Charles Somerset
Earl of Worcester
Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester holding white staff of Lord Chamberlain of the Household to King Henry VIII
Born1460
Died15 March 1526 (aged 65–66)
Noble familyBeaufort
Spouse(s)
Issue
FatherHenry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset
MotherJoan Hill

Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, KG (c. 1460 – 15 March 1526) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the legitimised bastard son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset by his mistress Joan Hill.

Origins

He was born in about 1460, an illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset[1] by his mistress Joan Hill.[2]

Career

He was invested as a Knight of the Garter in about 1496. On his marriage in 1492 he was styled Baron Herbert in right of his wife, and in 1506 he was created Baron Herbert of Ragland, Chepstow and Gower.[3] On 1 February 1514, he was created Earl of Worcester and was at some time appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household to King Henry VIII.[4] As Lord Chamberlain, Somerset was largely responsible for the preparations for the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520.

Marriages and children

He married three times, although his second marriage is uncertain:

Death and burial

Somerset died on 15 March 1526 and was buried with his first wife at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Coat of Arms

Family tree

Notes

  1. ↑ Burke, John, Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of peerage, baronetage and knightage, (G.P.Putnam's Sons:New York, 1914), 207.
  2. ↑ Gurney, E. Henry, Reference handbook for readers, students, and teachers of English history , (Ginn & Company:Boston, 1890), 55.
  3. ↑ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Worcester, Earls and Marquesses of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 820.
  4. ↑ Chisholm 1911.
  5. ↑ Burke, 207.
  6. ↑ McClain, Molly, Beaufort: the duke and his duchess, 1657-1715, (Yale University Press, 2001), xxi
  7. ↑ Jonathan Hughes, "Somerset [formerly Beaufort], Charles, first earl of Worcester (c. 1460–1526)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, January 2007 [accessed 1 Sept 2010] (Subscription required for online version)
  8. ↑ Burke, 207

References

  • Burke, John, Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of peerage, baronetage and knightage, G.P.Putnam's Sons:New York, 1914.
  • Gurney, E. Henry, Reference handbook for readers, students, and teachers of English history , Ginn & Company:Boston, 1890.
  • McClain, Molly, Beaufort: the duke and his duchess, 1657-1715, Yale University Press, 2001.
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