Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset

Edmund Beaufort
Duke of Somerset
Execution of the Duke of Somerset at Tewkesbury in 1471
Noble family	Beaufort
Father	Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
Mother	Eleanor Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset
Born	1438 (?) 6 May 1471 (aged 32–33)
Died	Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Buried	Tewkesbury Abbey

Edmund Beaufort (1438? – 6 May 1471), styled 4th Duke of Somerset by Lancastrians, was an English nobleman, and a military commander during the Wars of the Roses, in which he supported King Henry VI.

Edmund Beaufort, born about 1438, was the son of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and Eleanor, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and widow of Thomas, fourteenth baron Roos of Hamlake.

After the defeat of the Lancastrians in 1461, Edmund was brought up in France with his younger brother John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset, and on the execution of his elder brother Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Edmund is said to have succeeded as 4th Duke by Lancastrians in February 1471, but his brother's attainder was never reversed, and his titles remained forfeit. In a proclamation dated 27 April 1471 Edmund is spoken of as "Edmund Beaufort, calling himself duke of Somerset".

On 4 May 1471 Beaufort returned from France when King Edward IV was driven from the throne after the Earl of Warwick's defection and alliance with Queen Margaret and the restoration of King Henry VI, who was the first monarch ousted by the family feud, and whom due to occasional insanity she assisted in his duties, Somerset was unenthusiastic over the reconciliation and made little effort to co-operate. In fact his failure to hold London against Edward was a decisive moment, leading to the Battle of Barnet (April 1471) and the death of Warwick. Some sources say he was present at Barnet, but this is an error.