Beaufort

Beaufort, an Angevin town of 2300 inhabitants, in the French department of Maine-et-Loire, 19 miles E. of Angers. Its ancient castle came into the hands of the Lancaster (q.v.) family at the end of the 14th century, and gave name to the natural and afterwards legitimated sons of John of Gaunt. The Tudor (q.v.) claim to the throne arose from the marriage of the Earl of Richmond with Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, whose son ascended the throne as Henry VII. Charles Somerset, natural son of the third Duke of Somerset, was created Earl of Worcester in 1514; the fifth earl was raised in 1642 to the marquisate of Worcester, and the third marquis in 1682 to the dukedom of Beaufort.