Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (26 January 1436[citation needed] – 15 May 1464) was an important Lancastrian military commander during the English Wars of the Roses.

The truce, however, was hollow; Margaret continued to intrigue against York, and in October 1458 proposed that Somerset should be appointed captain of Calais in place of Warwick.

He crossed the Channel and was refused admittance to Calais by Warwick's adherents, but made himself master of the outlying fortress of Guisnes (appointing Andrew Trollope its bailiff).

Somerset fought several skirmishes with the Yorkists between Calais and Guisnes until on 23 April 1460 he suffered a decisive reverse at the Battle of Newnham Bridge (called Pont de Neullay by the French).

Charles died before their arrival, but Louis XI summoned Somerset to Tours and sent him back in March 1462 laden with promises of support, but with very little else.

[10] In 1485, some twenty-one years after his death, Somerset, along with Jasper Tudor, had all acts of attainder against him annulled in the first Parliament of Henry VII, "for their true and faithfull Allegeaunces and Services doune to the said blessed King Herrie [VI].

"[11] Somerset was described by Chastellain as "un très grand seigneur et un des plus beaulx josnes chevaliers qui fust au royaume anglais" ("A very great lord and one of the most handsome knights in the English kingdom").