The Birth of Henry Tudor | History Today The Birth of Henry Tudor The man who founded the Tudor dynasty was born on January 28th, 1457. Henry Tudor The future Henry VII was born with a claim to the English crown which was extremely slight and intriguingly complicated. He was to spend his youth in the nightmare politics of the Wars of the Roses but he was a survivor. So was his mother, the thirteen-year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort, great-granddaughter on the wrong side of the blanket of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by Katherine Swynford. That the Beauforts were subsequently legitimized still left a question mark over their political position, but Lady Margaret was a rich enough heiress to make possession of her a profitable investment. Small, slight, shrewd and determined, Margaret was twelve when she was married to Edmund Tudor, son (ostensibly at least) of Owen Tudor, which brought a link with the French royal house into the equation. The Tudors were Anglesey landowners and Owen Tudor became a courtier of Henry V and met Henry Vs young wife, Catherine of Valois, the daughter of Charles VI of France.

There were stories that he caught the Queen's eye when she saw him swimming, or that he tripped and fell into her lap when dancing. When Henry V died in 1422, Queen Catherine was left a widow at twenty and, according to one chronicler, 'was unable fully to curb her carnal passions'. She apparently had a love affair with Edmund Beaufort, future duke of Somerset, but it was Owen Tudor she married, on the quiet, the first widowed queen of England to remarry for 300 years. Her sons Edmund and Jasper Tudor stood high in the favour of their half-brother Henry VI, who created them earls of Richmond and Pembroke. Gossip made Edmund Tudor the son of Queen Catherine's affair with Edmund Beaufort, who was Lady Margaret's uncle. If so, Henry VII was not Welsh, and a Beaufort on both sides, but the gossip did not prevent Margaret Beaufort being married off to Edmund Tudor in 1455. Getting her with child despite her youth secured him a life interest in her substantial inherited estates, but he died the following year, when she was six months pregnant.

Perhaps damaged by giving birth so young, she would have no more children. Meanwhile she went for protection to Jasper Tudor and it was in his stronghold of Pembroke Castle that she gave birth to the baby Henry. The following year she married Henry Stafford, a son of the Duke of Buckingham, to gain his protection and avoid having another husband forced on her. In 1462, when the young Henry Tudor was five years old, he was taken away from her and his wardship was given to William, Lord Herbert. Young Henry had never known a father and had now been parted from his mother as well. The Herberts seem to have treated him kindly and he was given a gentleman's education, but Lord Herbert was executed in 1469. Henry stayed on with Lady Herbert and in 1470, when he was thirteen, he had an audience with Henry VI. Later Tudor propaganda had it that the pious, half-mad king prophesied that the boy would one day rule England. Meanwhile, Henry returned to his Uncle Jasper and they were soon standing siege by a Yorkist army in Pembroke Castle.

They managed to get away by ship to Brittany in 1471 and Duke François gave them shelter and protected Henry from England's Yorkist king, Edward IV, who wanted him in his own hands. Louis XI of France also tried to get Henry into his clutches. It was a desperately insecure situation and it is little wonder that the young Tudor came to manhood cautious, prudent and deeply reserved. Eventually, the death of Edward IV in 1483, the succession of Richard III, the disappearance of the princes in the Tower and the deaths of other Lancastrian claimants left Henry Tudor, however improbably, as a credible claimant to England's throne. He was encouraged by his mother, who was plotting against Richard III. Henry led an invasion from Brittany in 1485, defeated Richard III at Bosworth and became king of England at the age of twenty-eight. His mother, who burst into floods of tears at his coronation, died a few weeks after him, in 1509. Related articles Early Years Lady Margaret by E.M.G. Routh (pub.

1924) EARLY YEARS 1441-1450 IT has been said of Lady Margaret Beaufort: 'She was a gentlewoman, a scholar, and a saint, and after having been three times married, she took a vow of celibacy. What more could be expected of any woman ?' [l] The casual questioner who asks: 'Who was "Lady Margaret" ?' is usually told: 'She was the mother of Henry VII.' She herself would certainly have been satisfied to be so described, for she was devoted to her only son; Henry owed to her his crown, and she, having set him on the throne, said nothing about her own claim to it, but was content to be known for the rest of her life as 'My Lady, the King's Mother'. Her painstaking biographer, Mr. Cooper, wrote: 'She presents the brightest example of the strong devotional feeling and active charity of the age in which she lived, and . . .

she is entitled to the warmest gratitude of posterity for her generous patronage of the learned and her munificent provision for the advancement of science and literature.' At the Universities she is remembered chiefly by her endowment of the 'Lady Margaret' Professorships of Divinity, and for her Foundations of Christ's College and St. John's College Cambridge. The founders of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, chose her as the adopted patroness of the Hall because she was ever a friend to 'poor scholars' a pioneer in education, and 'as a mother to the students of both tJniversities'. Margaret Beaufort, the on]y daughter of John, Earl and afterwards first Duke of Somerset, was born, it seems, on the 31st May 1441, at Bletsoe in Bedfordshire. [2] Her father was descended from Edward III, being a grandson of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whose illegitimate children by Catherine Swynford were called 'Beaufort' from the duke's castle in France, in which they were born.

The Beauforts, after their parents' marriage, were legitimated by Act of Parliament in 1397 (Richard II) and became one of the richest and most powerful families in England. They considered themselves next in the Royal succession to the three Lancastrian Henries, notwithstanding the clause 'excepta dignitate regali' which was illegally inserted in the Patent of Legitimation by an unknown hand in the reign of Henry IV with the purpose of debarring them from succession to the throne. Margaret's great-uncle was Henry Beaufort, the great bishop and cardinal, who was a pillar of the House of Lancaster for more than forty years, and one of the chief rulers of England during the long minority of Henry VI. Her aunt, Jane Beaufort, was the heroine of a romantic marriage with King James I of Scotland, and the subject of The Kiugis Quair. Margaret's father, the Earl of Somerset, and his brother Edmund, like every one of note in their time, were engaged in the French wars; Somerset was taken prisoner at Bauge in 1421, and had been for more than fifteen years a prisoner of war when he at last obtained an exchange.

