English noblewoman and politician (1443?1509)
Lady Margaret Beaufort
(usually pronounced:
BOH
-f?rt
or
BEW
-f?rt
; 31 May 1443 ? 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the
Wars of the Roses
of the late fifteenth century, and mother of
King Henry VII of England
, the first
Tudor
monarch.
[1]
A descendant of King
Edward III
, Lady Margaret passed a disputed claim to the English throne to her son,
Henry Tudor
. Capitalising on the political upheaval of the period, she actively manoeuvred to secure the crown for her son. Margaret's efforts ultimately culminated in Henry's decisive victory over King
Richard III
at the
Battle of Bosworth Field
. She was thus instrumental in orchestrating the rise to power of the Tudor dynasty. With her son crowned Henry VII, Margaret wielded a considerable degree of political influence and personal autonomy ? both now considered unusual for a woman of her time. She was also a major patron and cultural benefactor during her son's reign, initiating an era of extensive Tudor patronage.
Margaret is credited with the establishment of two prominent Cambridge colleges, founding
Christ's College
in 1505 and beginning the development of
St John's College
, which was completed posthumously by her executors in 1511.
[2]
[3]
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
, a 19th century foundation named after her, was the first Oxford college to admit women.
[4]
Origins
[
edit
]
Lady Margaret Beaufort was the daughter and sole heiress of
John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset
(1404?1444), a legitimised grandson of
John of Gaunt
(1st Duke of Lancaster and third surviving son of King
Edward III
) by his mistress, later wife,
Katherine Swynford
, and John Beaufort's wife
Margaret Beauchamp
. Lady Margaret was born at
Bletsoe Castle
, Bedfordshire, either on 31 May 1441 or, more likely, on 31 May 1443. The day and month are not disputed, as she required
Westminster Abbey
to celebrate her birthday on 31 May.
The year of her birth is more uncertain.
William Dugdale
, the 17th-century antiquary, suggested that she had been born in 1441, based on evidence of
inquisitions
post mortem
taken after the death of her father. Dugdale has been followed by a number of Lady Margaret's biographers; however, it is more likely that she was born in 1443, as in May 1443 her father had negotiated with the king concerning the wardship of his unborn child should he die on campaign.
[5]
Early years
[
edit
]
At the moment of her birth, Margaret's father was preparing to go to France and lead an important military expedition for King
Henry VI
. Somerset negotiated with the king to ensure that if he were to die, the rights to Margaret's
wardship
and marriage would be granted only to his wife.
[6]
As Somerset was a
tenant-in-chief
of the crown, the wardship of his heir fell to the crown under the
feudal system
. Somerset fell out with the king after coming back from France and was banished from the royal court pending a charge of treason against him. He died shortly afterwards. According to
Thomas Basin
, Somerset died of illness, but the
Crowland Chronicle
reported that his death was a suicide. As his only surviving child, Margaret was heiress to his considerable fortune and inheritor of his contested claim to the throne. Both effectively rendered Margaret, as her biographers Jones and Underwood write, "a pawn in the unstable political atmosphere of the
Lancastrian
court".
[7]
Upon her first birthday, the king broke the arrangement with Margaret's father and granted the wardship of her extensive lands to
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
, although Margaret herself remained in the custody of her mother. Margaret's mother was pregnant at the time of Somerset's death, but the child did not survive and Margaret remained the sole heir. Although she was her father's only legitimate child, Margaret had two maternal half-brothers and three maternal half-sisters from her mother's first marriage whom she supported after her son's accession to the throne.
[8]
Margaret was married to Suffolk's son,
John de la Pole
. The wedding may have been held between 28 January and 7 February 1444, when she was perhaps a year old but certainly no more than three.
[
citation needed
]
However, there is more evidence to suggest they were married in January 1450, after Suffolk had been arrested and was looking to secure his son's future by betrothing him to a conveniently wealthy ward whose children could be potential claimants to the throne.
[9]
Papal
dispensation
was granted on 18 August 1450, necessary because the spouses were closely related (Lady Margaret and de la Pole being the great-grandchildren of two sisters,
Katherine Swynford
and
Philippa Chaucer
, respectively), and this concurs with the later date of marriage.
[10]
Three years later, her marriage to de la Pole was dissolved, and King Henry VI granted Margaret's wardship to his own half-brothers,
Jasper
and
Edmund Tudor
.
[11]
[12]
[13]
Margaret never recognised the marriage to de la Pole. In her will, made in 1472, Margaret refers to Edmund Tudor as her first husband. Under
canon law
, Margaret was not bound by her first marriage contract as she was entered into the marriage before reaching the age of twelve.
[11]
Even before the annulment of her first marriage, Henry VI chose Margaret as a bride for his half-brother,
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
. This was likely to strengthen Edmund's claim to the throne should Henry be forced to designate Edmund his heir; the king was then without child or legitimate siblings.
[14]
Edmund was the eldest son of the king's mother,
Catherine of Valois
, by
Owen Tudor
.
[11]
At nine years old Margaret was required to assent formally to the marriage. Later she claimed she was divinely guided to do so.
[14]
At age twelve Margaret married Edmund Tudor, twelve years her senior, on 1 November 1455. The
Wars of the Roses
had just broken out. Edmund, a
Lancastrian
, was taken prisoner by
Yorkist
forces less than a year later. He died of the plague in captivity at
Carmarthen
on 3 November 1456, leaving a 13-year-old widow who was pregnant with their child.
[15]
The Countess always respected the name and memory of Edmund as the father of her only child. In 1472, sixteen years after his death, Margaret specified in her will that she wanted to be buried alongside Edmund, even though she had enjoyed a long, stable and close marriage with her third husband, who had died in 1471.
