Beaufort Estates

I've tried to order "The King's Mother" but can't seem to get hold of a
copy. So I'm wondering if anyone has the book and can give me some
help on this question:

Margaret Beaufort is described as heiress of her father, the Duke of
Somerset. Yet her nephew and his heirs subsequently bore the title
which, presumably, was entailed in the male line only.

But did Margaret retain her father's estates, in which case did the
junior branches have any landed property at all, or did they exist
soley on crown grants?

I know pretty much what the Somerset manors were, but not who owned
them during the Wars of the Roses period. Presumably they were also
subject to attainders at various times; I believe Richard of Gloucester
was granted some of them (e.g. Corfe) but had to give them up when
Henry Duke of Somerset was restored to Royal favour.

Amazon seem to have plenty of copies from £18.99 or £5 used.

--- In , "theblackprussian"
<theblackprussian@y...> wrote:
>
> I've tried to order "The King's Mother" but can't seem to get hold
of a
> copy. So I'm wondering if anyone has the book and can give me some
> help on this question:
>
> Margaret Beaufort is described as heiress of her father, the Duke
of
> Somerset. Yet her nephew and his heirs subsequently bore the title
> which, presumably, was entailed in the male line only.
>
> But did Margaret retain her father's estates, in which case did the
> junior branches have any landed property at all, or did they exist
> soley on crown grants?
>
> I know pretty much what the Somerset manors were, but not who owned
> them during the Wars of the Roses period. Presumably they were
also
> subject to attainders at various times; I believe Richard of
Gloucester
> was granted some of them (e.g. Corfe) but had to give them up when
> Henry Duke of Somerset was restored to Royal favour.
>

Just to sort out a typo, on the death of Margaret Beaufort's father, the dukedom of Somerset went not to Margaret's 'nephew' (she was an only child and therefore didn't have any), but to her uncle (her father's younger brother) and his heirs, who were Margaret's first cousins.

Ann

> Margaret Beaufort is described as heiress of her father, the Duke
of
> Somerset. Yet her nephew and his heirs subsequently bore the title
> which, presumably, was entailed in the male line only.
>

--- In , "theblackprussian"
<theblackprussian@y...> wrote:
>
> I've tried to order "The King's Mother" but can't seem to get hold
of a
> copy. So I'm wondering if anyone has the book and can give me some
> help on this question:
>
> Margaret Beaufort is described as heiress of her father, the Duke
of
> Somerset. Yet her nephew and his heirs subsequently bore the title
> which, presumably, was entailed in the male line only.
>
> But did Margaret retain her father's estates, in which case did the
> junior branches have any landed property at all, or did they exist
> soley on crown grants?
>
> I know pretty much what the Somerset manors were, but not who owned
> them during the Wars of the Roses period. Presumably they were
also
> subject to attainders at various times; I believe Richard of
Gloucester
> was granted some of them (e.g. Corfe) but had to give them up when
> Henry Duke of Somerset was restored to Royal favour.

To take these one at a time, I'd say you really need to visit a main
library. Appendix 2 of 'The King's Mother' consists of a complete
list of Margaret Beaufort's lands broken down according to which
inheritance/ grant they belonged to, but it's far too long for me to
reproduce for you here.
'The king's Mother' doesn't answer all your questions (at least, not
on a brief re-look). The first duke of Somsert was basically endowed
by his father Gaunt with the Somerset manors of Curry Rivel, Langport
and Martock, which Gaunt had bought from William Montagu, Earl of
Salisbury - Gaunt was apparently unwilling to alienate any of his own
inheritance to the Beauforts. These all appear on the list of
Margaret's own possessions.
Margaret Beaufort was also, of course, the heiress of her mother,
Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe, and of her grandmother Margaret
Holland. After her son became King, she was very keen to claim and
acquire any former Holland property, whether it had formed part of
her grandmother's inheritance or not.
In 1443, when John II, Margaret's father, was elevated to the rank of
Duke, he was granted lands worth 600 marks pa to support the title.

The authors say only "After the death of John Beaufort, Edmund, as
heir male, took on the leadership of the Beaufort family." They do
not specify what estates he inherited with the Somerset title - you'd
have to get that from some other source. I do know that Duke Edmund
was quite dependent on the income from his various offices to support
his lifestyle; however, he clearly had landed income.
It is true that Duke Henry was restored in 1463, but of course, no
sooner had he got his lands and titles back than he went back over to
the Lancastrian side and they were all seized back again. Richard was
not granted Duke Henry's estates until December 1463, AFTER the
Duke's relapse, and so did not lose them.

By the by, it's important to bear in mind that pardon did not always
go hand in hand with immediate restoration. Particularly under Henry
VII, people could wait many many years for full restitution. Edward
IV was, however, besotted with Somerset and very keen to please him.

I have an idea that what somerset ma have had was the constableship
of Corfe Castle, not ownership of the castle itself, but I couldn't
be sure.

Hope this is of help,

Marie
>

--- In , "mariewalsh2003"
<marie@r...> wrote:
>
> --- In , "theblackprussian"
> <theblackprussian@y...> wrote:
> >
> > I've tried to order "The King's Mother" but can't seem to get
hold
> of a
> > copy. So I'm wondering if anyone has the book and can give me
some
> > help on this question:
> >
> > Margaret Beaufort is described as heiress of her father, the Duke
> of
> > Somerset. Yet her nephew and his heirs subsequently bore the
title
> > which, presumably, was entailed in the male line only.
> >
> > But did Margaret retain her father's estates, in which case did
the
> > junior branches have any landed property at all, or did they
exist
> > soley on crown grants?
> >
> > I know pretty much what the Somerset manors were, but not who
owned
> > them during the Wars of the Roses period. Presumably they were
> also
> > subject to attainders at various times; I believe Richard of
> Gloucester
> > was granted some of them (e.g. Corfe) but had to give them up
when
> > Henry Duke of Somerset was restored to Royal favour.
>
> To take these one at a time, I'd say you really need to visit a
main
> library. Appendix 2 of 'The King's Mother' consists of a complete
> list of Margaret Beaufort's lands broken down according to which
> inheritance/ grant they belonged to, but it's far too long for me
to
> reproduce for you here.
> 'The king's Mother' doesn't answer all your questions (at least,
not
> on a brief re-look). The first duke of Somsert

SORRY - MEANT EARL.


was basically endowed
> by his father Gaunt with the Somerset manors of Curry Rivel,
Langport
> and Martock, which Gaunt had bought from William Montagu, Earl of
> Salisbury - Gaunt was apparently unwilling to alienate any of his
own
> inheritance to the Beauforts.