The House of Beaufort is an English noble family which originated in the fourteenth century as the legitimated issue of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, by Katherine Swynford. Gaunt and Swynford
The surviving earthworks of Beaufort Castle in Montmorency Beaufort
Heraldic achievement forming the Garter stall plate of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (d.1444), KG, St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The earliest garter plate with supporters. It includes the badge of an ostrich feather, here shown as a pair, blazoned: feather argent pen componée argent and azure
Main gate of St John's College, Cambridge, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, showing many symbols of the Beaufort family, including the colours white and blue componée, the Beaufort Yale, the Forget-me-Not flower, the Beaufort Portcullis and the Marguerite or daisy flower, a personal emblem of Lady Margaret Beaufort
Katherine, Duchess of Lancaster was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of King Edward III. From her earlier marriage, she is known as Katherine Swynford.
Katherine Swynford, from her tomb
Katherine's tomb, the larger tomb, next to the tomb of her daughter, Joan Beaufort. Drawing by William Dugdale.
Restored in the 17th century, the tomb of Katherine Swynford and her daughter Joan Beaufort in one of the choirs of Lincoln Cathedral.
Geoffrey Chaucer reciting Troylus and Criseyde: early 15th-century manuscript of the work. Currently at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.