[
citation needed
]
Motherhood
[
edit
]
While in the care of her brother-in-law
Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke
, on 28 January 1457, the 13-year-old Margaret gave birth to a son,
Henry Tudor
, at
Pembroke Castle
. As she was not yet physically mature, the birth was extremely difficult. In a sermon delivered after her death, Margaret's confessor,
John Fisher
, deemed it a miracle that a baby could be born "of so little a personage".
[16]
Her son's birth may have done permanent physical injury to Margaret; despite two later marriages, she never had another child. Years later, she enumerated a set of proper procedures concerning the delivery of potential heirs, perhaps informed by the difficulty of her own experience.
[17]
Shortly after her re-entry into society after the birth, Jasper helped arrange another marriage for her to ensure her son's security.
[18]
She married
Sir Henry Stafford
(
c.
1425
?1471), the second son of
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
, on 3 January 1458, at the age of fourteen. A dispensation for the marriage was necessary because Margaret and Stafford were second cousins; it was granted on 6 April 1457. They enjoyed a fairly long and harmonious marital relationship and were given
Woking Palace
, to which Margaret sometimes retreated and which she restored. Margaret and her husband were given 400 marks' worth of land by Buckingham, but her own estates were still their main source of income. For a time the Staffords were able to visit Margaret's son, who had been entrusted to Jasper Tudor's care at Pembroke Castle in Wales.
[
citation needed
]
Involvement in the Wars of the Roses
[
edit
]
Reign of Edward IV
[
edit
]
Years of York forces fighting Lancastrian for power culminated in the
Battle of Towton
in 1461, where the Yorkists were victorious.
Edward IV
was King of England. The fighting had taken the life of Margaret's father-in-law and forced Jasper Tudor to flee to Scotland and France to muster support for the Lancastrian cause.
[19]
Edward IV gave the lands belonging to Margaret's son to his own brother, the
Duke of Clarence
. Henry became the ward of
Sir William Herbert
. Again, Beaufort was allowed some visits to her son.
In 1469 the discontented Duke of Clarence and
Earl of Warwick
incited a rebellion against Edward IV, capturing him after a defeat of his forces. Beaufort used this opportunity to attempt to negotiate with Clarence, hoping to regain custody of her son and his holdings.
[20]
Soon, however, Edward was back in power.
Warwick's continued insurrection resulted in the brief reinstallation of the Lancastrian Henry VI in 1470?71, which was effectively ended with the Yorkist victory at the
Battle of Barnet
. Faced with York rule once again, Margaret allegedly begged Jasper Tudor, forced to flee abroad once more, to take thirteen-year-old Henry with him.
[21]
It would be fourteen years before Beaufort saw her son again.
In 1471, Margaret's husband, Lord Stafford, died of wounds suffered at the
Battle of Barnet
, fighting for the Yorkists. At 28 years old, Margaret became a widow again.
[22]
In June 1472, Margaret married
Thomas Stanley
, the
Lord High Constable
and
King of Mann
. Jones and Underwood have suggested that Margaret never considered herself a member of the Stanley family.
[23]
Their marriage was primarily one of convenience; marrying Stanley enabled Margaret to return to the court of
Edward IV
and
Elizabeth Woodville
. Indeed, Gristwood speculates Beaufort organized the marriage with the sole aim of rehabilitating her image and securing herself a prime position from which to advocate for her son.
[24]
Evidently her efforts were successful; Margaret was chosen by
Queen Elizabeth
to be godmother to one of her daughters.
Holinshed, a Tudor chronicler, claims King Edward IV later proposed a marriage between Beaufort's son and his own daughter,
Elizabeth of York
, intending to force Henry Tudor out of his safe haven on the continent. Poet Bernard Andre seems to corroborate this, writing of Tudor's miraculous escape from the clutches of Edward's envoys, allegedly warned of the deception by none other than his mother.
[25]
Reigns of Edward V and Richard III
[
edit
]
Following Edward IV's death in April 1483 and the seizure of the throne in June by
Richard III
from
Edward V
, Margaret was soon back at court serving the new queen,
Anne Neville
. Margaret carried Anne's train at the coronation.
[26]
Seeking her son's return to England, Margaret appears to have negotiated with Richard.
Despite what these negotiations may suggest, Lady Margaret is known to have conspired with
Elizabeth Woodville
, mother of the two York princes whom Richard confined to the Tower of London, after rumours spread of the boys' murder. It was at this point, according to Polydore Vergil, that Beaufort "began to hope well of her son's fortune".
Beaufort is believed to have initiated discussions with Woodville, via mutual physician, Lewis Caerleon, who conveyed secret correspondences between the two women. Together they conspired to supplant King Richard and by joint force replace him with Margaret's son, Henry Tudor. Their solidified alliance further secured the subsequent dynasty by the agreed betrothal of Henry to
Elizabeth of York
. They hoped this proposal would attract both Yorkist and Lancastrian support.
[27]
As to the fate of the princes, it is widely held that
Richard III
ordered the death of his two nephews to secure his own reign. Gristwood, however, suggests that another was responsible; Henry Tudor's path to the throne was certainly expedited by their disappearance, perhaps motive enough for his mother ? his "highly able and totally committed representative" ? to give the order.
[28]
Despite this suggestion, no contemporary sources corroborate the implication, whilst most contemporary accounts outline "her outstanding qualities, her courage, presence of mind, family loyalty, and a deeply felt awareness of the spiritual responsibilities of high office," as clarified by Jones and Underwood.
[29]
Before Jones and Underwood, there was no consensus within the scholarly community regarding Margaret's role or character: historiographical opinions ranged from celebrating her to demonizing her.
