JOHN BEAUFORT , earl, then duke, of Somerset, fought under Henry V. in the French wars, and having been taken prisoner remained in France as a captive until 1437. After the death of Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, in 1439, he com manded the English forces, and, with his brother Edmund, was successful in recapturing Harfleur. 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 Rich mond and Derby, who married, for her first husband, Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, by whom she became the mother of King Henry VII.
The title of earl of Somerset descended on the death of John Beaufort in 1444 to his brother EDMUND BEAUFORT, duke of Somerset (q.v.), who was killed at St. Albans in 1455. By his marriage with Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of the fifth earl of Warwick, he left three sons, Henry, Edmund, and John, and a daughter, Margaret, who married Humphrey, earl of Stafford.