Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Beaufort, Edmund, Duke of Somerset
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1406-1455
History
Edmund Beaufort was an English nobleman and a key protagonist in the English Wars of the Roses. A descendant of John of Gaunt, Edmund was the son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Margaret Holland. He married Eleanor Beauchamp between 1431 and 1433, and the couple had ten surviving children. He was also the cousin of Henry VI of England and Richard, Duke of York, with whom he bitterly contested control of the crown following the deterioration in the health of Henry VI and his ability to rule. Tensions between Edmund and Richard culminated in a confrontation known as the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which Edmund was killed. The battle marked the beginning of a series of bloody conflicts between the Houses of York and Lancaster.