[30]
It was not until the 17th century that religious retrospective speculations began to criticize Lady Margaret, but even then only as a "politic and contriving woman,"
[31]
and never anything beyond shrewd or calculating. All things considered, the words of her own contemporaries, such as Tudor historian Polydore Vergil, continue to extol Lady Margaret's noble virtues as "the most pious woman,"
[32]
further removing her from accusations of wickedness.
Erasmus
, in writing about his friend the Bishop,
Saint John Fisher
, praised Margaret's support of religious institutions and the Bishop,
[33]
further attesting the simultaneously pragmatic and charitable nature testified in the funerary sermon dedicated by the Bishop himself, as laid out in a following section.
In 1483 Margaret was certainly involved in ? if not the mastermind behind ?
Buckingham's rebellion
.
[34]
Indeed, in his biography of Richard III, historian
Paul Murray Kendall
describes Beaufort as the "Athena of the rebellion".
[35]
Perhaps with duplicitous motives (as he may have been desirous of the crown for himself),
Buckingham
conspired with Beaufort and Woodville to dethrone Richard. Margaret's son was to sail from Brittany to join forces with him, but he arrived too late.
In October, Beaufort's scheme proved unsuccessful; the Duke was executed and Tudor was forced back across the English Channel. Beaufort appears to have played a large role in financing the insurrection. In response to her betrayal,
Richard
passed an act of Parliament stripping Margaret of all her titles and estates, declaring her guilty of the following:
"Forasmoch as Margaret Countesse of Richmond, Mother to the Kyngs greate Rebell and Traytour, Herry Erle of Richemond, hath of late conspired, consedered, and comitted high Treason ayenst oure Soveraigne Lorde the King Richard the Third, in dyvers and sundry wyses, and in especiall in sendyng messages, writyngs and tokens to the said Henry… Also the said Countesse made chevisancez of greate somes of Money… and also the said Countesse conspired, consedered, and imagyned the destruction of oure said Soveraign Lorde...”
[36]
Richard did, however, stop short of a full
attainder
by transferring Margaret's property to her husband,
Lord Stanley
. He also effectively imprisoned Margaret in her husband's home with the hope of preventing any further correspondence with her son. However, her husband failed to stop Margaret's continued communication with her son. When the time came for Henry to press his claim, he relied heavily on his mother to raise support for him in England.
[37]
Margaret's husband Stanley, despite having fought for Richard III during the Buckingham rebellion, did not respond when summoned to fight at the
Battle of Bosworth Field
in 1485, remaining aloof from the battle, even though his eldest son, George Stanley (styled
Lord Strange
), was held hostage by Richard. After the battle, it was Stanley who placed the crown on the head of his stepson (Henry VII), who later made him Earl of Derby. Margaret was then styled "Countess of Richmond and Derby".
[38]
She was invested as a
Lady of the Order of the Garter
(LG) in 1488.
English royal families in the
Wars of the Roses
|
Dukes (except
Aquitaine
) and Princes of Wales are noted, as are the monarchs' reigns.
†
=Killed in action;
=Executed
See also
Family tree of English monarchs
| | | | | | | | | | | | Henry of Grosmont
Duke of Lancaster
| | | | | | Edward III
King of England
r.
1327?1377
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Edward of Woodstock
"The Black Prince"
Prince of Wales
| | | | | | Lionel of Antwerp
Duke of Clarence
| | Blanche of Lancaster
| | | | | | John of Gaunt
Duke of Lancaster
| | | | | | Katherine Swynford
| | | | | | Edmund of Langley
Duke of York
| | Thomas of Woodstock
Duke of Gloucester
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Richard II
Prince of Wales, King of England
r.
1377?1399
| | | | | | Philippa of Clarence
| | Henry IV
Duke of Lancaster, King of England
Lancastrian
r.
1399?1413
| | | | | | John Beaufort
Lancastrian
| | Thomas Beaufort
Duke of Exeter
| | Joan Beaufort
| | Ralph Neville
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Henry Percy
"Hotspur"
| | Elizabeth Mortimer
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Roger Mortimer
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Owen Tudor
Lancastrian
| | Catherine of Valois
Lancastrian
| | Henry V
Duke of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, King of England
r.
1413?1422
Lancastrian
| | Humphrey
Duke of Gloucester
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Edward of Norwich
Duke of York
| | Richard of Conisburgh
| | Anne de Mortimer
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
John Beaufort
Duke of Somerset
Lancastrian
| | | Margaret of Anjou
Lancastrian
| | Henry VI
King of England
r.
1422?1461
,
r.
1470?1471
Lancastrian
| | Edmund Beaufort
Duke of Somerset
Lancastrian
†
1st St Albans
| | William Neville
Yorkist
| | Eleanor Neville
| | Henry Percy
Lancastrian
†
1st St Albans
| | Anne Neville
Duchess of Buckingham
| | Richard Neville
Yorkist
Wakefield
| | Cecily Neville
| | Richard of York
Duke of York, Prince of Wales
Yorkist
†
Wakefield
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Henry Beaufort
Duke of Somerset
Lancastrian
Hexham
| | Richard Woodville
Edgecote
| | Margaret Beaufort
| | Edmund Beaufort
Duke of Somerset
Lancastrian
Tewkesbury
| | Henry Percy
Lancastrian
†
Towton
| | Humphrey Stafford
| | John Neville
Yorkist
, then
Lancastrian
†
Barnet
| | Richard Neville
"Kingmaker"
Yorkist
, then
Lancastrian
†
Barnet
| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Margaret Beaufort
Lancastrian
| | Edmund Tudor
Lancastrian
| | Jasper Tudor
Duke of Bedford
Lancastrian
| | Catherine Woodville
| | Henry Stafford
Duke of Buckingham
Yorkist
, then
Lancastrian
| | Elizabeth Woodville
| | Edward IV
Duke of York, King of England
r.
