So, one of my favorite royal ladies of all time has a birthday tomorrow.
Margaret Beaufort was born in 1443. Her father was a grandson of John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III. The Beauforts were descendants of John and his mistress turned wife Katherine Swynford. Though born before the marriage, their children were legitimized with the stipulation that they not be in line for the throne.
This was the era of the War of the Roses, so any royal blood was valuable. Margaret's father died when she was a baby; she was his only child. But her mother had seven children from a previous marriage, and two children from a subsequent marriage and Margaret was close to her siblings and supported them in their ambitions. In this way she was similar to her rival Elizabeth Woodville, who also worked to raise her family's status.
It was important that Margaret be married to someone of high status at a young age. Her first marriage took place when she was seven. King Henry VI had taken an interest in setting her up and sold her wardship to the Duke of Suffolk, who married her to his son, John de la Pole. The marriage was annulled after three years, presumably (let's hope) unconsummated.
After her first marriage ended, Margaret (then ten) was given as a ward to the King's half-brothers, Jasper and Edmund Tudor. At age twelve, Margaret was married to twenty-four-year-old Edmund, who was the oldest child of the King's mother Queen Catherine and her second husband Owen Tudor. The marriage was intended to bring her English royal blood into his family line. Edmund and his siblings had French royal blood and were close to the King, but no English royal ancestry. Their father had been Welsh.
Her second marriage was consummated, and Margaret was soon pregnant. In January 1457, Margaret gave birth to her only child, Henry Tudor. She was not yet fourteen. The birth left her young body damaged to the point that she could never have another child. She nearly died in child birth. Edmund Tudor had died when she was seven months pregnant.
Margaret was forced to give up Henry to be raised by his father's family because their royal lineage made it necessary for him to stay with the Tudors and her to remarry. She remarried in 1462 to Henry Stafford, a member of the prominent Buckingham family. They were married for nearly ten years until his death. During that time the Yorks defeated the Lancasters in the War of the Roses (for the time being, at least). Margaret was descended from a Lancaster and had married into the Lancasters, but she was able to maintain some level of power anyway.
After her third husband died, she married Thomas Stanley, a high-ranking official in the courts of Edward IV and Richard III, the York Kings. Margaret became known as a woman of great learning and power. Henry Tudor, who she wrote to constantly but rarely saw, was in exile in France after the Lancaster's defeat. After Richard took the throne in place of his nephews, rumors began to surface that Richard had murdered his nephews. His popularity plummeted.
Margaret had had high ambitions for years, and saw Richard's failings as an opportunity. She made secret contact with Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV and mother of the missing Princes. They agreed that her daughter Elizabeth would marry Henry Tudor, who would then take the throne.
Henry returned from France and defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, thanks to the support his mother had gotten for him. Margaret's husband Thomas Stanley placed the crown on his head.
After Henry became King, as Henry VII, Margaret tried to upstage her daughter-in-law the current Queen, and Elizabeth Woodville, the former one. She styled herself My Lady, The King's Mother and took control of the court and her son. She also kept some level of control over her grandchildren (including Henry VIII) .
Though still married, she made a vow of celibacy in 1499 and made a front of being devotedly Christian. But she still held the power.
When Henry VII died in 1509, Margaret was named regent for the then underaged Henry VIII. She died two months later, the day after Henry VIII's eighteenth birthday. Hey, that's kind of convenient for Henry VIII...
Margaret Beaufort was born in 1443. Her father was a grandson of John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III. The Beauforts were descendants of John and his mistress turned wife Katherine Swynford. Though born before the marriage, their children were legitimized with the stipulation that they not be in line for the throne.
This was the era of the War of the Roses, so any royal blood was valuable. Margaret's father died when she was a baby; she was his only child. But her mother had seven children from a previous marriage, and two children from a subsequent marriage and Margaret was close to her siblings and supported them in their ambitions. In this way she was similar to her rival Elizabeth Woodville, who also worked to raise her family's status.
It was important that Margaret be married to someone of high status at a young age. Her first marriage took place when she was seven. King Henry VI had taken an interest in setting her up and sold her wardship to the Duke of Suffolk, who married her to his son, John de la Pole. The marriage was annulled after three years, presumably (let's hope) unconsummated.
After her first marriage ended, Margaret (then ten) was given as a ward to the King's half-brothers, Jasper and Edmund Tudor. At age twelve, Margaret was married to twenty-four-year-old Edmund, who was the oldest child of the King's mother Queen Catherine and her second husband Owen Tudor. The marriage was intended to bring her English royal blood into his family line. Edmund and his siblings had French royal blood and were close to the King, but no English royal ancestry. Their father had been Welsh.
Her second marriage was consummated, and Margaret was soon pregnant. In January 1457, Margaret gave birth to her only child, Henry Tudor. She was not yet fourteen. The birth left her young body damaged to the point that she could never have another child. She nearly died in child birth. Edmund Tudor had died when she was seven months pregnant.
Margaret was forced to give up Henry to be raised by his father's family because their royal lineage made it necessary for him to stay with the Tudors and her to remarry. She remarried in 1462 to Henry Stafford, a member of the prominent Buckingham family. They were married for nearly ten years until his death. During that time the Yorks defeated the Lancasters in the War of the Roses (for the time being, at least). Margaret was descended from a Lancaster and had married into the Lancasters, but she was able to maintain some level of power anyway.
After her third husband died, she married Thomas Stanley, a high-ranking official in the courts of Edward IV and Richard III, the York Kings. Margaret became known as a woman of great learning and power. Henry Tudor, who she wrote to constantly but rarely saw, was in exile in France after the Lancaster's defeat. After Richard took the throne in place of his nephews, rumors began to surface that Richard had murdered his nephews. His popularity plummeted.
Margaret had had high ambitions for years, and saw Richard's failings as an opportunity. She made secret contact with Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV and mother of the missing Princes. They agreed that her daughter Elizabeth would marry Henry Tudor, who would then take the throne.
Henry returned from France and defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, thanks to the support his mother had gotten for him. Margaret's husband Thomas Stanley placed the crown on his head.
After Henry became King, as Henry VII, Margaret tried to upstage her daughter-in-law the current Queen, and Elizabeth Woodville, the former one. She styled herself My Lady, The King's Mother and took control of the court and her son. She also kept some level of control over her grandchildren (including Henry VIII) .
Though still married, she made a vow of celibacy in 1499 and made a front of being devotedly Christian. But she still held the power.
When Henry VII died in 1509, Margaret was named regent for the then underaged Henry VIII. She died two months later, the day after Henry VIII's eighteenth birthday. Hey, that's kind of convenient for Henry VIII...
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