Women of the White Queen - Lady Margaret Beaufort
Lady Margaret
Beaufort was born on May 31, 1443. Her
father was John Beaufort, the 1st Duke of Somerset, a grandson of
John of Gaunt and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford. The Beauforts were seen as acquisitive and
ambitious, ruthless and unscrupulous, traits which John of Gaunt was often
accused. Despite subsequent kings’ favor,
the prejudice against the Beauforts origins remained. No matter how much money
and power they acquired, they were barred from the throne (Henry VII got around
this because he was only a Beaufort on his mother’s side).
Her mother
was Margaret Beauchamp, a widowed heiress with several children. Poor John Beaufort had endured 17 years as a
prisoner of war, the longest imprisonment of any English aristocrat during the
Hundred Years War. Henry V had decreed
that there would be no prison exchange with the French unless they swore to uphold
England’s rights to the throne of France, which they were not prepared to
do. It wasn’t until Henry VI reached his
majority that John was released in exchange for the Count of Eu. By the time of his release, John was an
embittered man, broken in both body and spirit, heavily in debt. Margaret
believed that Henry VI had saved her father’s life, and as a result she revered
the king throughout her life. That’s
understandable; she wouldn’t exist if Henry hadn’t gotten her father freed.
Margaret
never knew her father; he died before she was a year old. At the time of her birth, he was preparing to
go to France to lead an important military expedition. It not only failed spectacularly, but
Beaufort’s behavior led him to be arrested.
While he was abroad in France, he took every opportunity to enrich
himself. He was about to be tried for treason when he died, allegedly a
suicide, which was covered up. Margaret was his only child, and suddenly at the
age of one, she was a very wealthy little girl.
Before he left for France, John had negotiated with the King that in
case of his death, Margaret’s wardship and marriage would belong only to his
wife.
After her
father’s death, her wardship was given to William de la Pole, 1st
Duke of Suffolk. However, she was allowed to remain with her mother. As Suffolk’s star fell, he betrothed Margaret
to his son, looking to secure his son’s future.
The marriage was later dissolved and Margaret never counted it as one of
her marriages. Under canon law, since
she was under twelve at the time of the marriage, it didn’t count. After
Suffolk’s fall from grace and death, Henry gave her wardship to his
half-brothers, Jasper and Edmund Tudor.
Margaret’s
first real marriage was to Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond when she was 12, and
he was 24. Although 12 was not considered
too young to consummate a marriage, most couples waited until the bride was
older, say 14. Not Edmund Tudor, even though Margaret looked young for her age,
and probably hadn’t even hit puberty yet. He wanted to make sure she was pregnant as
quickly as possible. As long as she produced an heir, he would enjoy a life
interest in her estates even if she and the child died. The consummation and subsequent pregnancy
caused Margaret untold psychological and physical damage. One historian has
compared the consummation of their marriage to marital rape. Years later, Margaret prevented her namesake
granddaughter’s marriage to King James IV of Scotland from happening too soon,
sensing that the groom couldn’t be trust not to consummate the marriage while
she was still a pre-teen.
At an age,
when some girls were still playing with dolls, Margaret was married, pregnant
and living in Wales which was like living in the Wild, Wild West. Her husband was Henry VI’s lieutenant in the
region. Edmund soon clashed with supporters
of the Duke of York. He was captured and imprisoned in Carmarthen Castle where
he died of the plague. Margaret was
almost seven months pregnant and now a widow.
She managed to get to her brother-in-law Jasper’s castle where she gave
birth to her only child Henry Tudor on January 28, 1457. Her labor was arduous
and at one point it looked like both mother and child might not make it. The
birth left Margaret unable to have more children, and her marriage made the
thought of sex repugnant to her.
Although her
first experience of marriage wasn’t a winner, Margaret quickly cast around for
a husband. Her chief aim was to avoid
another husband being forced upon her. Margaret
settled on Henry Stafford, the younger son of the Duke of Buckingham. It was a shrewd choice, a political
transaction, not a personal one. Humphrey Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, was
the most important member of the Lancastrian court. He was great-grandson of
Edward III on his mother’s side, and supported her uncle, Edmund Beaufort, the
2nd Duke of Somerset. It
shows just how ballsy Margaret was at 13, negotiating with a 54 year-old peer
of the realm. Almost four months after
the birth of her son, Margaret was getting married again. A dispensation was needed since she and Henry
were second cousins. One was granted, and they were married on April 6, 1547.