1461?1470
,
r.
1471?1483
Yorkist
| | George Plantagenet
Duke of Clarence
Yorkist
, then
Lancastrian
Tower
| | Edward of Westminster
Prince of Wales
Lancastrian
†
Tewkesbury
| | Anne Neville
| | Richard III
Duke of Gloucester, King of England
r.
1483?1485
Yorkist
†
Bosworth Field
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Henry VII
King of England
Lancastrian
r.
1485?1509
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Elizabeth of York
| | Edward V
Prince of Wales, King of England
r.
1483
Yorkist
Tower
| | Richard of Shrewsbury
Duke of York
Tower
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Margaret Beaufort in power
[
edit
]
United Kingdom legislation
After her son's victory at the
Battle of Bosworth Field
, the Countess was referred to in court as "My Lady the King's Mother". Her son's first Parliament reversed the attainder against her and declared her a
feme sole
. This status granted Beaufort considerable legal and social independence from men. She was allowed to own property separately from her husband (as though she were unmarried) and sue in court ? two rights denied to contemporary married women.
[39]
As arranged by their mothers, Henry married
Elizabeth of York
. The Countess was reluctant to accept a lower status than the
dowager queen Elizabeth
or even her
daughter-in-law
, the
queen consort
. She wore robes of the same quality as the queen consort and walked only half a pace behind her. Elizabeth's biographer, Amy Licence, states that this "would have been the correct courtly protocol", adding that "only one person knew how Elizabeth really felt about Margaret and she did not commit it to paper."
[41]
Margaret had written her signature as
M. Richmond
for years, since the 1460s. In 1499, she changed her signature to
Margaret R.
, perhaps to signify her royal authority (
R
standing either for
regina
? queen in
Latin
as customarily employed by female monarchs ? or for Richmond). Furthermore, she included the Tudor crown and the caption
et mater Henrici septimi regis Angliæ et Hiberniæ
("and mother of Henry VII, king of England and Ireland").
[42]
[43]
Many historians believe the departure from court of dowager queen
Elizabeth Woodville
in 1487 was partly at the behest of Henry's influential mother, though this is uncertain.
[44]
Beaufort exerted considerable political influence within the Tudor court. The power she exercised was evidently obvious; a report from Spanish envoy
Pedro de Ayala
dating to 1498 claimed Henry was "much influenced by his mother and his followers in affairs or personal interest and in others." In the earlier years of her son's reign, records indicate Margaret usually accompanied the royal couple when they traveled.
[45]
While Margaret's position in the royal court was, to some extent, an expression of gratitude by her son, she was likely far less the passive recipient of Henry's favor one might expect. As Gristwood suggests in the following, Beaufort instead actively contrived to further her standing:
"A place had to be created for the sort of 'king's mother' Margaret was determined to be. Perhaps if Margaret had become a queen, a role that she clearly felt Fortune had denied her, she would not have felt the need to press for her rights quite so stridently."
[46]
However, Lady Margaret's immediate petitions were not for queenly powers of rule over others, but were two succinct demands for independence and liberty of self, which were products of expert legal advice, as opposed to a desperate desire to rule.
[47]
The first Act reversed the legislation that had robbed Margaret of her properties under the reign of Richard III, deeming it "entirely void, annulled and of no force or effect".
[48]
[47]
The second Act of November 1485 stated that she would enjoy all her properties and titles, and could pursue any legal action as any "single unmarried person might or may do at any time", despite still being married.
[49]
Moreover, as with many decisions made to secure the new dynasty, these Acts of Parliament passed appear to be a collaborative effort, mutually beneficial to both mother and son, as by granting Margaret the status of a femme sole, Henry and his Parliament made it possible to empower the King's Mother without giving further
leverage to the Stanleys, since Margaret could use any wealth granted to her for her own purposes, thereby circumventing the prevailing idea of
coverture
.
[50]
In his chronicle, Polydore Vergil assessed the partnership between the Tudor king and his mother, noting that Henry gave her a share of most of his public and private resources, contrary to any assertion that Margaret desired greater power.
[51]
Or, as King Henry Tudor states in a letter to his mother: "...not only in this but in all other things that I may know should be to your honour and pleasure, and will of your self, I shall be as glad to please you as your heart can desire."
[52]
Lady Margaret's wardship of brothers,
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
, and
Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
, is one of many examples of how her unique position allowed her in varying aspects to operate beyond the scope of any queen, a position which, instead of hindering or irritating her at all, proved advantageous to the state of the Crown and delineated her as a helpful and happy agent of its course, as she refused monetary recompense for her stewardship in this arena and successfully secured the allegiance of the Duke of Buckingham to King Henry Tudor, a loyalty that would fade away from the Crown once she and her son were gone.
[53]
[54]
Later in her marriage, the Countess preferred living alone. In 1499, with her husband's permission, she took a vow of chastity in the presence of
Richard FitzJames
,
Bishop of London
. Taking a vow of chastity while being married was unusual but not unprecedented. The Countess moved away from her husband and lived alone at
Collyweston
, Northamptonshire (near
Stamford
). She was regularly visited by her husband, who had rooms reserved for him. Margaret renewed her vows in 1504.
[55]
From her principal residence at
Collyweston
she was given a special commission to administer justice over the Midlands and the North.
[56]
Beaufort was also actively involved in the domestic life of the royal family. She created a proper protocol regarding the birth and upbringing of royal heirs. Though their relationship is often portrayed as antagonistic, Beaufort and her daughter-in-law Elizabeth worked together when planning the marriages of the royal children. They wrote jointly of the necessary instruction for
Catherine of Aragon
, who was to marry Elizabeth's son
Prince Arthur
.