[3] After his return home he married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe, and widow of Sir Oliver St. John, a lady 'right noble as well in manners as in blood'. Before the birth of his daughter he went back to France with reinforce ments, and with his brother distinguished himself by the capture of Harfleur in 1440. A few statesmen now realized that the weak government of England's 'holy Henry' could not hold all the conquests of his warlike father. The powerful party of the Beauforts, which included the Earl of Suffolk, put forward the idea that peace might be made with France; the rivalry of this party with that of the Dukes of York and Gloucester was the seed from which grew the devastating feuds known as the 'Wars of the Roses'. At a Council meeting early in 1443 Cardinal Beaufort took the risk of a definite quarrel with York -- who was Commander-in-Chief of the forces in France -- by contriving to get his own nephew John (now created Duke of Somerset) appointed Captain-General of all France and Guienne.

The two Commanders were supposed to divide the field of operations between them, but York rightly considered the appointment a blow at his own power. Somerset accepted the command, but he had never quite recovered from the depressing effects of his long captivity; he started in bad health and spirits, saying gloomily that he 'would do the best he could for a year'. He confided in no one, and kept his plan of campaign a dead secret; he said that he would burn his shirt if he thought it knew his plans, and 'it remained a secret at the end of the campaign whether he himself had found out his own intentions'. His expedition was a failure, and he came home in the spring of 1444, a disappointed and discredited man, and in May he died; there was an uncertain rumour that, being accused of treason and forbidden to appear in the King's presence, he committed suicide. Only a few days later, his daughter Margaret, now three years old, was given in wardship to her father's friend, William de la Pole, Earl (and later, Duke) of Suffolk, with the right to dispose of her in marriage.

Henry VI wrote to the Chancellor: 'For asmoche as oure Cousin the Duc of Somerset is nowe late passed to Goddes mercy, the whiche hath a doughter and heir to succede after hym of ful tender age called Margarete, We, considering the notable services that oure Cousin therl of Suffolk hath doon unto us . . . have . . . graunted unto hym to have the warde and marriage of the said Margarete withouten enything therfore unto us or oure heires yelding.' [4] This was no empty privilege, for the custody of lands of minors was a very profitable business, and Margaret was already a considerable heiress, although some of her father's great estates did not come to her until after the death of her mother and her uncle. The Earl of Suffolk seems to have left his ward in the care of the Duchess of Somerset, and she was probably brought up in her mother's home in Bedfordshire, at any rate until the duchess married again. Her third husband was Lionel (or Leon), Lord Welles, a Lancastrian partisan, who was killed at the battle of Towton, in 1461.

The duchess brought up her daughter well and carefully, and gave her a good education. Like other girls of the period, she was taught to be a good house keeper, as she proved in later life, and a skilful needle woman; a carpet worked with the arms of the St. John family was shown at Bletsoe as her work, as late as the reign of James I. There was already a tradition of the 'higher education of women' among the Beauforts, for Margaret's great-aunts are believed to have been the first ladies in England who learned to write. She herself has been considered one of the best letter-writers of her time; she had a very good knowledge of French, and a 'lytell perceyvynge' of Latin; above all she was taught to be a good Christian and a devoted daughter of the Church. After the death of Margaret's father, the Beaufort party was led by her uncle Edmund (created Duke of Somerset in 1448) and by her guardian the Duke of Suffolk.

They supported the plan of the marriage of Henry VI with Margaret of Anjou, and proposed to sacrifice the King's claim to the Crown of France, in order to secure Normandy for England. Their policy was unpopular with the war-party, and when, after a series of disasters in the field, Somerset lost Normandy, he and Suffolk were suspected of having played into the hands of the French. The promise to surrender Maine, made by Suffolk when he was negotiating for the King's marriage, was fatal to his reputation; he was accused of treason, and in February 1450 he was formally indicted in the House of Commons. It was alleged that he had planned a French invasion of England, in order to depose Henry VI, and that he had schemed to make his own son John, king of England, by marrying him to Lady Margaret of Somerset 'presuming and pretending her to be next inheritable to the Crown, for lack of issue of the King'.

[5] There is no question that Suffolk tried to arrange a marriage between Margaret Beaufort and his son; she was an undoubted 'catch' for any one, and he probably had the match in mind as soon as he became her guardian, but there is no reason in this to suspect his loyalty to the King. The poor child was hardly nine years old when she received a proposal of marriage on behalf of little John de la Pole, who was more than a year younger than herself, but very early marriages were then quite common; many children in Royal and noble families were 'contracted' as soon as they could walk, and they were considered grown-up and fully marriageable by the time they were fourteen. It was only with the growth of a complex system of education that the 'school-room age' became gradually extended. On the other hand, there were cases in which wealthy widows seventy and eighty years old were obliged to marry again, for matrimony was very much a matter of business, and the only way to escape it was to obtain the protection of the Church by taking a vow of celibacy. Margaret was a precocious child, even for the time in which she lived.

Bishop Fisher, in later life her confessor and great friend, said: 'In her tender age she being endued with so great towardness of nature, and likelihood of inheritance, many sued to have had her to marriage. The Duke of Suthfolke, which was then a man of great experience, most diligently procured to have had her for his son and heir.' The chief rival in the field was Edmund Tudor, whose father was Owen Tudor, that 'goodly gentilman and beautyful person, garnished with many godly gifts both of nature and of grace', [6] who had won the heart of Catherine the Fair, widow of King Henry V. Edmund was the eldest of their sons, and his suit was favoured by his half-brother the King. Perhaps this was the reason why Margaret was allowed to express her own choice instead of being made to obey her guardian's orders. Of course no girl old enough to feel a spark of romance could have hesitated for long between the rival claimants.

