Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (March 21, 1424/1425 – June 11, 1445) was an English nobleman.

He was the son of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Isabel le Despenser. In 1434, Henry married Cecille Neville, the eldest daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu, Countess of Salisbury.

He became 14th Earl of Warwick on his father's death in 1439. His boyhood friendship with King Henry VI and his father's military services placed him high in the King's favour, and he was loaded with titles. In 1444, he was made premier Earl of the realm, and on April 14, 1445, was created Duke of Warwick, with precedence behind only the Duke of Norfolk. This precedence was disputed by the Duke of Buckingham, whom it displaced. However, the issue was rendered moot by his death in June, at which time the Dukedom expired for lack of heirs-male. He is said to have been crowned King of the Isle of Wight in 1444^[1] by Henry VI, to place his playmate on a more equal standing with him.

On his death, the earldom was inherited by his two-year old daughter, Anne (February 4, 1443/4–January 3, 1448/9), suo jure Countess of Warwick. She, however, died three years later, and there was some question regarding who, if any, of her father's sisters (or their heirs) should succeed^[2]. In the end, his full sister Anne (who was married to Richard Neville, eldest son of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury) was declared the heir, due to the English common law principle that "possession by the brother makes the sister the heir", which denies relatives of the half-blood from inheriting when full-blood relatives are available to inherit. The three half-sisters from their father's first marriage contested this decision, but to no avail.