Disorder and Lawlessness in Fifteenth Century England: A Cornish Case Study

David Yorath

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter in a book

Abstract

John Beaumont of Tregonan (1451–ca. 1487), bastard and rebel, played a minor but instructive role in the histories of Devon and Cornwall in the later medieval period. Like his father, Henry Bodrugan of Gorran (ca. 1426–ca. 1503), he was a prominent landowner in these two counties, and, despite being affected by a writ of bastardry in 1468, served frequently on commissions during Edward IV’s reign and represented Cornwall at the Parliament of 1484. He was unswervingly loyal to his father and the Yorkist cause, and this loyalty, ultimately, proved his undoing, for, although he did not join Richard III and his friends at Bosworth on August 22nd, 1485, he subsequently shared in their fate. What follows is an attempt, using recently catalogued manuscripts, to chronicle Beaumont’s turbulent career and fill a gap in our understanding of late medieval and early Tudor society in the far southwest.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStudies in medieval and renaissance history
Pages67-86
Volume12
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2016

Publication series

NameStudies in Medieval and Renaissance History

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