Little John must have seemed to her a mere baby, whom she had probably patronized in the nursery in an elder-sisterly way, while Edmund was a soldierly young fellow of nineteen or twenty, closely related to the King himself, and son of a valiant mountain chieftain and a beautiful queen. Margaret took the matter seriously, being very anxious to do what was right; having the question greatly on her mind, she dreamed one night that Edmund was introduced to her by a bishop, so (being a well-brought-up child) she felt convinced that he must be the right man, and gave her decision in his favour. This is how Fisher told the tale sixty years later: 'She which as then was not fully nine years old, doubtful in her mind what she were best to do, asked counsel of an old gentlewoman whom she most loved and trusted, which did advise her to commend herself to Saint Nicolas, the patron and helper of all true maidens, and to beseech him to put in her mind what she were best to do. This counsel she followed and made her prayer so full often, but specially that night when she should the morrow after make answer of her mind determinately. A marvellous thing!

That same night, as I have heard her tell many a time, as she lay in prayer calling upon Saint Nicolas, whether sleeping or waking she could not assure, but about four of the clock in the morning one appeared unto her arrayed like a Bishop, and naming unto her Edmund bade take him unto her husband. And so by this mean did she incline her mind unto Edmund the King's brother and Earl of Richmond.' It is possible that, in spite of this intervention of Saint Nicolas, Suffolk might have had his way, but before he could do so his enemies achieved his down fall, though he denied all the charges brought against him. The gentle, incompetent King, anxious but power less to defend his unpopular minister, tried to save his life by banishing him from the country, but in crossing the Channel Suffolk was captured by an armed squadron, put into an open boat, and brutally beheaded with a rusty sword in sight of his own ship; his body was found on the sands of Dover with the head on a pole beside it.

The story of the tragedy was related in a contemporary letter, the writer of which was so moved with grief and horror that he added: 'I have soo wesshe this litel bille with sorw fulle terys, that onethes (uneasy) ye shalle reede it.' [7] This horrible deed remained unpunished, though suspicion of course fell on the partisans of York. There was no further question of Margaret's marriage with Suffolk's son; if the contract had indeed been made it was not considered valid. John de la Pole afterwards married Elizabeth, sister of Edward IV and Richard III; their sons, the eldest of whom was recognized as heir to the throne by Richard III, gave a good deal of trouble to Margaret's son when he became Henry VII. Margaret Beaufort: The Making of the Tudor Dynasty Margaret Beaufort: The Making of the Tudor Dynasty Mother and Supporter of Henry VII Margaret Beaufort Arms at St. John's College, Cambridge. Neil Holmes / Getty Images Also see: basic facts and a timeline about Margaret Tudor Margaret Beaufort's Childhood Margaret Beaufort was born in 1443, the same year Henry VI became king of England.

Her father, John Beaufort, was the second son of John Beaufort, the 1st Earl of Somerset, who was the later-legitimized son of John of Gaunt by his mistress, Katherine Swynford . He had been captured and held prisoner by the French for 13 years, and, though made a commander after his release, was not very good at the work. He married the heiress Margaret Beauchamp in 1439, then from 1440 until 1444 was involved in a series of military failures and blunders in which he was often at odds with the Duke of York. He managed to father his daughter, Margaret Beaufort, and reportedly had two illegitimate children as well, before his death in 1444, perhaps of suicide, as he was about to be charged with treason. He had tried to arrange matters so that his wife would have guardianship of their daughter, but King Henry VI gave her as a ward to William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, whose influence had displaced that of the Beauforts with John’s military failures.

continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge William de la Pole married his child ward to his son, about the same age, John de la Pole. The marriage – technically, a marriage contract which could be dissolved before the bride turned 12 – may have taken place as early as 1444. A formal ceremony seems to have taken place in February 1450, when the children were seven and eight years old, but because they were relatives, the Pope’s dispensation was also needed. This was obtained in August of 1450. However, Henry VI transferred Margaret’s guardianship to Edmund Tudor and Jasper Tudor, his two younger maternal half-brothers. Their mother, Catherine of Valois , had married Owen Tudor after her first husband, Henry V, died. Catherine was the daughter of Charles VI of France. Henry may have had in mind to marry young Margaret Beaufort into his family. Margaret later recounted having had a vision where St. Nicholas approved her marriage to Edmund Tudor instead of to John de la Pole. The marriage contract with John was dissolved in 1453.

Marriage to Edmund Tudor Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor were married in 1455, likely in May. She was just twelve, and he was 13 years older than she was. They went to live on Edmund’s estate in Wales. It was common practice to wait to consummate a marriage, even if contracted at such a young age, but Edmund didn’t respect that custom. Margaret conceived quickly after the marriage. Once she conceived, Edmund had more rights to her wealth should she die. Then, unexpectedly and suddenly, Edmund was taken ill with the plague, and died in November of 1456 while Margaret was about six months pregnant. She went to Pembroke Castle to avail herself of the protection of her former co-guardian, Jasper Tudor. Henry Tudor Born Margaret Beaufort gave birth on January 28, 1457, to a sickly and small infant she named Henry, probably named for his half-uncle Henry VI. The child would one day himself become king, as Henry VII – but that was far in the future and by no means thought likely at his birth.

Pregnancy and childbirth at such a young age was dangerous, thus the usual custom of delaying consummation of a marriage. Margaret never bore another child. Margaret dedicated herself and her efforts, from that day, first to the survival of her sickly infant, and later to his success in seeking the crown of England. Another Marriage As a young and wealthy widow, Margaret Beaufort’s fate was a quick remarriage – though it is probable that she played some part in the plans. A woman alone, or a single mother with a child, was expected to seek the protection of a husband. With Jasper, she traveled from Wales to arrange for that protection. She found it in a younger son of Humphrey Stafford, duke of Buckingham. Humphrey was a descendant of Edward III of England (through his son, Thomas of Woodstock). (His wife, Anne Neville, was also descended from Edward III, through his son John of Gaunt and his daughter, Joan Beaufort -- Margaret Beaufort’s great-aunt who was also the mother of Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III.) So they needed a papal dispensation to marry. Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford seem to have made a successful match.

