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Henry Beaufort

His Eminence
Henry Beaufort
Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester
Cardinal henry beaufort.jpg
Cardinal Henry Beaufort
Province Canterbury
Installed 1404
Term ended 1447
Predecessor William of Wykeham
Successor William Waynflete
Other posts
Orders
Consecration 14 July 1398
Created Cardinal 24 May 1426
by Pope Martin V
Rank Cardinal Priest
Personal details
Born c. 1375
Château de Beaufort, Anjou,
Kingdom of France
Died 11 April 1447
Wolvesey Castle, Winchester,
Kingdom of England
Buried Winchester Cathedral
Denomination Roman Catholic Church
Parents John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford
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Coat of arms Quarterly: 1st and 4th: azure semy-de-lis Or; 2nd and 3rd: gules three leopards Or; overall a bordure compony argent and azure

Henry Beaufort (c. 1375 – 11 April 1447) was a medieval English clergyman, Bishop of Winchester, a member of the royal house of Plantagenet, and a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

The second of the four children of John of Gaunt and his mistress (later wife) Katherine Swynford, Beaufort was born in Anjou, an English domain in France, and educated for a career in the Church. After his parents were married in early 1396, Henry, his two brothers and one sister were declared legitimate by Pope Boniface IX and legitimated by Act of Parliament on 9 February 1397, but they were barred from the succession to the throne.

This later proviso was promulgated with the exact phrase excepta regali dignitate (English: the royal dignity excepted) by their half-brother Henry IV with dubious authority. On 27 February 1398, he was nominated Bishop of Lincoln, and on 14 July 1398, he was consecrated. After Henry of Bolingbroke deposed Richard II and took the throne as Henry IV in 1399, he made Bishop Beaufort Lord Chancellor of England (as of 1403). Beaufort resigned that position in 1404 when he was appointed Bishop of Winchester on 19 November.

Between 1411 and 1413, Bishop Beaufort was in political disgrace for siding with his nephew, the Prince of Wales, against the king, but when King Henry IV died and the prince became King Henry V, he was made Chancellor once again in 1413, but he resigned the position in 1417.Pope Martin V offered him the rank of Cardinal, but King Henry V would not permit him to accept the offer.


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