This book is an attempt to do neither more nor less than justice to an Englishman who has not yet received the recognition which is his due. A generation ago Dr. Stubbs in his Constitutional History of England reversed the unfavourable verdict upon the character of Henry Beaufort to which the genius of Shakespeare has given an undeserved vitality; and the final estimate of the tribunal of history will probably have but few deductions to make from the tribute paid to Beaufort in that masterly review of the evolution of English govern ment. The plan of that work, however, left room only for a brief and incidental treatment of Beaufort, and that too confined to his statesmanship. The Cardinal of England deserves a biography of his own. His public life of nearly half a century was one of the main threads of continuity between three Lancastrian reigns. His activity was an important factor in the course of events at more than one critical stage in the history of England, and perhaps of Europe.