The surviving record seems to show true affection shared between them. York Victory Though related to the York standard bearers in the wars of succession now called the Wars of the Roses, Margaret was also closely related to and aligned with the Lancastrian party. Henry VI was her brother-in-law through her marriage to Edmund Tutor. Her son might be considered to be an heir to Henry VI, after Henry’s own son Edward, Prince of Wales. When Edward VI, head of the York faction after the death of his father, defeated Henry VI’s supporters in battle, and took the crown from Henry, Margaret and her son became valuable pawns. Edward arranged for Margaret’s child, the young Henry Tudor, to become the ward of one of his key supporters, William Lord Herbert, who also became the new Earl of Pembroke, in February, 1462, paying Henry’s parents for the privilege. Henry was just five years old when he was separated from his mother to live with his new official guardian. Edward also married Henry Stafford’s heir, another Henry Stafford, to Catherine Woodville, sister of Edward’s consort Elizabeth Woodville , tying the families more closely together.

Margaret and Stafford accepted the arrangement, without protest, and were thus able to remain in touch with young Henry Tudor. They did not actively and publicly oppose the new king, and even hosted the king in 1468. In 1470, Stafford joined the king’s forces in putting down a rebellion that included several of Margaret’s relations (through her mother’s first marriage). Power Changes Hands When Henry VI was restored to power in 1470, Margaret was able to more freely visit with her son again. She had a personal appointment with the restored Henry VI, dining with king Henry along with young Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, making clear her alliance with Lancaster. When Edward IV returned to power the next year, this meant danger. Henry Stafford has been persuaded to join the Yorkist side in the fighting, helping to win the Battle of Barnet for the York faction. Henry VI’s son, Prince Edward, had died in the battle that gave victory to Edward IV, the Battle of Tewkesbury, and then Henry VI was murdered shortly after the battle.

This left young Henry Tudor, age 14 or 15, a logical heir to the Lancastrian claims, putting him in considerably danger. Margaret Beaufort advised her son Henry to flee to France in September of 1471. Jasper arranged for Henry Tudor to sail to France, but Henry’s ship was blown off course. He ended up taking refuge instead in Brittany. There, he remained for another 12 years before he and his mother would meet in person again. Henry Stafford died in October of 1471, probably of wounds from the battle at Barnet, which aggravated his poor health – he’d long suffered from a skin disease. Margaret lost a powerful protector – and a friend and affectionate partner – with his death. Margaret quickly took legal measures to ensure that her estates inherited from her father would belong to her son when he returned to England in the future, by putting them into a trust. Protecting Henry Tudor’s Interests Under Edward IV’s Rule With Henry in Brittany, Margaret moved to further protect him by marrying Thomas Stanley, whom Edward IV had appointed as his steward.

Stanley gained, thereby, a large income from Margaret’s estates; he also provided her with income from his own lands. Margaret seems to have become close to Elizabeth Woodville, Edward’s queen, and her daughters, at this time. In 1482, Margaret’s mother died. Edward IV agreed to confirm Henry Tudor’s title to the lands Margaret had placed in trust a decade earlier, and also to Henry’s rights to a share of income from his maternal grandmother’s estates – but only upon his return to England. Richard III In 1483, Edward suddenly died, and his brother seized the throne as Richard III, declaring Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville invalid and their children illegitimate. He imprisoned Edward’s two sons in the Tower of London. Some historians believe that Margaret may have been part of an unsuccessful plot to rescue the princes shortly after their imprisonment. Margaret seems to have made some overtures to Richard III, perhaps to marry Henry Tudor to a relative in the royal family. Possibly because of growing suspicions that Richard II had his nephews in the Tower murdered – they were never seen again after a few early sightings of them after their imprisonment – Margaret joined the faction rebelling against Richard.

Margaret was in communication with Elizabeth Woodville, and arranged for the marriage of Henry Tudor to the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV, Elizabeth of York. Woodville, who was treated badly by Richard III, including losing all her dower rights when her marriage was declared invalid, supported the plan to put Henry Tudor on the throne along with her daughter Elizabeth. Rebellion: 1483 Margaret Beaufort was quite busy recruiting for the rebellion. Among those she convinced to join was the Duke of Buckingham, her late husband’s nephew and heir (also named Henry Stafford) who had been an early supporter of Richard III’s kingship, and who had been with Richard when they seized custody of Edward IV’s son, Edward V. Buckingham began promoting the idea that Henry Tudor would become king and Elizabeth of York his queen. Henry Tudor arranged to return with military support to England in late 1483, and Buckingham organized to support the rebellion. Bad weather meant that Henry Tudor’s journey was delayed, and Richard’s army defeated Buckingham’s. Buckingham was captured and beheaded for treason on November 2. His widow married Jasper Tudor, Margaret Beaufort’s brother-in-law.

Despite failure of the rebellion, Henry Tudor vowed in December to take the crown from Richard and marry Elizabeth of York. With the failure of the rebellion, and the execution of her ally Buckingham, Margaret Beaufort’s marriage to Stanley saved her. Parliament at the behest of Richard III took control of her property from her and gave it to her husband, and also reversed all the arrangements and trusts that had protected her son’s inheritance. Margaret was placed in Stanley’s custody, without any servants. But Stanley enforced this edict lightly, and she was able to remain in communication with her son. Victory in 1485 Henry continued to organize – perhaps with Margaret’s quiet continued support, even in her supposed isolation. Finally, in 1485, Henry sailed again, landing in Wales. He immediately sent word to his mother upon his landing. Margaret’s husband, Lord Stanley, deserted Richard III’s side and joined with Henry Tudor, which helped swing the odds of the battle towards Henry. Henry Tudor’s forces defeated those of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, and Richard III was killed on the battlefield.

Henry declared himself king by right of battle; he did not rely on the rather thin claim of his Lancastrian heritage. Henry Tudor was crowned as Henry VII on October 30, 1485, and declared his reign retroactive to the day before the Battle of Bosworth – thus allowing him to charge with treason anyone who had fought with Richard III, and to seize their property and titles. More: Margaret Beaufort: Basic Facts and Timeline More women's history biographies, by name: Lady Margaret Beaufort | History Today Lady Margaret Beaufort Email Widowed at the age of thirteen, three months before the birth of her only child, the devout mother of Henry VII showed herself a master of political intrigue in pressing, once the moment was right, the imperfect title of her son to the throne of England. With a combination of piety and pragmatism she left a deep impression on her age. The foundation of the Tudor dynasty in 1485 reflected both the abilities and the good fortune of the new monarch, Henry VII.

