by: Thomas Arundel	Lord Chancellor 1413–1417	Succeeded by: Thomas Langley
Preceded by: Thomas Langley	Lord Chancellor 1424–1426	Succeeded by: John Kemp