Richard Beauchamp
13thEarl of Warwick
Drawing of Richard holdingHenry VI from theRous Roll,c. 1483
Tenure	8 April 1401 – 30 April 1439
Other titles	Count of Aumale
Born	25 or 28 January 1382[1] Salwarpe Court,Worcestershire, England
Died	30 April 1439 (aged 57) Rouen,Normandy, France
Nationality	English
Residence	Warwick Castle
Spouses	Elizabeth de Berkeley Isabel le Despenser
Issue	With Elizabeth de Berkeley Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury Eleanor, Duchess of Somerset Elizabeth, Baroness Latimer With Isabel le Despenser Henry, Duke of Warwick Anne, 16th Countess of Warwick
Parents	Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick Margeret Ferrers

Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of WarwickKG (25 or 28 January 1382 – 30 April 1439) was an Englishmedieval nobleman and military commander.

Beauchamp was born atSalwarpe Court^[2] inSalwarpe, Worcestershire, the son ofThomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick and Margaret Ferrers, a daughter ofWilliam Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby.^[1] His godfather was KingRichard II of England.^[2]

He was knighted at the coronation ofKing Henry IV, and succeeded asEarl of Warwick in 1401.^[3]

Soon after reaching his majority and taking responsibility for the Earldom, he saw military action inWales, defending against aWelsh rebellion led byOwain Glyndŵr. On 22 July 1403, the day after theBattle of Shrewsbury, he was made aKnight of the Garter.

In the summer of 1404, he rode into what is todayMonmouthshire at the head of an English force. Warwick engaged Welsh forces at the Battle of Mynydd Cwmdu, nearTretower Castle a few miles northwest ofCrickhowell, nearly capturing Owain Glyndwr himself, taking Owain's banner, and forcing the Welsh to flee. The Welsh were chased down the valley of theRiver Usk where they regrouped and turned the tables on the pursuing English force, attempting an ambush. They chased the English in turn to the town walls ofMonmouth after a skirmish atCraig-y-Dorth, a conical hill near Mitchel Troy.^[4]

Warwick acquired quite a reputation for chivalry, when in 1408 he went onpilgrimage to theHoly Land, and was challenged many times to fight in the sporting combat which was then popular. On the return trip, he went through Russia and Eastern Europe; in 1410 he tried to joinTeutonic Order after thebattle of Grunwald,^[5] not returning to England until later the same year.^[6]

In 1410, he was appointed a member of theroyal council, and two years later he was fighting in command atCalais. Up to this time, Warwick's career had been that of the typicalknight-errant, but in 1413 he was Lord High Steward at the Prince's coronation asHenry V of England, and became a trusted counsellor to the king.^[6] The following year he helped put down theLollard uprising, and then went toNormandy asCaptain of Calais, and represented England at the coronation ofSigismund as King of Germany^[6] and theCouncil of Constance.^[7]

Warwick spent much of the next decade fighting the French in theHundred Years' War. He took a prominent part in the campaigns of 1417–18. Then he joined the king beforeRouen, and in October 1418 had charge of the negotiations with thedauphin Louis and withthe duke of Burgundy. Next year he was again the chief English spokesman in the conference atMeulan, and afterwards was Henry's representative in arranging theTreaty of Troyes. He held high command at sieges of French towns between 1420 and 1422.^[6]

In 1419, he was createdCount of Aumale, as part of the King's policy of giving outNorman titles to his nobles. He was appointedMaster of the Horse.

Henry V's will gave Warwick the responsibility for the education of the infantHenry VI of England. This duty required him to travel back and forth between England and Normandy many times, and during these travels, he acted as superintendent of thetrial of Joan of Arc.^[6]

In 1437, when the king'sminority ended, the Royal Council deemed his duty complete. Despite his age (then 55), he loyally accepted an appointment as lieutenant of France and Normandy. Arriving in Normandy on 8 November, he ruled with vigour^[6] and remained in France for the remaining two years of his life.

Warwick first marriedElizabeth de Berkeley (c. 1386 – 28 December 1422), before 5 October 1397,^[8] the daughter ofThomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley and Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness de Lisle. Together they had 3 daughters:

• Lady Margaret de Beauchamp (1404–1467), who marriedJohn Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and whose great-great-grandson,John Dudley, was createdEarl of Warwick and subsequently,Duke of Northumberland.
• Lady Eleanor de Beauchamp (1408–1467), who first marriedThomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, and then marriedEdmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset.
• Lady Elizabeth de Beauchamp (1417–1480), who first marriedGeorge Neville, 1st Baron Latimer, and then married Thomas VI Wake of Blisworth (1435–1476).

Warwick then marriedLady Isabel le Despenser (26 July 1400 – 1439),^[8] the daughter ofThomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester andConstance of York. With Isabel, who was also the widow of his first cousin,Richard de Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester, his children were:

• Henry de Beauchamp (1425–1446), who succeeded his father as Earl of Warwick, and later became Duke of Warwick.
• Lady Anne de Beauchamp (1426–1492), who succeeded as the 16th Countess of Warwick in her own right, after the death ofher niece.^[9] She marriedRichard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, famously known as the "Kingmaker".

Richard de Beauchamp's will was made atCaversham Castle in Oxfordshire (now inBerkshire), one of his favoured residences, in 1437. Most of his property was entailed, but with a portion of the rest, the will established a substantial trust. After his debts were paid, the trust endowed theCollegiate Church of St Mary inWarwick, and called for the construction of a new chapel there. It also enlarged the endowment of thechantries atElmley Castle andGuy's Cliffe, and gave a gift toTewkesbury Abbey.^[11]Beauchamp died inRouen, Normandy, two years later, on 30 April 1439.^[12] After the completion of the chapel, his body was in 1475 transferred there,^[11] where his magnificentgilt-bronzemonumental effigy may still be seen.

Beauchamp's life was chronicled in an important 15th-century manuscript,The Pageants of the Birth, Life and Death of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, likely commissioned by his daughter,Anne Beauchamp, wife toRichard Neville, the famed "Kingmaker".^[13]

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Gairdner, J. (1885)."Beauchamp, Richard de, Earl of Warwick (1382–1439)" . InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Hicks, Michael (1981). "The Beauchamp Trust, 1439–87".Historical Research.54 (130):135–149.doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.1981.tb01223.x. reprinted inRichard III and His Rivals.

• Sir Richard de Beauchamp Knight, 13th Earl of Warwick at Ancestral Trails Genealogy.

• 1382 births
• 1439 deaths
• 14th-century English nobility
• 15th-century English nobility
• Earls of Warwick (1088 creation)
• Knights of the Garter
• People from Caversham, Reading
• People from Wychavon (district)
• Burials at Beauchamp Chapel, Collegiate Church of St Mary (Warwick)
• Beauchamp family
• Lords of Glamorgan
• Medieval English knights

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