Henry's success without doubt owed much to the remarkable determination of his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who had helped arrange his prospective match with Elizabeth of York, sent him money and organised part of the 1483 rebellion. During the new reign Margaret had considerable influence with the King. The personnel of their councils and households often overlapped and it was a measure of Henry's trust that he allowed her to retain servants on his behalf and delegated judicial cases to her. Mother and son maintained a close and affectionate relationship, glimpsed in the intimacy of their few surviving letters to each other. Yet what exactly was the role of Lady Margaret in the early Tudor period? The surviving portrait evidence stands as testament to her considerable religious and educational patronage. Her garb is usually conventual, black with a white coif, and she is presented kneeling at or holding a book of devotions. The mood is consonant with the reaffirmation of her vow of chastity made before John Fisher, and her daily spiritual observances movingly recorded in the 'mournynge remembraunce' which he preached at her month's mind in July 1509.

In her childhood Margaret, a wealthy heiress, was very much a pawn in the unstable political atmosphere of the Lancastrian court. A marriage was first arranged with John de la Pole, the son of the Earl of Suffolk. This child match seems actually to have taken place, but was later annulled to enable another marriage to occur, with the King's half-brother Edmund Tudor. This union produced Margaret's only child, Henry, who was born in January 1457. However Edmund's early death led to a new match with Sir Henry Stafford, a younger son of the Duke of Buckingham. From this period of emotional confusion Margaret was at last able to emerge with a deeply-felt and long-standing relationship. The evidence of the Stafford household books shows that the couple rarely left each other's company, touring their estates and attending parliament together. Stafford quickly came to terms with the new Yorkist dynasty and enjoyed close access to Edward IV, frequently hunting with him in Windsor park. On one occasion husband and wife took advantage of the proximity of the King to entertain him at their hunting lodge at Brookwood.

Margaret Beaufort's ties with the Yorkist court were strengthened by her third marriage, less than a year after the death of Stafford, to Thomas Stanley, steward of the King's household. The marriage settlement, drawn up in June 1472, was a careful arrangement of mutual benefit and it was with Stanley's assistance that Margaret was able to consolidate her landed estates. These Yorkist connections belie Bernard Andre's portrait of Margaret as a committed Lancastrian. Instead a fuller perspective emerges. Margaret was able to move easily through the world of political affairs, and during the brief period of Henry VI's restoration in 1470-71 invited such leading Lancastrians as Edmund, Duke of Somerset, to her palace at Woking. Yet the dominant characteristic was political astuteness rather than blindly partisan allegiance. She had welcomed Edward IV on his return from exile in April 1471 and played a leading part in the coronation of Richard III some twelve years later. But her sense of opportunism led to a remarkable role in the autumn rebellion of 1483, when she plotted to unite Yorkist and Lancastrian factions in a daring scheme to bring her son to the throne.

The gamble failed, and only the influence of Stanley saved her from imprisonment or even death. Instead she was still able to send money to Henry, now in exile in France, and after Bosworth was handsomely rewarded for the dangers and difficulties she had borne. Such resilience could only come from a fully developed personality, strong and forceful and aware of worldly values. Never ostentatious, Margaret nevertheless recognised the need for display and finery. She shared many of the Renaissance interests of her son, including an appreciation of well-wrought jewellery, gold and silverware, and servants were sent abroad for items of particular quality. Some pieces were intricately designed. One, a tiny gilt ship, was decorated with lions bearing the Beaufort portcullis and a little figure sprung to open the lid. Much of her magnificent collection of gold plate was for the adornment of her chapels, but some was for personal decoration, such as the fine collars, girdles and chains of gold. She owned a large range of tapestry and arras, not only on biblical themes but also mythological and martial, including one on the deeds of Hannibal.

Her gowns and dresses were suitably splendid, and her household accounts contain a number of references to hundreds of pounds spent on the purchase of furs, silk and cloth of gold. One counterpane, a beautiful piece of crimson satin embroidered with rose quarters, was worth a hundred pounds, and the total value of her goods was estimated at her death at nearly fifteen thousand pounds. Margaret was accustomed to fine residences, at Woking in the 1460s and Lathom in the 1470s, and from 1487 at Collyweston, a manor in Northamptonshire, which Margaret made into a palace. Here were a chapel, with a chamber furnished with desks for the choristers, an almshouse and garden, a library, a prison, and a council house built near the gate so that her councillors could hear the various complaints brought to her. She employed a clerk of works for the regular repair of her numerous houses, and it was he who oversaw the building of Christ's College Cambridge in the 1500s. Her domestic life saw a harmonising of spiritual and worldly values.

Fine singers were recruited for the chapel, but a lord of misrule was employed at Christmas to organise morris dancing. May kings, boy bishops, fools and entertainers regularly visited her palace at Collyweston. One charming reference in Margaret's accounts records a payment to children for singing to her by the wood-side. Henry Parker, Lord Morley, who served as Margaret's cup-bearer during his youth in the 1490s, described her dinner-table conversation as ' joyous', loving merry tales as well as talk of godly matters. The broader dimensions to Lady Margaret's character reflected her belief in good stewardship and the proper observance of degree and rank as symptomatic of God's hierarchy on earth. She compiled detailed ordinances about the clothes to be worn by different ranks at court on occasions of mourning, and strictly adhered to proper etiquette. Henry Parker recalls her support for her servant Ralph Bigod, who refused to hear any disparagement of Richard III because he had previously served in his household and could not accept insults to a former master.

Parker was to praise Margaret's relations with her own household, describing her as a diligent and careful mistress, knowing her servants' names, visiting them when sick, providing spiritual comfort to those in need. She understood largesse, making gifts to the poor but also to those of degree, such as the beautiful jewel worth a hundred pounds which she presented to her former ward and nephew, the Duke of Buckingham. This notion of temporal responsibility was evident in Margaret's scrupulous administration of her large landed estate. Several of her surviving letters indicate her grasp of detail and her willingness to pursue dishonest officials. She was prepared to enter into considerable litigation to recover old revenues or debts, yet also ready to drop a case after a few preliminary hearings if it did not justify a prolonged suit. Her concern for justice and familiarity with the law led to her and her council acting as arbitrator in a number of disputes. Margaret disliked needless faction, and Fisher describes vividly how, if dissension arose among her own servants, she 'did boulte it out'.