[57]
Both women also conspired to prevent Elizabeth and Henry's daughter
Margaret
from being married to the Scottish king at too young an age; in this matter, Gristwood writes, Beaufort was undoubtedly resolved that her granddaughter "should not share her fate".
[58]
After Elizabeth's death in 1503, Margaret became the principal female presence at court. When Arthur died, Margaret played a part in ensuring her grandson
Henry
, the new heir apparent, was raised appropriately by selecting some members of his new household.
[59]
The Countess was known for her education and her piety. Biographers Jones and Underwood claim the entirety of Beaufort's life can be understood in the context of her "deeply-felt love and loyalty to her son".
[60]
Henry is said to have been likewise devoted. A surviving letter written by Henry to his mother reveals his sense of gratitude and appreciation:
"All which thyngs according to your desire and plesure I have with all my herte and goode wille giffen and graunted unto you… I shall be as glad to plese you as youre herte can desire hit, and I knowe welle that I am as much bounden so to doe as any creture lyvyng, for the grete and singular moderly love and affection that hit hath plesed you at all tymes to ber towards me".
[61]
Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, having designated his mother chief
executrix
of his will. For two days after the death of her son, Margaret scrambled to secure the smooth succession of her grandson,
Henry VIII
.
[62]
She arranged her son's funeral and her grandson's coronation. At her son's funeral she was given precedence over all the other women of the royal family.
[63]
Before her death Beaufort also left her mark on the early reign of Henry VIII; when her eighteen-year-old grandson chose members of his privy council, it was Margaret's suggestions he took.
[64]
Death
[
edit
]
Margaret had been ill for several days, as legend has it, after eating a cygnet (a young swan) for dinner. The Countess died in the Deanery of
Westminster Abbey
on 29 June 1509. This was the day after her grandson
Henry VIII
's 18th birthday, 5 days after his coronation and just over two months after the death of her son. She is buried in the
Henry VII Chapel
of the Abbey. Her tomb is now situated between the later graves of
William III
and
Mary II
and the tomb of her great-great-granddaughter
Mary, Queen of Scots
.
[65]
Her tomb was created by
Pietro Torrigiano
, who probably arrived in England in 1509 and received the commission in the following year.
[66]
[67]
The gilded bronze sculpture on the tomb depicts Margaret with her head resting on pillows and her hands raised in prayer, wearing garments characteristic of widowhood; the face was probably sculpted from a death mask. The black marble tomb is embellished with heraldic bronze insignia, including a
yale
, her
heraldic badge
, at her feet.
[68]
Erasmus
wrote the Latin inscription on her tomb. In English it reads: "Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VIII, who donated funds for three monks of this abbey, a grammar school in Wimborne, a preacher in the whole of England, two lecturers in Scripture, one at Oxford, the other at Cambridge, where she also founded two colleges, one dedicated to Christ, and the other to St John, the Evangelist."
[68]
In 1539 iron railings, elaborately painted with coats of arms and other ornaments, were erected around the tomb. The ironwork was sold off by the Abbey in 1823 but recovered and restored a century later.
[68]
Legacy
[
edit
]
She was bounteous and lyberal to every Person of her Knowledge or acquaintance. Avarice and Covetyse she most hated, and sorowed it full moche in all persons, but specially in ony that belong'd unto her. She was of syngular Easyness to be spoken unto, and full curtayse answere she would make to all that came unto her. Of marvayllous gentyleness she was unto all folks, but specially unto her owne, whom she trustede, and loved ryghte tenderly. Unkynde she woulde not be unto no creature, ne forgetful of ony kyndeness or servyce done to her before, which is no lytel part of veray nobleness. She was not vengeable ne cruell, but redy anone to forgete and to forgyve injuryes done unto her, at the least desyre or mocyon made unto her for the same. Mercyfull also and pyteous she was unto such as was greyved and wrongfully troubled, and to them that were in Poverty and sekeness, or any other mysery.
Lady Margaret Beaufort was a lifelong artistic patron and supporter of academia.
While married to Lord Stanley Margaret endowed the building of chapels in Wales. Like Edward IV and his court, she was also involved with the advances in printing of
William Caxton
and his successor
Wynkyn de Worde
, not only as a patroness but for her own acquisition. The first book she commissioned from Caxton in 1483 was the 13th-century French romance
Blanchardin et Eglantine
, which mirrored fairly closely the match she was forging in secret between her son Henry and Elizabeth of York, with the aid of Elizabeth Woodville, then in sanctuary from Richard III in Westminster Abbey. Six years later, after Richard's defeat by Henry at Bosworth, she commissioned an English translation of the romance from Caxton: it heralded the beginning of a period of Tudor patronage. Apart from encouraging book production and building her own library, Margaret also achieved considerable success as a translator, becoming the first English translator of the
Imitation of Christ
known by name, as well as translating the fifteenth-century Netherlandish treatise
The Mirror of Gold for the Sinful Soul
from a French intermediary.
[55]
In 1497 she announced her intention to build a free school for the general public of
Wimborne
. Following her death in 1509, Wimborne Grammar School came into existence, to become
Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimborne Minster
.
[70]
In 1502 she established the
Lady Margaret's Professorship of Divinity
at the University of Cambridge.
