Marquis or marques is the second order in the peerage of England, ranking below a duke and above an earl. The title was originally applied to certain officers appointed to defend the marches or borders of Wales. The first marques proper was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was created Marques of Dublin by Richard II in 1386. In 1397 Richard made John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, Marques of Dorset. The oldest existing marquisate is that of Winchester, dating from Edward VI in 1551. The eldest son of a marquis is generally by courtesy an earl, and the younger sons and the daughters are styled lords and ladies. His wife is a marchioness. Marquis is often the courtesy title of the eldest son of a duke during his father's lifetime. Research Marquis
In 1547 Edward Seymour was made Duke Of Somerset but on his attainder in 1552, the title passed into abeyance, only to be restored in the person of his grandson, William Seymour, the husband of Lady Arabella Stuart, in 1660. He was succeeded by his grandson, William on whose death without heirs in 1671 it fell to John Seymour, the 2nd duke's youngest son. He too died without issue, and the dukedom devolved upon his cousin Francis who became the 5th duke in 1675. His brother, Charles, an important figure at the court of Anne and George I, became the 6th duke in 1678. Research Duke Of Somerset
Edmund Beaufort (2nd duke of Somerset) was an English statesman and soldier. A son of John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, and the younger brother of the duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort won military successes in France and succeeded his brother as earl of Somerset in 1444, and as a Beaufort and a favourite of the king was made lieutenant of France in 1447, with the disastrous result that Henry VI lost the whole of Normandy in 1450. Edmund Beaufort returned to England and was appointed high constable in 1452. Popular discontent spread against the king and his supporters and when the Duke of York became protector during the king's temporary incapacity, Edmund Beaufort was sent to the Tower of London. After his release in 1455 the duke of York raised an army against Edmund Beaufort and fought the first battle of the Wars of the Roses at St Albans on May the 23rd 1455, at which Edmund Beaufort was killed. Research Edmund Beaufort
Tudor was the surname of an English dynasty founded by a Welsh nobleman who in 1423 had married Catherine, widow of Henry V. He was the father of Edmund, Earl of Richmond, and Jasper, Earl of Pembroke. Supporting the house of Lancaster he was captured at Mortimer's Cross and beheaded in 1461. Edmund married Margaret, heiress of John Beaufort, and their son, Henry VII, who reigned from 1485 to 1509, founded his claims to the throne on his descent from John of Gaunt. The other Tudor sovereigns were Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth I. Research Tudor
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