The firm tone of a letter to a party failing to attend arbitration shows her concern for a fair settlement: ...albeit the said agreement was made by your mind and consent, yet ye ne doe performe the same, to our merveile, if it be so. Wherefore we desire and also counsell you without delay... to ride to the court to the said arbitratofs... without further troubles or business therein atter to he had; and that ye wil do this in and wise, so as we he not driven (through your defaulte) to put to our hands for further remedye to be had in the premise. She intervened with similar force at Cambridge to settle differences between town and university, to expedite the hearing of a citizen's complaint before the mayor and corporation of Coventry, and to resolve the title to some land in Northamptonshire. Margaret's vigorous fulfilment of worldly duty crystallised in her sense of family. Close contacts were maintained with those descended from her mother's two other marriages, to Oliver Saint-John and Lionel' Lord Welles. Frogenhalls, Zouches and Saint-Johns were all cared for, placed in the household, given an education and sometimes were married at Collyweston.

Perhaps the most notable of such marriages was that between Elizabeth Zouche (whose mother was Margaret's half-sister) and Gerald Fitzgerald, son and heir of the Earl of Kildare, celebrated in the summer of 1503. A strong sense of family obligation was revealed in her attempts to collect bonds owed to her paternal grandfather John Beaufort, first Earl of Somerset, and to resolve the long-standing ransom dispute with the House of Orleans which had been of such concern to both her parents. Most important of all was her deeply-felt love and loyalty to her son. A glimpse of this is shown in one letter to Henry, movingly postscripted 'thys day of Saint Annes, that y did bryng into this world my good and gracyous Prince, Kynge and only beloved son'. During Henry's long period of exile his mother continually championed his interests, securing property for him in trust, attempting to negotiate his return to the Yorkist ourt, and finally risking all in conspiring to bring him to the throne. Such devotion ensured that Margaret exercised a major infuence over the new Tudor King. To understand Lady Margaret one must always be aware of her practicality.

She was a superb organiser, both at the national and local level of politics. Faced with problems of flooding in parts of the Fens that threatened some of her properties, she was able to initiate an ambitious drainage scheme, involving foreign engineers, that saw the construction of a large sluice at Boston. Her remarkable determination and her 'holding memory' were noted by Fisher, and such qualities allow a better understanding of both her role and her achievements during the reign of Henry VII. The stresses of her earlier years, and her sensitivity to changing fortune, were reflected in her behaviour at her son's apogee of triumph in 1485, also recorded by Fisher. 'She never yet was in that prosperity' he says, 'but the greater it was the more alwaye she dredde the adversyte. For when they kynge her son was crowned in all that grete tryumphe and glorye, she wept mervaylously.' Fear that the wheel might turn once more, plunging the victors into disaster, was real enough during the succeeding years, troubled by the rumour and fact of rebellion.

Henry's large grant of property to his mother in 1487 was a declaration of trust in the most reliable defender of his cause. The first parliament of the new reign had already reversed the attainder against her passed under Richard III, and she was given complete legal independence in respect of holding property for the term of her life 'as anie other sole person not covert of anie husband'. Margaret's vast estates, composed of her family inheritance, lands held for life as a result of her marriages, and grants by the crown, brought her a revenue of three thousand pounds a year. Until her death the profits of this entire agglomeration of property could be used to support her household and over four hundred dependents, the daily calls on her charity from religious bodies and the poor, and scholars and others receiving her patronage. Of these estates her father's lands in Devon, Somerset and Northamptonshire had been protected assiduously since 1472, when she placed them in trust for the performance of her will. The full potential of the trust was realised after her death by the completion of her chantries and colleges, but the crown still stood to benefit in the end.

Her grandson Henry VIII was her sole direct descendant, and her lands helped to consolidate the Tudor dynasty. Lady Margaret's stature at the court of her son reflected her position as great landowner and patron. The Spanish ambassador in 1498 noted the mother of the King among those with greatest influence in England. She was approached by the Pope to forward the career of Adrian Castellesi, a curial diplomat favoured by Henry, who was promoted to the see of Hereford in 1502. A dedication to Margaret survives from the humanist cleric Giovanni Gigli, noted also for his elegy on the wedding of Henry and Elizabeth of York. Margaret was coupled with the King and Queen in receipt of spiritual privileges from Rome, and the debts due to her as a result of the Orleans ransom case involved her deeply in Anglo-French politics. Her semi-regal status was symbolised by the coronet of roses and fleurs-de-lys which appeared as a crest on her seal. It could also be seen in her rich apparel, resembling the Queen's, at the festivities following Elizabeth of York's coronation, and in the precedence accorded to her at court ceremonies such as the Garter procession of 1488.

At a local level her efforts in arbitration made her a lieutenant of the crown, in whose name she sometimes explicitly acted. The style of her letters was that of the signet letters of the king, although her signature 'Margaret R', sometimes misunderstood as 'Margaret Regina', stood for Margaret Countess of Richmond. Her letters were often written from her palace at Collyweston. Rooms were reserved there for, among others, Catherine, wife of Sir Reginald Bray, the King's trusted councillor and Margaret's receiver-general, and Cecily, sister of the Queen and widow of John Viscount Welles, Margaret's half-brother. Among the visits made by the King to Collyweston was one in the summer of 1503, when he accompanied his daughter Margaret there on her way to Scotland as the bride of James IV. For the entertainment of the King's household extra plate was fetched from Lady Margaret's London mansion of Coldharbour, the Queen's minstrels were employed, and singing men came to swell her choir from Cambridge, Westminster and Tattershall College.

Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester and Keeper of the Privy Seal, stayed with others at Maxey – another residence of Lady Margaret's while the King occupied Collyweston. When Henry had given his daughter his blessing and seen her departure, Nicholas Aughton, a servant often employed by Margaret as a scout and messenger, rode with the bride's suite a day's journey towards the north. After his mistress's death Aughton would be paid for going 'with many boats' to take her swans out of the Thames. Lady Margaret's interest in public affairs continued until her death. In 1506 she was sent an account of the meeting of Henry with Philip of Castile who had been driven by a storm onto the English coast, and she entertained members of his household as she had done part of Catherine of Aragon's retinue five years before. At the time of Henry VIII's coronation a house was hired in Cheapside where Margaret stood with Philip's daughter to watch the King and Queen come from the Tower to Westminster to be crowned.

Her previous fondness for her grandson is shown in a letter she wrote to Henry VII asking that her tenants be retained by no-one except 'my lord of York your faire swete son for whom they be most mete'. Her wealth and prestige at court and in the country after 1485 was a tribute to her survival of thirty years of political turmoi] but it was also the springboard for many acts of religious and educational charity associated with her. Her concern with such things was not an isolated phenomenon: neither the regime of piety in her household nor her interest in education was unique in her age. We know in detail her daily pattern of private prayer and worship, but an equally exacting timetable survives for Cecily, Duchess of York and mother of Edward IV. Anne, Duchess of Buckingham, Margaret's mother-in-law, was like her a pious and cultivated women who left to Margaret in her will 'a book of English called Legenda Sanctorum, a book of French called Lucun, another book of French of the epistles and gospels, and a primer with clasps of silver gilt, covered with purple velvet'.

Lady Margaret's contribution was distinctive in the combination of her piety and educational awareness with a great range of scholarly and literary patronage, and in the scale of her endowments. She was a firm adherent of the established religious forms: spiritual sister and participator in the benefits of prayers and masses at the great Benedictine houses of Durham, Westminster, Crowland and Thorney, and benefactress of the conventual Franciscans and Dominicans. She was also the friend of the Carthusians and Friars Observant who were active in encouraging the growth of personal devotion to Christ among the laity. Margaret was conscious of the need to develop her own spirituality and at the same time to communicate to society around her the richness of the Church's traditional devotion and worship, especially in the sacrament of communion. She translated from French to English the fourth book of the Imitation of Christ, which centres on the need for taking this sacrament frequently and for sincere penitence. At one point it contrasts the lack of real reverence shown in people's fascination for richly displayed relics of saints, with the experience of God to be found at every celebration of Mass.

Margaret also commissioned Wynkyn de Worde to print Walter Hilton's Ladder of Perfection, and Richard Pynson printed her English version of a French translation of the Speculum Aureum Peccatorum, a product of Carthusian piety, as The Mirror of Gold for the Sinful Soul. Her own ignorance of Latin, beyond that sufficient to understand the order of worship, forced her to rely on scholars to complement her work. The French version of The Mirror of Gold was 'checked and corrected by many clerks, doctors and masters of divinity' before she turned it into English. By the time The Mirror of Gold was published in 1507 Margaret had become the leading patron of both English Universities. The credit for turning her eyes in their direction may rest with the scholars of her acquaintance, such as Maurice Westbury who was dispensed from residence at Oxford to act as tutor in her household in 1493; Richard Fitzjames, warden of Merton College who became her confessor before being made Bishop of Rochester in 1497; and especially John Fisher, fellow of Michaelhouse Cambridge.

He first met Margaret while on university business at court in 1495 and later succeeded Fitzjames as her spiritual adviser. Her interest in Cambridge, of which Fisher was made Chancellor in 1504, was henceforward the stronger for his presence. The university benefactions for which Margaret is most famous are her professorships of divinity. They were financed directly from her household before being funded from Westminster Abbey, which was well endowed by Margaret and the King to support their chantries. Edward IV had once initiated a similar project for Oxford, only linked to a chantry at Windsor; but Margaret's scheme was more ambitious and has endured, although financed by different means. The endowed stipend meant that the lecturers were freed from dependence on other sources of income, and the course of lectures could be guaranteed in the same way as a post offered by a college. Fisher himself was made the first Cambridge endowed professor of divinity in 1502. Fisher and Margaret both saw clearly the communication problem faced by the Church of their day. They sought the answer not only in a clergy better grounded in theology, but in one familiar with the methods and duties of preaching.

At Margaret's behest Wynkyn de Worde printed Fisher's own sermons on the penitential psalms, originally preached by him before her, and shortly before her death she commissioned the publication of his sermon at the funeral of Henry VII. Doubtless with Fisher's advice she embarked on the foundation of a university preachership at Cambridge in 1504. The preacher was obliged to leave Cambridge periodically during the year to preach at named churches, mostly in areas where Margaret had estates. The preachership was also supported by Westminister Abbey, but it was envisaged that the post might be held with a college fellowship, which guaranteed an added source of income. While Lady Margaret continued to fund individual scholars at all levels throughout her life, she devoted her greatest efforts to the Cambridge Colleges. She contributed towards the building of Jesus College, another of whose benefactors was Catherine Bray. At Queens' she helped to redress the injury which the college had suffered from Henry VII's confiscation of estates granted by Richard III, by inducing her nephew the Duke of Buckingham to grant it lands in Essex. She afterwards nominated Fisher as president of the college, a post from which he was able to oversee the foundation of Christ's.

When she and the King stayed at Queens' college in 1506 the shadow of its Yorkist past was lifted. Christ's College itself, which bears a fine modern statue of Lady Margaret over its gateway, is the 'College Royall' mentioned by Fisher in his Mournyng Remembraunce. It is strictly royal not only by its connection with Margaret, but because it was an enlargement and completion of God's House, a place designed originally to train teachers in grammar, which was adopted by Henry VI in 1448. The royal charter of Christ's, granted in 1505, stated that Margaret had wished to complete Henry's foundation for the increase of the Christian faith, the salvation of her soul, and the love she bore the murdered King and her confidence in his sanctity. Her personal devotion to Jesus determined the new dedication to Christ, and it is interesting that she united with this a reverence for Henry VI whose cult, after much negotiation between her son and the pope, remained unofficial. Fisher was later to be commemorated at Christ's as the man who had drawn her attention to God's House. They both took a personal interest in the new college, and she a proprietary one.

