Katharine Szvynford 47 



champ, till he was 52; nor Hotspur, till he was 28-^) ; and that 

 he was at Nicopolis at the age of 21 ? 



(4) In 1396 John was made a Knight of the Garter--; on 

 Feb. 9, 1397, he, with his brothers and sister, was legitimated 

 by act of Parliament-^ ; and the next day he was created Earl of 

 Somerset, reason for this being found in the exploits he had 

 performed in foreign countries, by which he had shed lustre on 

 the English name.-* Had he probably brought great honor to 

 the King and kingdom by his various campaigns and enterprises 

 in many realms and lands before he was fully 24? 



(5) On May 9, 1388, John Beaufort was made Admiral of 

 both the Northern and the Western Fleet, ^'^ whereas, for the 

 most part, each fleet had its own admiral. Of thirteen admirals 

 belonging to that century whose ages can be exactly or approxi- 

 mately ascertained,-" the average was over 40, the range being 

 from 31 to 52. If vv'e assume the lowest of these ages for 

 Beaufort, he would have been born in 1367; but such an assump- 

 tion must be viewed in the light of other facts, which will be 

 adduced below. 



"^ For these see Hist. Background, pp. 203, 205, 207. 



" Beltz, Memorials i. cliv. 



-^ Rymer, Rot. Pari 3. 343. 



'* Rot. Pari. 3. 343: 'Le grant honour q'il ad fait par sa persone en 

 diverses journees et travaulx en pluseurs roialmes et terres d'outre meer, 

 a grant honour du roy et de [du?] roialme.' On this occasion the new 

 Earl was led to King Richard by the Earl of Huntingdon, half-brother of 

 the King, and son-in-law to John of Gaunt ; and by the Earl Marshal, 

 Mowbray, 'banished Norfolk' that was to be. After being girt with the 

 sword by the King, he was seated between the Earl Alarshal and the 

 Earl of Warwick. Among the witnesses were his father and his half- 

 brother, who in a little more than two years was to be Henry IV. 



""On Feb. 2, of the Irish Fleet (Nicolas, Hist. Royal Navy 2. 338, 518, 

 532). Beaufort was appointed under the title Marquis of Dorset, which 

 he bore from Sept. 29, 1397, to Oct. 6, 1399 (Cokayne, Complete Peerage 

 3. 146). He was also Warden of the Cinque Ports (Cokayne 7. 170; 

 Beltz, p. 355). 



"*' These are : Thomas Ughtred, 45 ; Robert Uflord, 39 ; William 

 Alontacute, 36; Robert Alorley, 43; Richard Fitzalan II, 22', William 

 Bohun, 41; Henry of Lancaster, 52; Thomas Percy, 34 {37^)', Henry 

 Percy, 41 ; John Holland, 2>7 ', Michael de la Pole. 46; William Montacute, 

 48; Richard Fitzalan III, 31. The general result is only confirmed by 

 Bartholomew Burghersh, who, when he was made Admiral of the Western 



