If you're looking for a Tudor origin story with scandal, political maneuvering, and some truly

complicated family trees, you can't do much better than the Beauforts. Born from a royal affair

and legitimized by both Pope and King, but with an asterisk, the Beauforts were royal, but quite. Their bloodline connected them directly to Edward

III, but they weren't always treated like royalty. They weren't princes, but they were never just

ordinary nobles either. They were something in between, close enough to power to shape it, but far enough

removed to constantly have to prove their place.

This family would produce cardinals and generals, rebels, and queen consorts.

They'd marry into the Nevels, battle the House of York, and eventually, through one very

determined mother, put a tutor on the throne.

In this episode, we're tracing the Beauforts from their beginnings in scandal with John of Gaunt and Catherine Swinford,

through the chaos of the Wars of the Roses, and right up to their curious survival as semi-royal dukes who still exist today.

They've been erased, rewritten, and maligned, but they were never irrelevant.

So let's get into the story of the Beauforts, the family that refused to stay in the margins of history,

no matter how many times someone tried to scribble them out.

Hey friend, welcome to the Renaissance English History podcast.

I am your host, Heather.

I am, as always, delighted that you are here with me

on the original Tudor History podcast telling stories of Tudor England since 2009.

Today we are, of course, talking about the Beaufort family, the fascinating story, and I'm excited to dig into it with you. Let's get started.

The Beauforts began as bastards. There's really no way around it. Their story starts not with a marriage, but with

an affair, one that scandalized the English court for over a decade. John of Gaunt, Duke of

Lancaster, was the third surviving son of King Edward III, and arguably the most powerful man

...