(Cover image – © Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery)
On this day, 29th of June 1509, the mother of King Henry VII and grandmother to King Henry VIII died at the age of 66. Lady Margaret Beaufort had been a huge influence on politics at the time and had lived an eventful life - one that had caused her much anguish, strife, and struggle. However, through her sacrifices, this remarkable woman ensured that her own blood rose to royalty, leaving behind a legacy that remains legendary today.
But how did Margaret rise in standing? Why did her son become king? And how, in the end, did she die?
Margaret was the daughter of John Beaufort, the Duke of Somerset, a nobleman and commander in the Hundred Years’ War, and a relative of John of Gaunt, who was the son of the famed King Edward III.
Upon her father’s death and as his only surviving child, Margaret inherited his wealth and lands at a young age. However, by her first birthday, the King had passed the wardship of these lands onto another - William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
To ensure that the De la Pole family kept Margaret’s inherited land and gained a claim to the throne through her heritage, it was arranged that William’s son, John, would marry Margaret. At this time, she was only between 1 and 3 years old. This marriage was dissolved three years later, and King Henry VI passed Margaret’s wardship on to his half-brothers, Edmund and Jasper Tudor {1}.
Unfortunately for Margaret, the King later decided that her blood and claim to the throne was much too valuable to allow just anyone to obtain. Therefore, it was decided that Margaret would marry Edmund Tudor as a way to ‘strengthen Edmund’s claim to the throne’ {1}, should Henry VI not produce an heir.
In 1455 at the age of 12, Margaret married Edmund, who was 24 at the time.
As the Wars of the Roses had just begun, Edmund was keen to ensure that he had his own Lancastrian heir. Whilst he was captured as a prisoner by the Yorkists and died of the plague in captivity less than a year after his marriage, he left the then 13-year-old Margaret pregnant with his child {2}.
Under the care of Edmund’s brother, Jasper, at Pembroke Castle {1}, Margaret later gave birth to her son, Henry Tudor. It is known that Margaret’s experience of giving birth was not a pleasant one and that, due to her age, she almost did not survive. Due to this physical and mental trauma, Margaret did not have any more children and Henry remained her sole heir.
In the ongoing Wars of the Roses, it was Edward IV of York who eventually won the throne from the Lancastrians. As a Lancastrian herself, and her son having one of the closest ties to the Lancastrian throne, Margaret became rather unpopular and lost favour in the eyes of the - now Yorkist - court.
Her son, Henry, kept his entitled lands for a while and was raised by Sir William Herbert {1}, a York loyalist. However, these were eventually stripped from him and passed on to the new King’s brother. For his own safety, Margaret pleaded with Jasper Tudor to take her son away from England, meaning that she did not see Henry for fourteen years.
. . .
When her son did eventually return to England to take the crown for himself as the last remaining Lancastrian heir, defeating Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, Margaret was referred to by the court as ‘My Lady the King’s Mother’ and finally secured legal, political and social autonomy for herself {1}.
Henry reigned as king until his death in 1509, whereby he left his mother as the chief executor of his will and trusted her with the succession of his son, the new king, Henry VIII.
Margaret prepared both her son’s funeral and her grandson’s coronation, and she was ‘given precedence’ over all the other women of the royal family {3}.
During her grandson’s ascent, she also advised him on who to take on as his privy councillors, and it is said that he heeded her advice and wisdom.
Soon after Henry VIII’s coronation and two months after the death of her son, Margaret became very unwell. The cause of her death remains unknown, but rumour has it that the immediate cause of Margaret’s illness was attributed to eating a cygnet (a young swan) for dinner {4}.
Margaret died on 29th June 1509 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
References:
Lady Margaret Beaufort. (2021). Historic UK.
Bevan, Richard. (2021). The Kingmaker Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty. A&E Networks.
Rosemary O’Day. (2012). The Routledge Companion to the Tudor Age. Routledge.
Margaret Beaufort: Life Story. (2015). Tudor Times.