His Eminence Henry Beaufort |
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Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester | |
Cardinal Henry Beaufort
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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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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.