Duke of Beaufort

“ The Duke of Beaufort will do better for Petersburg than for Vienna. He is hardly equal to the place, which requires a clever man, it being more difficult to get information there, and to find out what is going on, than in any other country in Europe.... But Lord Melbourne does not much regard this, and the Duke of Beaufort possesses one advantage, which is of the greatest importance in that country. He is a soldier, was the Duke of Wellington's Aide-de-Camp, and served during much of the Peninsular War. ”

“ He was very prolific in complimentary verse, and wrote Latin elegies on Sir Francis Wheeler (1697) and other naval worthies; he was, however, cashiered in the course of 1697 for having, it was alleged, brought a false accusation of theft against a naval officer. He wrote a highly florid Latin elegy upon the Duke of Beaufort, which was printed in 1701, and by flattering verses and dedications, together with occasional preaching, he was enabled, though not without extreme difficulty, to support a large family. ”

“ Your messenger would, I fear, find himself swinging upon one of the Badminton oaks if the Duke desired to show his loyalty to James Stuart. Where are we to find a man who is wary enough and bold enough for such a mission, without risking one of our leaders, who could be ill-spared at such a time?'
'It is true,' said the King. 'It were better not to venture it at all than to do it in a clumsy and halting fashion. Beaufort would think that it was a plot not to gain him over, but to throw discredit upon him. ”

“ Although chagrined when Richard, duke of York, was made regent of France, Beaufort led an expedition to France in 1442, and in 1443 was made duke of Somerset. He died, probably by his own hand, in May 1444. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Beauchamp, and left a daughter, Margaret Beaufort, afterwards countess of Richmond and Derby, who married, for her first husband, Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, by whom she became the mother of King Henry VII. In this way the blood of the Beauforts was mingled with that of the Tudors, and of all the subsequent occupants of the English throne. ”

“ Thus the rivalry of Beaufort and Gloucester was more personal than political, in no sense was it dynastic, and though it weakened the hold of the House of Lancaster on the country, yet in itself it did not threaten the throne of Henry VI. Still less was this the case when the Beaufort faction had won their final victory, and had definitely placed Gloucester in permanent opposition, where he acted as safety-valve to the reigning dynasty. ”

“ George's, Windsor, where an elaborate monument was set up to his memory (for inscription see Ashmole's Berkshire, iii. 163) , but was removed in 1878 to Badminton. Beaufort married, on 17 Aug. 1657, Mary (d. 7 Jan. 1714) , eldest daughter of Arthur, first lord Capel, and widow of Henry Seymour, lord Beauchamp. By her he had issue Henry, who died young; Charles, marquis of Worcester (1661–1698) , father of Henry Somerset, second duke of Beaufort (see below) , and three other sons; and four daughters, of whom the second, Mary, married, in 1685, James, duke of Ormonde, and died in 1733 ”

“ Defeated at the battle of Sedgemoor, where the forces under his command were arrayed in armed rebellion against James II., and afterward taken prisoner, he was beheaded in the Tower of London July 15th, 1685. The dispatches of various foreign ministers in London at the time fully establish the fact of his death.
To Monmouth succeeds Francis of Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort. As grand admiral of France, Beaufort commanded the naval expedition sent out to aid the Venetians in their defence of Candia against the Turks in 1669. ”

“ The king's youngest uncle, Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, was always disputing with the Beaufort family. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster—father to Henry IV.—had, late in life, married a person of low birth, and her children were called Beaufort, after the castle where they were born—not Plantagenet—and were hardly reckoned as princes by other people; but they were very proud, and thought themselves equal to anybody. The good Duke of Bedford died quite worn out with trying to keep the peace among them, and to get proper help from England to save the lands his brother had won in France. ”

“ The public were to be admitted at one, and though I was not to give my performance till nearly four o’clock, all my preparations were made by the time the doors opened. The lady patronesses were already at their posts to receive the Queen and the royal family, and were assisted by stewards selected from the highest members of the aristocracy; among them being the Duke of Beaufort, the Marquis of Abercorn, the Marquis of Douglas, &c. ”

“ Threatening bills were posted on the gates of the bishop's palace, and a tumultuous meeting of men of 'low estate' was held 'at the Crane of the Vintry,' in which some loudly wished that they had the bishop there, that they might throw him into the Thames. Beaufort took the precaution of placing in the Tower a garrison composed of men from the duchy of Lancaster. While affairs were in this uneasy state, the Duke of Gloucester returned to England. The strictures of the council on his foolish expedition doubtless helped to fan the discord between him and the chancellor. ”

“ It was a pity that she was called to share the throne of England when she was so young, for her judgment was not formed, and she had a nature that was more likely to create enemies than friends. She was very foolish in her treatment of the Duke of Gloucester, Henry's uncle, who, she knew, had been one of those most strongly opposed to her marriage. For this she could not forgive him, and, like a spoiled child, took every opportunity of showing him what influence she had over the king, and how much she loved Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Suffolk, both of whom were his sworn enemies. ”

“ Besides, I have promised him your patronage.”
“You are right,” said the duke. “If I am to remain here permanently, as Monsieur Mazarin has kindly given me to understand, I must provide myself with a diversion for my old age, I must turn gourmand.”
“My lord,” said La Ramee, “if you will take a bit of good advice, don’t put that off till you are old.”
“Good!” said the Duc de Beaufort to himself, “every man in order that he may lose his heart and soul, must receive from celestial bounty one of the seven capital sins, perhaps two; it seems that Master La Ramee’s is gluttony. ”

