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Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick
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Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (23 January 1382 – 30 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.
Welsh Rebellion
Soon after reaching his majority and taking responsibility for the Earldom in 1403, he had to defend against a Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr.
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Encyclopedia
Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (23 January 1382 – 30 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.
Birth
He was born at Salwarpe in Worcestershire, the son of Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, and Margaret, daughter of the 3rd Lord Ferrers of Groby.
Welsh Rebellion
Soon after reaching his majority and taking responsibility for the Earldom in 1403, he had to defend against a Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr. In the summer of 1404 he rode into what is today Monmouthshire at the head of a force and engaged Welsh forces at the Battle of Mynydd Cwmdu, near Tretower Castle a few miles northwest of Crickhowell – nearly capturing Owain Glyndwr himself and capturing Owain's banner, forcing the Welsh to flee down the valley of the River Usk where the Welsh regrouped and turned the tables on the pursuing English force, attempting an ambush and chasing them in turn to the town walls of Monmouth after a skirmish at Craig-y-Dorth, a conical hill near Mitchel Troy.
Chivalry and Pilgrimage
He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1403 (or possibly later, in any case by 1416).
Warwick acquired quite a reputation for chivalry, and when in 1408 he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he was challenged many times to fight in the sporting combat which was then popular. On the return trip he went through Russia and Eastern Europe, not returning to England until 1410.
Soldier of the King
Once back he was asked to serve in the retinue of the Prince of Wales, and in 1413 was Lord High Steward at the Prince's coronation as Henry V. The next year he helped put down the Lollard uprising, and then went to Normandy. He spent much of the next decade fighting the French in the Hundred Years' War. In 1419 he was created Count of Aumale, part of the King's policy of giving out Norman titles to his nobles.
Responsibilities
Henry V's will gave Warwick the responsibility for the education of the infant Henry VI. This duty required him to travel back and forth between England and Normandy many times. In 1437 the Royal Council deemed his duty complete, and he was appointed lieutenant of France and Normandy. He remained in France for the remaining two years of his life.
Marriages
Warwick first married Elizabeth de Berkeley, daughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Lord Berkeley and the Baroness Margaret de Lisle, by whom he had 3 daughters:
Warwick then married Isabel le Despenser, daughter of Thomas le Despenser and Constance of York. With Isabel, who was also the widow of his cousin Richard Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester, his children were:
- Henry, who succeeded his father as Earl of Warwick, and later became Duke of Warwick;
- Anne Beauchamp, who was theoretically Countess of Warwick in her own right after the death of her infant niece and namesake, and who married Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.
Death and Burial
Richard de Beauchamp's will was made at Caversham Castle in Oxfordshire (now Berkshire), one of his favoured residences, in 1437. Most of his property was entailed, but with a portion of the rest the will established a substantial trust. After his debts were paid the trust endowed the Collegiate Church of St Mary in Warwick, and called for the construction of a new chapel there. It also enlarged the endowment of the chantries at Elmley Castle and Guy's Cliffe, and gave a gift to Tewkesbury Abbey.
Beauchamp died in Rouen two years later, on 30 April 1439. After the completion of the chapel his body was translated there (in 1475), where his magnificent gilt-bronze monumental effigy may still be seen.
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