Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'
This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Earl Somerset is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically.
1397 Legitimation of the Beauforts
1455 First Battle of St Albans
1613 Marriage of Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset and Frances Howard
There have been three creations of Earl Somerset:
1st. 1141. William Mohun 1st Earl of Somerset. Extinct. 1155.
2nd. 10th February 1397. John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset. Forfeit. 15th May 1464. 15 May 1464 Battle of Hexham.
3rd. 3rd November 1613. Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset. Extinct. 17th July 1645.
Earl Somerset is also in Earldoms of England Chronologically, Extinct Earldoms of England.
Summary
1141. William Mohun 1st Earl of Somerset [aged 51] created.
1155. William Mohun 1st Earl of Somerset extinct.
In 1141 William Mohun 1st Earl of Somerset [aged 51] was created 1st Earl Somerset for life by Empress Matilda [aged 38].
Around 1155 William Mohun 1st Earl of Somerset [aged 65] died. Earl Somerset extinct.
Earl Somerset is also in Earldoms of England Chronologically, Forfeit Earldoms of England.
Summary
10th February 1397. John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset [aged 24] created. See Legitimation of the Beauforts.
16th March 1410. Son Henry Beaufort 2nd Earl Somerset [aged 9] succeeded.
29th July 1418. Brother John Beaufort 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 15] succeeded. See Siege of Rouen.
30th May 1444. Brother Edmund Beaufort 1st or 2nd Duke of Somerset [aged 38] succeeded.
22nd May 1455. Son Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset [aged 19] succeeded. See First Battle of St Albans.
4th November 1461. Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset forfeit.
10th March 1463. Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset restored.
15th May 1464. Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset forfeit. See 15 May 1464 Battle of Hexham.
Parliament Rolls Richard II. 30. Also, on the Saturday [10 February 1397], the chancellor [aged 53] announced by the king's [aged 30] command that reason willed that one should honour and enhance the estate of worthy and virtuous persons. Wherefore the king considering the nobility and virtue of his cousin Sir John Beaufort [aged 24], son of his uncle of Guyenne and Lancaster [aged 56], and the great honour he had done his person on various expeditions and labours in many kingdoms and lands overseas, to the great honour of the king and kingdom; and also to encourage him and others to do such honour; and also to strengthen the royal sceptre which could best be supported in honour by worthy and valiant persons had, of his royal dignity and special grace, made and created the said John an earl, and given him the name and honour of the Earl of Somerset, to have to him and his male heirs lawfully engendered of his body, with twenty pounds a year to be taken from the issues and profits of the county of Somerset for his title and the name of earl.
Note. On 10th February 1397 John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset was created 1st Earl Somerset
Parliament Rolls Richard II. 32. The king [aged 30] to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, dukes, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, reeves, ministers, and other his bailiffs and faithful men, greeting. Know that we, considering the strenuous probity and prudent mind, distinguished conduct and nobility of birth of our beloved and faithful kinsman John Beaufort [aged 24], knight, son of our beloved uncle John duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster [aged 56], and willing therefore deservedly to exalt the same John Beaufort with the prerogative of honour, we do appoint and create John Beaufort earl of Somerset in our present parliament, and invest him with the style and name and honour of the aforesaid earl by girding him with the sword, to have to him and his male heirs issuing from his body in perpetuity. And that the same earl and his aforesaid heirs, given such name and honour, may the better and more honourably support the burdens incumbent upon the same, of our special grace in our present parliament we have given and granted, and by this our charter confirmed, to the same earl and his aforesaid heirs twenty pounds to be received each year from the issues of the aforesaid county by the hand of the sheriff of that county for the time being, at the terms of Easter and Michaelmas [29 September] in equal portions, in perpetuity. Witnessed by these, the venerable father Thomas archbishop of Canterbury [aged 44] primate of all England, John of Aquitaine and Lancaster, and Edmund of York [aged 55], dukes; Robert of London, William of Winchester [aged 77], John of Ely, Edmund of Exeter, our chancellor [aged 53], bishops; Henry of Derby [aged 29], Edward of Rutland [aged 24], Thomas of Nottingham and marshal of England [aged 28], earls; Reginald Grey [aged 35], Ralph Neville [aged 33], John Lovell, knights; Roger Walden dean of York, our treasurer, Thomas Percy [aged 54], steward of our household, Guy Mone, keeper of our privy seal, and others. Given by our hand at Westminster on 10 February in the twentieth year of our reign [10th February 1397].
On 27th November 1397 John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset [aged 24] and Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence [aged 12] were married. She by marriage Countess Somerset. She the daughter of Thomas Holland 2nd Earl Kent and Alice Fitzalan Countess Kent [aged 47]. He the illegitmate son of John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster [aged 57] and Katherine Swynford aka Roet Duchess Lancaster [aged 47]. They were half third cousins. He a grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
On 16th March 1410 John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset [aged 37] died at Hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower, Tower Hill [Map]. He was buried at St Michael's Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral [Map]. His son Henry [aged 9] succeeded 2nd Earl Somerset.
