BEAUFORT, EDMUND
(b. c.1406; d. 22 May 1455 at St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, aged 49). Beaufort was involved in the French wars in the 1420s–30s (see HUNDRED YEARS WAR). He was created earl of Dorset in 1442, marquess in 1443. In 1444 he succeeded his brother as earl of Somerset, becoming the head of the Beaufort faction in English politics. He replaced Richard, duke of YORK, as lieutenant of France and Normandy in 1447 and was created duke of Somerset in 1448.
Somerset’s direction of the war was disastrous: by June 1450 the remaining English‐held lands in N France were lost. Yet Somerset remained in favour with King HENRY VI until Henry fell ill and York became ‘protector’. Somerset was imprisoned 1454–5. On release, he rejoined the king. He was killed when royalist (‘Lancastrian’) forces clashed with ‘Yorkists’ at the first battle of St Albans. See also BEAUFORT FAMILY; YORKIST–LANCASTRIAN CONFLICT.
BEAUFORT, HENRY
(b. c.1375; d. 11 April 1447 at Winchester, Hampshire, England, aged about 71). The second illegitimate son of JOHN OF GAUNT and Katherine SWYNFORD, Beaufort was appointed bishop of LINCOLN (1398), then of WINCHESTER (1404). Under King HENRY IV (half‐brother) he was CHANCELLOR 1403–5 and a leading member of government 1410–12.
Under HENRY V (nephew, ruled 1413–22), Beaufort served as chancellor (1413–17) and provided loans for war in France (see HUNDRED YEARS WAR). During the (Church) Council of Constance he was appointed cardinal (1417), but Henry compelled him to refuse (1419).
Under HENRY VI (great‐nephew), Beaufort was chancellor from 1424, vying with the duke of GLOUCESTER for authority in government and over the king (a minor); in Oct. 1425 their forces met on London bridge. Their conflict was settled by the duke of BEDFORD and Beaufort resigned as chancellor (1426) with the concession of taking the cardinalate (1427). In France 1430–1, he presided at the trial of JOAN OF ARC and crowned Henry VI as king of France. He remained excluded from English government until 1435, when he also joined peace negotiations with France. After Henry VI was declared ruler (1437), Beaufort was effectively his chief minister until 1443. See also BEAUFORT FAMILY.
BEAUFORT, MARGARET
(b. 31 May 1443 at Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, England; d. 29 June 1509 at Westminster, Middlesex, England, aged 66). Margaret was the surviving child of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (d. 1444). Her royal lineage made her marriage prospects political. After the duke of SUFFOLK attempted a union with his heir, her wardship passed to King HENRY VI’s half‐brothers Edmund and Jasper TUDOR. She married Edmund in 1455 but he died before their son Henry was born (1457). Later she married Henry Stafford (d. 1471) and Thomas Stanley (d. 1504), a YORKIST.
When HENRY VI died (21 May 1471), Henry Tudor became a LANCASTRIAN claimant to the English throne held by the Yorkist EDWARD IV. Margaret urged him into exile in Brittany. He invaded in 1485 to depose RICHARD III. Margaret lived through Henry’s reign, honoured as ‘the king’s mother’ (see HENRY VII). She was patron of William CAXTON (by 1489) and founded colleges at CAMBRIDGE. See also BEAUFORT FAMILY; YORKIST–LANCASTRIAN CONFLICT.
BEAUFORT FAMILY
A noble family whose blood‐link to the English Crown underpinned the Tudor claim in 1485. The Beauforts originated in the extramarital liaison between JOHN OF GAUNT, third son of King EDWARD III, and Katherine SWYNFORD (1370s). Their four children were legitimized in 1396 (papal bull) and 1397 (letters patent). The family name derived from a French lordship formerly held by Gaunt. The Beauforts became key supporters of their relatives the LANCASTRIAN kings.