But the
curtain was closing on the Lancastrian regime. Over the next four years, as the
situation worsened between the Yorkist faction and the supporters of the King,
Humphrey Stafford was slain and her former father-in-law Owen Tudor was
executed at Mortimer Cross in 1461. That same year at Towton, the Lancastrian
army was defeated and Edward, Earl of March, was now King Edward IV. Jasper Tudor fled to France, along with her
Beaufort cousins. Margaret had shown
that she was a pragmatic woman. In order to safeguard her fortunes, she and her
husband sought a rapprochement with Edward who was in a forgiving mood. Unfortunately, the wardship of her son Henry
Tudor was given to Lord Herbert. It
meant that Henry was now living with the Herberts at their castle in Wales.
Henry was treated well there, and Margaret was allowed to see him occasionally.
This was a
time of upheaval for Margaret’s family.
Her cousin Henry, after being pardoned and embraced by the King, thought
better of it and fled to Scotland, returning with a small army. He was defeated
at Hexam in 1464, the King stripping him of all aristocratic insignia before
executing him. In 1465, Parliament passed an action against the Beaufort’s,
formally confiscating all their landed possessions. Margaret was not going to let her families’
actions get in the way of her son’s future.
Her concern was solely to protect the interests of her son, the most
important person in her life. Her mother-in-law had remarried to Edward’s
treasurer, Lord Mountjoy and her husband’s nephew had married the Queen’s
sister Katherine Woodville. Her ability
to cultivate alliances gave her an entree into the Yorkist court. These
connections helped to soften the King’s hostility.
Margaret was
now seen more as a Stafford than a Beaufort. Before too long Edward returned the Beaufort
manor in Woking to Margaret. She and her
husband rose high enough in the King’s favor that they even entertained him at
their home, always a huge undertaking. What must have been going through
Margaret’s head as she wined and dined the man who was responsible for so many
deaths in her family? At the same time, there must have been a tremendous amount
of pride and achievement that she had risen so far. But the Wheel
of Fortune turned towards the Lancasters again.
The Earl of Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence successfully joined
forces with Marguerite of Anjou to restore Henry VI to the throne. Margaret now took her place at the Lancastrian
court, confident that the future was secure for her and her son. Mother and son
had an audience with the King, who evidently said something that indicated to
Margaret that her son’s destiny was entwined with the crown.
Just when
Margaret thought everything was secure, the Wheel of Fortune swung back towards
the Yorks again. The Earl of Warwick made several blunders; he was pressured by
the King of France to wage war against France’s enemy the Duke of Burgundy, in
exchange for Marguerite of Anjou and her forces being allowed to journey to
England. In retaliation, Burgundy
decided to supply his brother-in-law Edward IV with ships, men, and money. Once Edward arrived in England, Warwick
delayed in confronting Edward and his army.
This gave Edward time to woo his brother, George, back over to his
side. Margaret was never one to let her
emotions cloud her political judgment. Now she had a hard choice to make, should she continue
to support Henry VI (who she revered as a saint) and the Lancastrian cause, or
support the Yorks? If Edward IV was successful in regaining the throne,
Margaret knew he would not be so forgiving a second time. Her cousin, Edmund Beaufort, made his case
for the Lancastrian cause, but Margaret’s husband, Lord Henry had already
decided to support Edward. Always
thinking about her first priority which was her son, Margaret agreed with him.
The battle of
Tewkesbury where Marguerite and Henry VI’s son, Edward Prince of Wales, was
killed ended the Lancastrian hopes. Edward
IV was determined to eliminate his opponents once and for al. Henry VI was
quietly eliminated in the Tower of London.
Edmund Beaufort was dragged out of Tewkesbury Abbey along with other
Lancastrian supporters and executed.
