Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
Born: 1374 at Beaufort Castle, Anjou (France)
Died: 11th April 1447 at Wolvesey Palace, Winchester (England)

Henry Beaufort, was made Cardinal in 1426; he was the Chancellor of England, and great-uncle of the King.

This illegitimate son of John of Gaunt was Grand Chancellor of Henry V and Henry VI, banker to the State, and a candidate for the Papacy. He was the implacable enemy of the Duke of Gloucester, was a warrior and later a peacemaker, and intrigued with all thecourts of Europe.

He was ambitious and a miser.
As Martin V's legate to Germany he preached for a crusade against the Hussites in Bohemia. Alarmed at his increasing power, Gloucester persuaded him to go to France in April, 1430.

He crowned Henry VI at Paris on December 17, 1431, and was employed in all the affairs of that year.
He returned to England in May, 1432, Shakespeare's tragedy of Henry VI gives us a perfect portrait of this strange prelate. He completed the building of Winchester cathedral. where he is buried.