John of Beaumont

John of Beaumont (1288 – 11 March 1356) was a younger brother of count William III of Holland. Seigneur of Beaumont and Count of Soissons by virtue of his marriage.

He was born as John of Hainault, lord of Noordwijk, Beaumont, Gouda and Schoonhoven. He was born most likely in 1288 as son of count John II, Count of Holland and Philippa of Luxembourg. He was the brother of Alice of Hainault.

When his uncle John I, Count of Holland died in 1299, he left behind no descendants. As a result, his father inherited the county of Holland and Zeeland as John II, Count of Holland through his mother Adelaide of Holland. From then on Hainault and Holland were in a personal union. John of Hainault bought the heerlijkheid (comparably to the English Barony) of Beaumont, located in the southern Netherlands, for his son.

Count John II of Holland died in 1304 and was succeeded by his eldest son William III of Holland. On 21 June 1308, John received from his brother all the possessions of Gerard van Velsen, Willem van Zanden and Gerard Craaitenhout. This included the heerlijkheid Noordwijk and Beverwijk. On 23 July 1313 Noordwijk and Beverwijk were raised to hoge heerlijkheid (literally: high barony), which placed them amongst the most important fiefs in Holland. In 1316 John became lord of Tholen. Goes also came into his possession after it was taken from the Borssele family. His most important residences were Beaumont and the castle of Schoonhoven in the southern Netherlands. In 1340 he founded a Carmelite monastery in Schoonhoven.

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