Margaret Beaufort
Countess of Devon
Bornc. 1409
Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Died1449 (aged c. 40)
Noble familyBeaufort
Spouse(s)Thomas de Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon
IssueThomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon
Henry Courtenay
Sir John Courtenay
Joan Courtenay
Elizabeth Courtenay
Anne Courtenay
Eleanor Courtenay
Maud Courtenay
FatherJohn Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset
MotherMargaret Holland

Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon (c. 1409 – 1449)[citation needed] was a great-granddaughter of King Edward III (1327–1377).

Origins

Arms of Beaufort family, Earls and Dukes of Somerset: The Royal Arms of England (Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Azure, three fleurs de lis or (France); 2nd & 3rd: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England)) all within a bordure compony argent and azure[1] for difference

Margaret Beaufort was the second and youngest[2] daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (c.1371 – 16 March 1410), by his wife Margaret Holland (c.1385/6 – c.1439/40), the daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent by his wife Alice Arundel. Her father, John Beaufort, was an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340–1399), the third surviving son of King Edward III (1327–1377), by his mistress, later his third wife, Katherine Swynford. Margaret was thus a great-granddaughter of King Edward III.

Margaret had prominent siblings, including the following four brothers and a sister:[3]

Marriage and children

At some time after 1421 Margaret married Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon (1414–1458), for whom she bore three sons and five daughters. Her sons were all killed or executed during the Wars of the Roses due to their strong adherence to the Lancastrian cause, and left no children, and thus the senior line of the Courtenays was extinguished. Margaret's children included the following:[4]

Two of Margaret's nieces were also named Margaret Beaufort. Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford, was the mother of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, was the mother of King Henry VII.

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ^ Debtett's Peerage, 1968, p.125
  2. ^ a b The Complete Peerage, vol.IV, p.326, Earldom of Devon
  3. ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 38–40
  4. ^ Richardson I 2011, p. 547; Richardson IV 2011, pp. 38–43
  5. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.245, pedigree of Courtenay
  6. ^ a b Vivian, p.245
  7. ^ The Complete Peerage, vol.IV, p.327, Earldom of Devon
  8. ^ a b The Complete Peerage, vol.IV, p.328, Earldom of Devon
  9. ^ a b c d Brown 2004.
  10. ^ Marshall 2003, p. 50.
  11. ^ Weir 2008, pp. 94, 125.
  12. ^ Weir 2008, p. 232.
  13. ^ a b c Weir 2008, p. 93.
  14. ^ Weir 2007, p. 6.
  15. ^ a b c Weir 2008, p. 125.
  16. ^ a b c Weir 2008, p. 77.
  17. ^ a b Weir 2008, p. 92.
  18. ^ a b Browning 1898, p. 288.
  19. ^ a b Weir 2008, pp. 94–95.
  20. ^ a b Weir 2008, pp. 97, 104.

References