Edmund Beaufort (died 1471) his elder brother Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Edmund is said to have succeeded as 4th Duke by Lancastrians in February 1471, but his brother's attainder was never reversed, and his titles remained forfeit. In a proclamation dated 27 April 1471 Edmund is spoken of as "Edmund Beaufort, calling himself duke of Somerset". In October 1470 Beaufort returned from France when King Edward IV was driven from the throne after the Earl of Warwick's defection and alliance with Queen Margaret and the restoration of King Henry VI, who was the first monarch ousted by the family feud, and whom
French history in the English-speaking theatre 1471, Philip II of France, king from 1180 to 1223, Charles VI of France, king from 1380 to 1422, and Charles VII of France, king from 1422 to 1461. In the first scene of "King John", John of England receives a message from Philip II of France, demanding that he abdicate his throne to his nephew, Arthur I of Brittany, believed to be the rightful heir. When John refuses, war is declared. But to obtain a stronger claim to his throne and to appease the French (act 2, scene 1), John agrees to a marriage contract between Blanche of Castile,