“ Under the determined attacks of Beaufort, fresh developments and characteristics appear. Rapidly the soldier gives place to the intriguing politician, and the necessity of being prepared for future attacks develops a grasping trait in the Duke’s character. Henceforth every opportunity for increasing his official importance or adding to his rent-roll is readily seized with a view to gaining an ever-growing preponderance in the affairs of the kingdom. Thus opposition brings to the fore all the worst sides of the ‘Good Duke’s’ character, and under its influence his policy is moulded. ”

“ Beaufort's influence was undiminished, and he made a new effort to procure peace. Through the good offices of Francis, the new duke of Brittany, negotiations began about the end of 1443. In February 1444 a strong embassy, headed by William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, was sent to France. A partial truce was signed on 8 April at Le Mans, whence Suffolk went to Tours, where the king and the chief nobility of France were assembled. A definite peace was still out of the question, and Charles VII rejected all proposals to marry Henry to one of his daughters (Basin i. 154–6) . ”

“ Gloucester was only outlived for a few weeks by his lifelong rival, the old Cardinal Beaufort. Their deaths cleared the way for the rise of new men: the Cardinal's place at the head of the peace party was taken by Suffolk and Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, men of far lower stamp than the old churchman, who, though proud and worldly, had always done his best to serve England. ”

“ But as a statesman he was powerless in the hands of the Beauforts, and from this moment the policy of the Beauforts drew England nearer and nearer to the chaos of civil war. John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his brother, Edmund, Earl of Dorset, were now the representatives of this house. They were grandsons of John of Gaunt by his mistress, Catharine Swynford. In later days Catharine became John's wife, and his uncle's influence over Richard at the close of that king's reign was shown in a royal ordinance which legitimated those of his children by her who had been born before marriage. ”

“ This mark of confidence inflated his vanity; he conceived hopes which he disclosed too plainly and which finally offended the queen, while at the same time to heighten his inconsistency, he assumed the chains of the beautiful but notorious Duchess de Montbazon. Besides, Beaufort did not even possess the semblance of a statesman; he had little talent, no secrecy, was incapable of application or of business, and only fit for some daring and violent deed. La Rochefoucauld portrays him thus: [18] "The one who had conceived the greatest hopes was the Duke de Beaufort ”

“ ELEANOR, Duchess of Gloucester
CARDINAL Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, great-uncle to the King
DUKE OF SOMERSET
DUKE OF SUFFOLK
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
LORD CLIFFORD
YOUNG CLIFFORD, his son
VAUX
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of YORK ”

“ BEAUFORT AND BEDFORD
Of this Henry Beaufort, who was henceforth to play an important part in the story of Humphrey’s life, we must take some notice, for he has not hitherto come across our path. As the legitimatised son of a royal prince, his birth had taught him to push himself forward. A man of great ability, he soon made himself a power that must be reckoned with, and as Chancellor he had influenced the policy of the kingdom as early as 1404. Till now he had had no commanding position such as the minority of Henry VI. promised him ”

“ Beaufort left England soon afterwards with the Duke of Bedford, on the plea of making a pilgrimage, and did not return until September, 1428, by which time he had been made a cardinal and appointed papal legate in England. Notwithstanding his legatine authority being unacknowledged by Gloucester and others, the citizens received him on his return "worthily and loyally," riding out to meet him and escorting him into London.811
Gloucester loses the favour of the citizens. ”

“ Neither lords nor commons had an exclusive right to govern the kingdom during a minority, nor had they the political capacity to do so, but this limitation of the franchise was a measure aimed by the nobility at Gloucester and the commons at once. Supported by Beaufort, who thought himself able to control them, the lords shut the door on those who alone could check their turbulence, and weakened the position of a man, who with a less limited power might have given strength to the kingdom and dynasty, even although he was almost entirely selfish in his aims. ”

“ Although we fancy not the Cardinal,
Yet must we join with him and with the lords
Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.
As for the Duke of York, this late complaint
Will make but little for his benefit.
So, one by one, we’ll weed them all at last,
And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.
Sound a sennet. Enter the King, Gloucester, Cardinal Beaufort, Somerset, Buckingham, Salisbury, York, Warwick and the Duchess of Gloucester. ”

“ To his two uncles, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, he intrusted the guardianship of his child. He besought all parties to maintain the alliance with Burgundy, and never to release the Duke of Orleans and the other prisoners of Agincourt during his son's minority. Having given these instructions he expired, on the last day of August, 1422.
His death was bewailed both in England and France with no ordinary regret. The great achievements of his reign made him naturally a popular hero ”

“ He fancied himself able, and this it was that made him seem artful, for it is well known that he had not mind enough for intrigue. He possessed much personal courage, more, in fact, than often belongs to a blusterer." This portrait, exaggerated as it is after the manner of Retz, is nevertheless tolerably faithful; but at the beginning of the regency in 1643, the faults of the Duke de Beaufort were not thus openly known, and they seemed to be eclipsed by his virtues. The queen only lost her liking for him by degrees. ”

“ People shut their eyes to his eccentricities, and were better disposed to appreciate his manly frankness and probity. Accordingly, when, on the eve of Louis XIII.’s death, Anne of Austria was afraid lest the Duke d’Orléans or the Prince de Condé should have the Dauphin and the Duke d’Anjou carried off, it was to the custody of Beaufort, as “the most honest man in France,” [176] that she confided her two sons. ”

“ The exiled Queen's fears proved well founded, for no sooner had Beaufort landed in England, than he formed the scheme of converting this secret enterprise into a means of obtaining reward and protection from the Duke of Argyle, whose mediation with the Duke of Queensbury he required for private reasons; he therefore notified his arrival to Argyle, who had been his early and hereditary friend, offering at the same time to make great disclosures, if he had previous assurances of remuneration. ”