Margaret’s son, Henry Tudor, fled along with his uncle Jasper, intending
to head to France. Severe storms landed
them instead in Brittany where they spent most of the next 14 years. Margaret’s husband, Henry Stafford, in
October of 1471 from the injuries he’d received in the earlier battle of
Barnet.
She wasn’t a
widow for long. Looking for a husband
who was in a powerful position at the Yorkist court, Margaret settled on
Thomas, Lord Stanley (who was also the King of Mann), the steward of Edward’s
court. His son, George, was married to
the Queen’s niece. It was yet another
practical and political marriage like her first but the couple seems to have
grown fond of each other. Although some
historians believe that Margaret never considered herself a member of the Stanley
family. By 1480, Margaret was cozy enough with the royal family to be named god
mother to Bridget of York. She had even
opened negotiations with Edward for a pardon for her son so that he could
return from exile. But Edward died suddenly in April of 1483 which put the
kibosh on the pardon. The kingdom was in
flux until Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seized the throne from his nephew
Edward V.
Once again
Margaret showed her pragmatic side, showing support for Richard III, bearing
his Queen’s train at the coronation and attending the banquet afterwards. While her husband was away on progress with
the King, Margaret began to have her doubts about her support. It may have been
that Jasper and Henry Tudor refused to support the new king which meant that Margaret’s
hopes of seeing her son again were dashed while Richard held the throne. There
is an intriguing theory that Margaret may have had something to do with the
deaths of the Princes in the Tower. No
contemporary chronicler or source blamed Margaret but would they have suspected
a woman? Regardless of who was behind the disappearance of the princes in the tower,
Margaret now took a leading role in the uprising planned against Richard III.
She now proposed that her son marry Elizabeth of York, claiming the throne for
himself. But Richard crushed the rebellion.
By the time that Henry Tudor landed at Dorset, the rebel cause was lost
for the moment. Margaret’s role in the rebellion
was soon no secret. Richard initially contemplated executing her for treason.
Her life was spared because of her husband’s loyalty during the rebellion.
Instead, Margaret was stripped of her titles and estates, and placed under
house arrest by her husband. 
After her son’s
victory against Richard at Bosworth, aided in part by her husband and his son,
mother and son met for the first time in almost fifteen years. As a present, he
gave her Richard III’s book of hours. It was a symbol of how much Richard and
Margaret had in common, both extremely devout but politically ruthless. The fact that her son had been able to defeat
Richard with a much smaller army must have seemed to Margaret some sort of
divine intervention. After the battle,
it was Stanley who placed the crown on Henry’s head. He was later made the Earl
of Derby by the King as a reward.
In 1499,
Margaret took a vow of chastity with her husband’s permission. She moved away from her husband to her new
manor of Collyweston. Her husband regularly visited her there, and Margaret
reserved rooms for him. Margaret was now
referred to as “My Lady the King’s Mother.”
Parliament recognized that she had the right to own property
independently of her husband as if she were unmarried. Mother and son were devoted to each other. Towards
the end of Henry’s reign, she was given a special commission to administer
justice in the north of England. Even
her signature changed from M. Richmond to Margaret R. Although Elizabeth of
York was Queen consort, one could say that Margaret was really her son’s
partner. She was reluctant to accept a
lower status than her daughter-in-law. Instead, she wore robes of the same
quality as the Queen, and she walked only a half a pace behind her instead of
the usual two or three paces.
Margaret was
named the principal executor of her son’s will, arranging his funeral and the
coronation of her grandson, Henry VIII.
She managed to live long enough to see her grandson’s 18th
birthday before passing away two months after the death of her son. She is buried in the Henry VII’s Lady Chapel
of Westminster Abbey.
Lady Margaret Hall, the first women's college at the University of Oxford is named in her honor.
Sources:
David
Baldwin, Philippa Gregory & Michael Jones – The Women of the Cousins' War:
The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother, Touchstone, 2011Sarah Gristwood – Blood Sisters: The Women behind the Wars of the Roses, Basic Books, 2013
Elizabeth Norton – Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty, Amberley, September 2010
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