The leading members were: Henry BEAUFORT (c.1375–1447), Gaunt’s second Beaufort son; Edmund BEAUFORT (c.1406–55), second son of Gaunt’s oldest son (John) and counsellor of HENRY VI; Margaret BEAUFORT (1443–1509), niece of Edmund by his older brother (John). Edmund Beaufort’s older sister Joan married JAMES I of Scotland (1424). Margaret’s son Henry Tudor seized the throne of England in 1485 (see HENRY VII). See also YORKIST–LANCASTRIAN CONFLICT.
BEAVERBROOK, LORD
(b. 25 May 1879 at Maple, Ontario, Canada; d. 9 June 1964 at Cherkley Court, Surrey, England, aged 85). A self‐made tycoon, Max Aitken emigrated to England in 1910, became a confidant of Bonar LAW, and was elected a Conservative MP (Dec.). He was created a baronet (1911) and Lord Beaverbrook (1917), and served as British minister of information (Feb.–Oct. 1918) under David LLOYD GEORGE.
During the 1920s, Beaverbrook developed his popular Daily Express newspaper. It was strongly imperialist and critical of Conservative leader Stanley BALDWIN, and advocated ‘imperial preference’ (from 1929; see TARIFF REFORM) and APPEASEMENT (late 1930s). During WORLD WAR II, Beaverbrook served Winston CHURCHILL, another friend, as minister of aircraft production (1940–1), minister of supply (1941–2) and lord PRIVY SEAL (1943–5). See also NEWSPAPERS, ENGLAND.
BECHUANALAND
A former British territory in southern Africa. European travellers and missionaries (including Robert MOFFAT) were active N of CAPE COLONY in the early 19th century, and from the 1830s Boers from the Transvaal claimed land in the area. German colonization to the W in the 1880s caused the British to establish the CROWN COLONY of British Bechuanaland (1885) and Bechuanaland PROTECTORATE to the N (1885, extended 1892). The colony was annexed to Cape Colony in 1895 (later included in SOUTH AFRICA).
In 1895 African chiefs, visiting London, persuaded the British government to retain the protectorate rather than cede control to the BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY, though the company used Bechuanaland as a base for expansion northwards (see SOUTHERN RHODESIA). British administration operated through native rulers. Self‐government was granted in 1965, and the protectorate became an independent republic as Botswana in 1966. Approx. population in 1921, 153,000; in 1965, 525,000.
BECKET, THOMAS
(b. 21 Dec. 1120 at London, England; d. 29 Dec. 1170 at Canterbury, Kent, England, aged 50). A merchant's son, Becket rose under the patronage of THEOBALD OF BEC, archbishop of CANTERBURY. In Jan. 1155 he was appointed CHANCELLOR by King HENRY II. They became close friends. In 1162 Becket was elected archbishop of Canterbury despite the claims of Gilbert FOLIOT.
To Henry's dismay, Becket resisted his attempts to assert jurisdiction over the English Church. After Becket rejected the Constitutions of CLARENDON (issued Jan. 1164), Henry sought to ruin him. Becket was charged with offences at a royal council (Oct.) but fled into exile in France (2 Nov.).
Becket returned (1 Dec. 1170), having excommunicated bishops who had crowned HENRY THE YOUNG KING. His headstrong behaviour angered Henry. An outburst from Henry provoked four knights to murder Becket in his cathedral. He was canonized in 1173, and his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral became a major pilgrimage destination. See also CHAUCER, GEOFFREY.
BEDCHAMBER CRISISA constitutional dispute which prevented a change of government in Great Britain, 1839. After the WHIG prime minister Viscount MELBOURNE resigned, Queen VICTORIA invited the CONSERVATIVE Sir Robert PEEL to form a minority government (8 May). He asked the queen to indicate support by replacing some ladies of her bedchamber who were related to Whigs. When the queen refused, Peel declined to become prime minister and Melbourne resumed office (10 May). The queen’s apparent partisanship was criticized. See also KINGSHIP AND MONARCHY, ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1680S.BEDE
(b. 673 or 674 in Bernicia; d. 26 May 735
