Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, KG (c. 146015 March 1526) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the legitimised bastard son of

Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (26 January 143615 May 1464) was an important Lancastrian military commander during the English Wars of the Roses. He is sometimes numbered the 2nd Duke of Somerset, because the title was re-created for his ...

by his mistress Joan Hill.

Origins

He was born in about 1460, an illegitimate son of

by his mistress Joan Hill.

Career

He was invested as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

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. On 1 February 1514, he was created

Earl of Worcester Earl of Worcester is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. Five creations The first creation came in 1138 in favour of the Norman noble Waleran de Beaumont. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leice ...

and was at some time appointed

Lord Chamberlain of the Household Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

to King Henry VIII. 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: *Firstly on 2 June 1492, to

Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert (c. 1476 – 27 August 1507) was the sole heir and daughter of William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and his first wife, Mary Woodville. Her father died on 16 July 1491, and she inherited extensive ...

(died before March 1513), daughter of

William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (5 March 145116 July 1491) was an English nobleman and politician. Early life He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Devereux. His paternal grandparents were William ap Thomas a ...

, 2nd Baron Herbert, in right of whom he was created Lord Herbert. By Elizabeth Herbert he had the following children: ** Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester, only son and heir **Elizabeth Somerset, his only daughter, wife successively of Sir John Savage and Sir William Brereton. *Secondly to Elizabeth West, daughter of Sir Thomas West, 8th Baron De La Warr. His supposed marriage to Elizabeth West, however, may be an error made by Dugdale, repeated by later writers. By Elizabeth West he supposedly had the following children: **Sir Charles Somerset **Sir George Somerset ** Lady Mary Somerset of Worcester, wife successively of

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton (1508/1509 – 14 December 1562), was an English baron and military commander serving in France in the 1540s and 1550s, and in the Scottish Wars of the 1540s. Early life Grey was the thirteenth Baron ...

and of Robert Carre. *Thirdly to Eleanor Sutton, daughter of Edward Sutton, 2nd Lord Dudley.Burke, 207

Death and burial

Somerset died on 15 March 1526 and was buried with his first wife at

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

Coat of Arms

GarterPlateCharlesSomerset1stEarlOfWorcester1499.png,

Garter stall plate Garter stall plates are small enamelled brass plates located in St George's Chapel displaying the names and arms of the Knights of the Garter. Each knight is allotted a stall in St George's Chapel and the stall plate is affixed to his personal st ...

of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, show the coat of arms of Beaufort with

baton sinister The baton sinister (alternatively baston) is a charge used in heraldry. Heraldic charge It is a diminutive of the bend sinister and constitutes a narrow strip that runs from the upper right to the lower left of a coat of arms. Sinister (meani ...

impaling ''Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant argent'' (Herbert, for his first wife, shown here apparently with field inverted as ''Per pale gules and azure'') Coat of arms of Sir Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, KG.png, Arms of Sir Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, KG, showing the arms of Beaufort with

, with escutcheon of pretence of

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

, circumscribed by the

Garter A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

Family tree

Notes

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Worcester, Charles Somerset, 1st Earl Of 1460s births 1526 deaths Ambassadors of England to France Knights of the Garter *01 *03 15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility Herbert, 1st Baron, Charles Somerset C