She reserved rooms there for her use or in her absence for the use of Fisher, who was made visitor of the college for life. She also reserved to herself the right to revise the statutes, the opening words of which – 'Nos Margareta' – are in her own hand. During her life the master, fellows and scholars were all to be her nominees. Evidence that Margaret actually resided at Christ's is slim, though an inventory of some of her bedding and plate was found recently in the college. Fuller's later story of her leaning from her window and rebuking the dean with the words 'lente, lente,' for too harshly correcting a scholar supports a cherished college tradition. After the foundation of Christ's, which Margaret endowed handsomely during her lifetime, Oxford and Cambridge competed for her patronage. Fisher, however, succeeded m keeping her attention on his own university. The hospital of St John the Evangelist at Cambridge had declined in numbers, fallen into debt, and was ripe for change. It was under the patronage of the Bishop of Ely, who at that time was James Stanley, Margaret's stepson.

By Christmas 1508 she had agreed with him for the conversion of the place into a college for students of arts and theology. Sadly for Fisher she did not live to see the fruition of her plans for its foundation and endowment. Her death, on June 29th, 1509, together with that of her son on the preceding April 21st, brought to an end a remarkable partnership of power. The circumstances faced by her executors, principally Fisher and Henry Hornby, as they carried out the rest of her intention, show us the importance of her death as a political and economic event early in the new reign. The unity of her household broke down: some servants argued for a division among themselves of her whole personal estate, misinterpreting earlier arrangements made between Fisher and Margaret for their rewards. In the debate that ensued, Fisher later claimed, the servants succeeded in turning the King against him, a presage, or perhaps the germ, of the bitter enmity that was later to estrange them. There was also the question of the fate of revenue from Margaret's hereditary lands.

The aims of her last will, which they were to help serve, included the perfection of all charitable objects of her life: the endowment of a chantry and grammar school at Wimborne Minster where her parents were buried, donations to a variety of religious houses, the completion of Christ's, the building of Margaret's tomb at Westminster, and, lastly, the establishment of St John's. The college was clearly the greatest drain on the revenue, and there was uncertainty as to when it could be called properly established. After 1515 the royal officials grew impatient: encouraged by Lady Margaret's servants they insisted that the lands put in trust in 1472 should go immediately to the King. The college gained some compensation, but the legend grew up that the crown owed St John's land, a claim urged unsuccessfully when Queen Elizabeth I visited the university. In fact the crown was Margaret's true and permanent heir: its rights, as well as those of her charitable foundations, were upheld by the stewardship with which she had ordered her wide estates. The sermon which Fisher preached at Lady Margaret's month's mind compared her with Martha in the gospel, the epitome of virtuous activity.

She seemed to him the ideal representative of God-fearing orderliness for their days, a noble patron tempering her power with a humility which showed itself in respect for individuals. Like Martha she was busy about her household: he notices her astute handling of discord, her care for her almsfolk, servants and strangers fed by her charity, as well as personal qualities like her readiness to learn. All the estates of the realm had reason to mourn her: the students and learned men because she was their mother and patron; the religious with whom she conversed, the clergy whom she protected, the nobility to whom she was an example of honour, and the commons for whom she acted as a mediator. There are other features of this tender icon painted by Fisher which appear there only dimly, but more strongly in the reminiscences of Henry Parker. He pictures her sitting one New Year's Day under a cloth of state with her guests, a figure comparable for him with an Anglo-Saxon ruler, Elfleda Lady of the Mercians, or with Matilda wife of Henry I. Both of those led lives made politcally important by marriage and were symbols of piety and justice, but were also of strong passions and active characters.

We get a glimpse of this side of Lady Margaret in Fisher's recollection of her saying often that if the Christian princes would war upon the enemies of Christ's faith, she would gladly go with them to wash their clothes, for the love of Jesus. Her tears of devotion, like those shed at her son's coronation, were perhaps signs of an intense nature concentrated upon its chosen aims. The aims were those demanded not only by her loyalty to God but to her son and the security of the royal house. It has been suggested that once at least her concern for wealth and power overcame her conscience: she neglected to fulfil a trust left by Cardinal Beaufort for the benefit of St Cross Hospital Winchester, although it clearly affected part of her estates. Lady Margaret was, after all, the victim of politics from an early age: a prize passed from Suffolk to Edmund Tudor, even if she was able to accept her marriage with the latter as God's will. She learnt painfully during the dangerous years of war and of Edward IV's peace how to safeguard her interests and those of her son. She was a mature conspirator under Richard III, ready to suffer disaster before Henry's final triumph.

Margaret, translator of The Mirror of Gold and inspirer of Henry Watson's translation of The Ship of Fools, had learnt the themes of reversal and penitence in a practical school. She was imbued with the courtly military ideals of her time; the recipient of a papal indulgence for her contributions to war against the Turks, the first book she commissioned from William Caxton in 1489 was of 'the noble acts and feats of war by a noble and victorious prince named Blanchardin... for the love of a noble princess called Eglantine'. As a patron, the employer of Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson, and early helper of Skelton, she was for England a figure of Renaissance magnificence. Her epitaph was composed by Erasmus and her most moving likeness is the effigy sculpted by Torrigiano. Her great achievement was the self-discipline which allowed her to listen not just to the claims of power but to those of responsibility, whether for her own dependents or for the broader needs of religion and scholarship. For Further Reading: C.H.

Cooper, The Lady Margaret (Cambridge, Deighton Bell, 1874); E.M.G. Routh, Lady Margaret (Oxford University Press, 1874); Retha Warnicke, 'The Lady Margaret as seen by John Fisher and Lord Morley' , Moreana, xix (1982); Margaret Condon, 'Ruling Elites in the Reign of Henry VII' in Patronage Pedigree and Power, ed. C. Ross (Alan Sutton, 1979); Much material has been drawn from the authors' research in the muniments of Westminster Abbey and St John's College, Cambridge.

Question: Whose parents were Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort?
Answer: HENRY VII