[71]
[72]
In 1505 she refounded and enlarged God's House, Cambridge as
Christ's College, Cambridge
with a royal charter from the king. She has been honoured ever since as the Foundress of the college. A copy of her signature can be found carved on one of the buildings (4 staircase, 1994) within the college. In 1511,
St. John's College, Cambridge
was founded by her estate, either at her direct behest or at the suggestion of her chaplain, John Fisher. Land that she owned around
Great Bradley
in Suffolk was bequeathed to St. John's upon its foundation. Her portraits hang in the Great Halls and other college rooms of both Christ's and St. John's, accompanied by portraits of John Fisher. Unusually, both colleges have the same coats of arms, using her crest and motto. Furthermore, various societies, including the Lady Margaret Society as well as the Beaufort Club at Christ's, and the
Lady Margaret Boat Club
at John's, were named after her.
[73]
In 1540, funds she had bequeathed endowed a lectureship in divinity at the
University of Oxford
, first held by John Roper; it became the
Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity
, held concurrently with a canonship at
Christ Church, Oxford
.
[74]
[71]
[75]
Lady Margaret Hall
, the first
women's college
at the University of Oxford (founded in 1878), was named in her honour.
[76]
A practical woman, when 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.
[77]
She funded the restoration of
Church of All Saints, Martock
in Somerset, and the construction of the church tower.
[78]
Margaret Beaufort Middle School (formerly Margaret Beaufort County Secondary Modern School) in
Riseley, Bedfordshire
, near her birthplace at
Bletsoe Castle
, is named after her.
[79]
In 1993 the
Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
on
Grange Road, Cambridge
was founded and named in her honour. It is now a
coeducational interdenominational
theological college
, having originally begun as a centre for training
Catholic
laywomen
in religion and theology.
[80]
[81]
[82]
Portraits
[
edit
]
There is no surviving portrait of Margaret Beaufort dating from her lifetime. All known portraits, however, are in essentially the same format, depicting her in her later years, wearing a long, peaked, white headdress and in a pose of religious contemplation. Most of these were made in the reign of Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I
as symbols of loyalty to the Tudor regime. They may be based on a lost original, or be derived from the sculpture on her tomb in
Westminster Abbey
, in which she wears the same headdress.
[83]
One portrait by
Meynnart Wewyck
in 1510 shows her at prayer in her richly furnished private closet behind her chamber. The plain desk at which she kneels is draped with a richly patterned textile that is so densely encrusted with embroidery that its corners stand away stiffly. Her lavishly
illuminated
Book of Hours
is open before her, with its protective cloth wrapper (called a "chemise" binding), spread out around it. The walls are patterned with oak leaf designs, perhaps in lozenges, perhaps of stamped and part-gilded leather. Against the wall hangs the dosser of her canopy of estate, with the tester above her head (the Tudor rose at its centre) supported on cords from the ceiling. The coats-of-arms woven into the tapestry are of England (parted as usual with France) and the portcullis badge of the Beauforts, which the early Tudor kings later used in their arms. Small
stained glass
roundels in the leaded glass of her lancet windows also display elements of the arms of both England (cropped away here) and Beaufort.
[84]
The painting, which measures 180 cm by 122 cm, is notable as the first large-scale portrait of an Englishwoman.
[85]
In 2023, restoration work on the Wewyck portrait revealed that it had been overpainted several times throughout its history, with Margaret's original facial expression made more sombre and pious.
[86]
Ancestry
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Margaret Beaufort
[87]
|
---|
|
Depictions in the media
[
edit
]
In historical fiction
[
edit
]
- Betty King,
The Lady Margaret
(1965), a story about the marriage of Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, parents of King Henry VII
- Betty King,
The King's Mother
(1969), sequel to the above, the story of the widowed Margaret Beaufort, mother of the future King Henry VII
- Iris Gower
,
Destiny's Child
(1999). This novel was originally published in 1974 as
Bride of the Thirteenth Summer
, under the name Iris Davies.
- Philippa Gregory
, in the series
The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels
(in publication order):
[89]
- Rebecca Gable
,
Das Spiel der Konige
(translated:
The Game of Kings
) (2007), the third installment (1455?1485) of the Waringham series by the German author; Margaret ("Megan") Beaufort is one of the characters
- Livi Michael,
Succession
(2014), about Margaret of Anjou and Margaret Beaufort
On screen
[
edit
]
- Lady Margaret was portrayed by Marigold Sharman in eight of the thirteen episodes of the
BBC
's
Shadow of the Tower
(1972) with
James Maxwell
as her son Henry VII.
- Channel 4 and RDF Media produced a drama about
Perkin Warbeck
for British television in 2005,
Princes in the Tower
. It was directed by Justin Hardy and starred Sally Edwards as Lady Margaret, opposite
Paul Hilton
as Henry VII,
Mark Umbers
as Warbeck, and Nadia Cameron Blakey as Elizabeth of York.
- In 2013,
Amanda Hale
portrayed Lady Margaret Beaufort in the television drama series,
The White Queen
, an adaptation of Gregory's novels, which was shown on
BBC One
,
Starz
, and
VRT
.
- In the 2017 series
The White Princess
(a follow-up to
The White Queen
), Margaret is portrayed by
Michelle Fairley
. She is portrayed later in life by
Harriet Walter
in 2019's
The Spanish Princess
, a follow-up to both
The White Queen
and
The White Princess
.
- Margaret is the main protagonist of the three-part 2021 series,
Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors
, wherein the story of the
Wars of the Roses
is dramatised and told from three viewpoints: the
House of York
, the
House of Lancaster
and Margaret herself. Margaret is portrayed by two actors (younger and older); Nina Marlin and Phoebe Sparrow.
In music
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
- Christopher Urswick
? priest and confessor of Margaret Beaufort. Messenger between her and Henry Tudor in exile.
Notes and references
[
edit
]
- ^
Jones & Underwood 2004
- ^
The History of Christ's College
; accessed 22 June 2015
- ^
St. John's College History
; accessed 1 March 2019
- ^
College Timeline
, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, accessed 4 June 2021.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, 34.