On 29th July 1418 the English forces commenced the Siege of Rouen. Robert Willoughby 6th Baron Willoughby [aged 33] fought. John Blount [aged 30] died. William Harrington [aged 45], the King's Standard Bearer, was wounded.
Walter Hungerford 1st Baron Hungerford [aged 40] fought.
Henry Beaufort 2nd Earl Somerset [aged 17] was killed. His brother John [aged 15] succeeded 3rd Earl Somerset.
In 1439 John Beaufort 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 36] and Margaret Beauchamp Duchess Somerset [aged 29] were married. She by marriage Countess Somerset. He the son of John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset and Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence [aged 54]. They were fifth cousin once removed. He a great grandson of King Edward III of England.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 30th May 1444 John Beaufort 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 41] committed suicide. Suicide not certain but likely. Duke Somerset, Earl Kendal extinct. His brother Edmund [aged 38] succeeded 4th Earl Somerset. Eleanor Beauchamp Duchess Somerset [aged 35] by marriage Countess Somerset.
His only child Margaret Beaufort Countess Richmond aged one was his heir. King Henry VI of England and II of France [aged 22] granted her wardship to William "Jackanapes" de la Pole 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 47] who married her to his son John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk [aged 1].
On 22nd May 1455 the Wars of the Roses commenced with the First Battle of St Albans. Richard Plantagenet 3rd Duke of York [aged 43] commanded with Richard "Kingmaker" Neville Earl Warwick, 6th Earl Salisbury [aged 26], Richard Neville Earl Salisbury [aged 55], Edward Brooke 6th Baron Cobham [aged 40] and Walter Strickland [aged 44].
The Lancastrians...
Edmund Beaufort 1st or 2nd Duke of Somerset [aged 49] was killed. His son Henry [aged 19] succeeded 2nd Duke Somerset, 2nd Marquess Dorset, 5th Earl Somerset, 2nd Earl Dorset. Note his father is frequently incorrectly referred to as the second Duke and Henry as the third Duke. His father's Dukedom, however, was a new creation.
Henry Percy 2nd Earl of Northumberland [aged 62] was killed. His son Henry [aged 33] succeeded 3rd Earl of Northumberland, 6th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 14th Baron Percy of Topcliffe. Eleanor Poynings Countess Northumberland [aged 33] by marriage Countess of Northumberland.
Thomas Clifford 8th Baron Clifford [aged 41] was killed. His son John [aged 20] succeeded 9th Baron de Clifford, 9th Lord Skipton. Margaret Bromflete Baroness Clifford [aged 21] by marriage Baroness de Clifford.
William Cotton [aged 45] and Richard Fortescue [aged 41] were killed.
Humphrey Stafford 1st Duke of Buckingham [aged 52] was wounded and captured.
King Henry VI of England and II of France [aged 33], John Sutton 1st Baron Dudley [aged 54] and Edmund Sutton [aged 30] were captured.
Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset was wounded. James Butler 1st Earl Wiltshire 5th Earl Ormonde [aged 34] and John Wenlock 1st Baron Wenlock [aged 55] fought.
Richard Cotton of Hampstall Ridware [aged 51] and his son William Cotton of Connington in Huntingdonshire [aged 27] were killed.
On 4th November 1461 Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset [aged 25] was attainted. Duke Somerset, Marquess Dorset, Earl Somerset, Earl Dorset forfeit.
On 10th March 1463 Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset [aged 27] was restored 2nd Duke Somerset, 5th Earl Somerset as a consequence of a general pardon.
On 15th May 1464 a Yorkist army commanded by John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu [aged 33] defeated a Lancastrian army commanded by Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset [aged 28] at Hexham, Northumberland [Map] during the Battle of Hexham.
Those fighting for York included John Stafford 1st Earl Wiltshire [aged 36], John Scrope 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 26] and Richard Welles 7th Baron Welles, Baron Willoughby [aged 36].
Henry Beaufort 2nd or 3rd Duke of Somerset was beheaded following the battle. The general pardon which he has previously received was annulled. Duke Somerset, Marquess Dorset, Earl Somerset and Earl Dorset forfeit for the second time. His son Edmund Beaufort [aged 25] was styled by supporters of the House of Lancaster as Duke of Somerset but had not right to do so.
Philip Wentworth [aged 40] was executed at Middleham [Map].
Earl Somerset is also in Earldoms of England Chronologically, Extinct Earldoms of England.
Summary
3rd November 1613. Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset [aged 26] created.
17th July 1645. Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset extinct.
On 3rd November 1613 Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset [aged 26] was created 1st Earl Somerset.
On 26th December 1613 Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset [aged 26] and Frances Howard Countess Essex and Somerset [aged 23] were married. She by marriage Countess Somerset. She the daughter of Thomas Howard 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 52] and Catherine Knyvet Countess Suffolk [aged 49].
Her marriage with her first husband Robert Devereux 3rd Earl Essex [aged 22] had been annulled on the grounds of his impotence three months before causing something of a scandal.
On 17th July 1645 Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset [aged 58] died without male issue. Earl Somerset, Viscount Rochester extinct.