Editing Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (section)

==Under Henry V==
On the accession of [[Henry V of England|Henry V]], Beaufort was appointed [[Lieutenant of Aquitaine]] in 1413 and then captain of [[Harfleur]] in 1415. He spent the next few years in [[Normandy]], serving as lieutenant of that duchy from 1416. He was created [[Duke of Exeter]] for life that same year.

Beaufort returned to England in 1417 while the king was still in Normandy in order to deal with problems in Scotland. In 1418, he went back to Normandy with a large force, taking part in the sieges of [[Évreux]], [[Ivry-la-Bataille|Ivry]], and [[Rouen]]. After the fall of Rouen in 1419, he was made captain of the city and conquered several more of the smaller Norman cities. Finally, in 1419, he took the great fortress of [[Château Gaillard]], midway between [[Rouen]] and [[Paris]], after a six-month siege.

During this time, Henry V began a policy of creating Norman titles for his aristocrats, with Beaufort being made Count of Harcourt in 1418.

In 1420, Beaufort helped negotiate the [[treaty of Troyes]]. The next year he was captured at the [[Battle of Baugé]], where his nephew, [[Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence]], was killed.

Beaufort was one of the executors of Henry V's will, and so returned to England in 1422 after the latter's death. He served on the governing council for the infant King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], though it is likely he spent some time in France as well.

The character of Exeter in Shakespeare's play ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' is based on Beaufort, although Beaufort was not actually created duke of Exeter until after the [[Battle of Agincourt]]; in 1415 he was still earl of Dorset. He also appears in ''[[Henry VI (play)|Henry VI, Part 1]]''.

He is reported to have died on 31 December 1426,<ref>{{cite book |last=Cokayne |date=1926 |first=G. |title=[[The Complete Peerage]] |volume=5 |edition=2nd |editor=V. Gibbs |editor2=H.A. Doubleday |publisher=St. Catherine Press |place=London |page=[https://archive.org/stream/CokayneG.E.TheCompletePeerageSecondEditionVolume5EAGO/Cokayne%2C%20G.%20E.%20-%20The%20Complete%20Peerage%2C%20Second%20Edition%2C%20Volume%205%20%28EA-GO%29#page/n107/mode/2up 204] |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) }}</ref>{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=542}} although 27 December 1426 or 1 January 1427<ref name=weir/><ref>{{cite DNB |last=Round |first=J. |display=Beaufort, Sir Thomas (d. 1427), Duke of Exeter |volume=4 |wstitle=Beaufort, Thomas |author-link=J. Horace Round }}</ref> have been suggested as alternative dates. All of his titles ([[Duke of Exeter]], [[Earl of Dorset]] and [[Lords and Counts of Harcourt|Count of Harcourt]]) became extinct. The Duchy of Exeter was restored to the [[Holland family]]; the Earldom of Dorset was recreated for [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset|Edmund, Count of Mortain]], his nephew.