- ^
Tallis, Nicola (2020).
Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
. London: Michael O'Mara Books Limited. p. 9.
ISBN
978-1-7892-9258-9
.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, Michael & Malcolm (1985). "LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT".
History Today
.
35
: 23 – via JSTOR.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, 33?36.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 27.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2012).
Blood Sisters
. p. 36.
- ^
a
b
c
Jones & Underwood, 37.
- ^
Richardson, Henry Gerald, Sayles, George Osborne (1993).
The English Parliament in the Middle Ages
. Continuum International Publishing Group.
ISBN
0-9506-8821-5
. Retrieved
25 July
2009
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Wood, Diana (2003).
Women and religion in medieval England
. Oxbow.
ISBN
1-8421-7098-8
. Retrieved
25 July
2009
.
- ^
a
b
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 32.
- ^
Bevan, Richard.
"The Kingmaker Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty"
.
A&E Networks
. Retrieved
6 December
2021
.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 49.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 48.
- ^
Tallis, Nicola (2020).
Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
. London: Michael O'Mara Books Limited. p. 58.
ISBN
978-1-7892-9258-9
.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 70.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, Michael & Malcolm (1992).
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 49.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 114.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, 58.
- ^
Jones & Underwood 1993
, p. 144
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. pp. 126?35.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 163.
- ^
Westminster Abbey: Coronation of Richard III
, westminster-abbey.org; accessed 17 August 2013.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. pp. 195?6.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 200.
- ^
Jones, Michael K. (1992).
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 259.
- ^
Jones, Michael K. (1992).
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 4.
- ^
Buck, George (1619).
The History of the Life and Reigne of Richard the Third
. London: Creative Media Partners, LLC. p. 36.
- ^
Vergil, Polydore (1555).
Anglica Historia
.
- ^
Extracts Regarding Margaret, Countess of Richmon
. Lansdowne Manuscripts. p. 83.
- ^
Ronald H. Fritze; William Baxter Robison (2002).
Historical dictionary of late medieval England, 1272?1485
. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 77.
ISBN
978-0-3132-9124-1
. Retrieved
5 April
2013
.
- ^
Kendall, Paul (2002).
Richard the Third
. Norton.
- ^
Parliament (1483). "6. An Act for the Attaynder of Margaret Coutesse of Richmond".
Rotuli Parliamentorum
.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 226.
- ^
Elizabeth Norton (1 June 2012).
Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty
. Amberley Publishing Limited. pp. 35ff.
ISBN
978-1-4456-0734-4
.
- ^
Seward, Desmond (1995).
The Wars of the Roses: And the Lives of Five Men and Women in the Fifteenth Century
. London: Constable and Company Limited. p. 326.
- ^
Christ’s College Book of Donors, Cambridge 1623
- ^
his story, her story: Interview with Amy Licence
, 1 February 2013; accessed 19 August 2013.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, 292.
- ^
Krug 2002
, p. 85
- ^
Arlene Okerlund,
Elizabeth: England's Slandered Queen
, Stroud: Tempus, 2006, p. 245.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. pp. 257?9.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 258.
- ^
a
b
Jones, Michael K. (1992).
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 99.
- ^
The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England
. Woodbridge, London: The Boydell Press. 2005. pp. 126?7.
- ^
The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England
. Woodbridge, London: The Boydell Press. 2005. pp. 126?7.
- ^
Ward, Jennifer C. (1992).
English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages
. University of California: Longman. p. 102.
- ^
Vergil, Polydore (2018).
The Anglica Historia of Polydore Vergil, A. D. 1485?1537, edited by D. Hay
. University of Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 411.
- ^
Letter by Henry VII
. Saint John's College, Annapolis: SJLM D 91.23. 1504. pp. 110?111.
- ^
Brown, Rawdon (1519).
Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice Volume 2
. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 556?565.
- ^
Campbell, William (1886).
Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII
. New York: Bibliolife DBA of Bibilio Bazaar II LLC. p. 532.
- ^
a
b
Jones & Underwood 1993
, pp. 181?84
- ^
Harris, Barbara (1990). "Women and Politics in Early Tudor England".
The Historical Journal
.
33
(2): 269.
doi
:
10.1017/S0018246X00013327
.
S2CID
154533002
– via JSTOR.
- ^
Tallis, Nicola (2020).
Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
. London: Michael O'Mara Books Limited. p. 221.
ISBN
978-1-7892-9258-9
.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 281.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 310.
- ^
Jones & Underwood, Michael & Malcolm (1985). "LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT".
History Today
.
35
: 25 – via JSTOR.
- ^
King Henry VII (n.d.) King Henry VII to his mother, Margaret Countess of Richmond. In
Original letters illustrative of English history; including numerous royal letters; from autographs in the British Museum, the State Paper office, and one or two other collections
, edited by Sir Henry Ellis. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^
Gristwood, Sarah (2013).
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
. New York: Basic Books. p. 316.
- ^
Rosemary O'Day (26 July 2012).
The Routledge Companion to the Tudor Age
. Routledge. p. 5.
ISBN
978-1-1369-6253-0
.
- ^
Seward, Desmond (1995).
The Wars of the Roses: And the Lives of Five Men and Women in the Fifteenth Century
. London: Constable and Company Limited. p. 332.
- ^
"Margaret Beaufort"
. Westminster Abbey Official site
. Retrieved
22 August
2013
.
- ^
Wyatt, Michael,
The Italian Encounter with Tudor England: A Cultural Politics of Translation
, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 47.
- ^
Robert Forsyth Scott,
'Contracts for the tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort',
Archaeologia
, 66 (1915) p. 368
- ^
a
b
c
"Lady Margaret Beaufort"
. Westminster Abbey
. Retrieved
24 June
2016
.
- ^
John Hymers, ed. (1840),
The Funeral Sermon of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, Mother to Henry VII, and Foundress of Christ's and St John's College in Cambridge, Preached by Bishop Fisher in 1509
, Cambridge University Press
- ^
Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran (14 July 2014).
The Growth of English Schooling, 1340?1548: Learning, Literacy, and Laicization in Pre-Reformation York Diocese
. Princeton University Press. pp. 162ff.
ISBN
978-1-4008-5616-9
.
- ^
a
b
Jones & Underwood 1993
, pp. 218?219
- ^
Collinson, Rex & Stanton 2003
- ^
Charles Henry Cooper (1861).
Memorials of Cambridge: St. Peter's College
. W. Metcalfe. pp.
9
ff.
- ^
Collinson, Rex & Stanton 2003
, p. 21
- ^
"Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, Christ Church, Oxford"
(PDF)
.
University of Oxford
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 13 November 2018
. Retrieved
23 June
2016
.
- ^
Michael K. Jones; Malcolm G. Underwood (22 April 1993).
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
. Cambridge University Press. pp. 13ff.
ISBN
978-0-5214-4794-2
.
- ^
Profile
, historytoday.com; accessed 24 March 2016.
- ^
Robinson, W.J. (1915).
West Country Churches
. Bristol: Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd. pp. 6?10.
- ^
National Archives. SD Margaret Beaufort Middle School, Riseley
. Accessed 11 September 2013
- ^
"Cambridge: Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology celebrates Silver Jubilee"
.
Independent Catholic News
. 16 October 2018
. Retrieved
29 January
2022
.
- ^
"Why Study With Us?"
.
Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
. Archived from
the original
on 19 February 2020
. Retrieved
29 January
2022
.
- ^
"About Us"
.
Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
. Retrieved
29 January
2022
.
- ^
Strong, Roy,
Tudor & Jacobean Portraits
, The National Portrait Gallery, London 1969, p.20
- ^
The Burlington Magazine
. Burlington Magazine Publications Limited. 1908. p. 206.
- ^
Chen, Andrew and Charlotte Bolland. “'Meynnart Wewyck and the Portrait of Lady Margaret Beaufort in the Master's Lodge at St John's College, Cambridge', The Burlington Magazine 161 (April 2019): 314?19.”
- ^
St. John's College, Cambridge,
Painting of Lady Margaret Beaufort smuggled to Cambridge to protect it from King Henry VIII’s henchmen unveiled
,
https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/painting-lady-margaret-beaufort-smuggled-cambridge-protect-it-king-henry-viiis-henchmen-unveiled
- ^
Neil D. Thompson and Charles M. Hansen,
The Ancestry of Charles II, King of England
(American Society of Genealogists, 2012).
- ^
Alison Weir
,
My lady the king's mother: images of Margaret Beaufort
16 September 2020; accessed 28 January 2022.
- ^
Gregory, Philippa.
"Philippa Gregory - Reading Order"
. Retrieved
18 May
2022
.
Works cited
[
edit
]
- Collinson, Patrick
;
Rex, Richard
;
Stanton, Graham
(2003),
Lady Margaret Beaufort and Her Professors of Divinity at Cambridge: 1502 to 1649
,
Cambridge University Press
,
ISBN
0-5215-3310-4
- Jones, Michael K.; Underwood, Malcolm G. (1993),
The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby
,
Cambridge University Press
,
ISBN
0-5214-4794-1
- Jones, Michael K. & Underwood, Malcolm G. (2004).
"Beaufort, Margaret [
known as
Lady Margaret Beaufort], countess of Richmond and Derby (1443?1509), royal matriarch"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/1863
. Archived from
the original
on 9 February 2019.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- Krug, Rebecca (2002).
Reading Families: Women's Literate Practice in Late Medieval England
. Cornell University Press.
ISBN
0-8014-3924-8
.
OCLC
49332841
.
OL
3552889M
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
Key figures
| Monarchs
| |
---|
Lancaster
Tudor
|
- Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England
- Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England
4
- Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
- Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
- Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset
- John Beaumont, Viscount Beaumont
- Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset
- John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley
- James Butler, Earl of Ormond
- John Butler, Earl of Ormond
- John Clifford, Baron Clifford
- John Courtenay, Earl of Devon
- Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter
- John Neville, Baron Neville
2
- John Neville, Marquess of Montagu
3
- Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
3
- Thomas Neville, Bastard of Fauconberg
3
- Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland
- Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland
- Thomas Ros, Baron Ros
- Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
4
- Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
- Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby
- George Stanley, Baron Strange
- William Stanley
4
- George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
- John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
- Andrew Trollope
- Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford
- James Tuchet, Baron Audley
- Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond
- Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke
5
- Margaret Beaufort
- Owen Tudor
- Edward Woodville, Lord Scales
|
---|
York
|
- Anne Neville, Queen of England
- John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln
- Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond
- William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke
- William Hastings, Baron Hastings
- John Howard, Duke of Norfolk
- Francis Lovell, Viscount Lovell
- John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
- Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury
- Sir Thomas Neville
- William Neville, Earl of Kent
- Sir Richard Herbert
- Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland
- George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence
1
- Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon
- Margaret of York
- Richard of York
|
---|
|
---|
Events
| |
---|
See also
| |
---|
1
Briefly joined the Lancastrians.
2
Briefly joined the Yorkists.
3
Defected from the Yorkist to the Lancastrian cause.
4
Initially a Yorkist who later supported the Tudor claim.
5
Initially a Lancastrian who later supported the Tudor claim.
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
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Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
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Other
| |
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