Margret Beaufort's political and emotional savvy, and her efforts to keep her treasured son alive during the bloodiest time in England's history.
Born in 1443, the one surviving child of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, Margaret Beaufort became a rich heiress at the tender age of eight, upon her father's untimely death. She had been betrothed to John de la pole, however this engagement was broken when she was taken into wardship by Henry VI. Instead, at the age or 12 she was married to Edmund Tudor, 13 years her senior, and she soon fell pregnant with the only child she would ever conceive.
When Tudor died in 1456, the seven month pregnant Beaufort moved to Pembroke Castle, home of her brother-in-law Jasper, and on January 28th, 1457, she gave birth to a son, Henry Tudor.
After the shortest period of mourning, Margaret set out in search for her ticket to a chance of survival, a new husband. The year she married her second husband, Henry Stafford, was the same year Henry VI was locked up in the tower and contained as a lunatic, meaning when Yorkist Edward IV took the throne in 1461, her young son was snatched away from her, instead raised under the watch of Lord Herbert of Raglan - who had also taken control of Jasper Tudor's Pembroke Castle. Beaufort did well in gaining the new king's favour, and gained a proportion of her and her son's lands back, until in 1470 when Henry VI briefly took the throne again.
Margaret's world was thrown into chaos, as accusations flew that she had supported Edward VI, however these accusations were soon replaced with a new panic as the Yorkists once again took the throne after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, and her 15-yr-old son Henry was left as the only surviving male of the House of Lancaster, the only threat left to Edward VI's crown. Along with Jasper's help, Margaret found safe passage for her son, and he was spirited away to Brittany.
During Edward VI's reign, Margaret tries hard to regain favour for her son, convincing the King he is no threat to the crown, and when she is her closest to succeeding, Edward dies, leaving the two infamous Princes in the Tower as heirs. However, when Richard III is crowned King in 1483, she finds herself stuck at the beginning again.
The difference this time is that Margaret now strongly believed the monarch was a usurper, and instead began plotting with Elizabeth Woodville (Edward VI's widow who had been treated abominably by Richard) to bring her son back to take the throne. She is married again, this time to Thomas, Lord Stanley, head of a powerful Yorkist family, however her plans for her son's return are delayed after it takes her two years to convince her husband and his family to join her cause.
Elizabeth Woodville had agreed after Margaret sent a messenger to Westminster (where they were in hiding) to offer a marriage proposal between her son, Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York, Woodville's eldest. The union meant the joining of the two families that had resulted in a civil war lasting 30 years, it was genius.
Beaufort also personally convinced the Duke of Buckingham, a previously staunch Yorkist, to back her cause, and all seemed to be well until Richard uncovered her plot in September 1483. He had Buckingham executed for treason, however he was merciful to Margaret, instead ordering her husband, Stanley, to keep her under house arrest to avoid any more schemes. Stanley, however, failed, and whilst Richard was convinced she was all but locked up, Margaret was working discreetly to continue her plot, and by summer 1485, her son was ready to sail for England.
In August, he landed in Pembroke bay, just miles away from his birth place, and defeated Richard's army at the Battle of Bosworth on the 22nd September 1485.
Stanley's support had been a deciding factor at Bosworth, and it is undoubtable that Henry would not have been crowned if it had not been for his mother's scheming mind and calculating decisions.
Henry noted his mother's genius, and granted her the rights and privileges of a "sole person, not wife nor covert of any husband," allowing her personal control over her extensive properties "in as large a form as any woman now may do within the realm." She was "my Lady the King's mother," and as such she signed herself "Margaret R." and in court held the place of honorary Queen Dowager.
After her beloved son was crowned, Margaret Beaufort retired her plots and schemes and instead turned her talents to overseeing the royal household. She helped make ordinances and became a known Patroness at the University of Cambridge, as well as a great benefactor to the poor. Her interests in charity and education sprang from her deep religious devotions. A pious woman, she spent several hours a day in prayer, and attended at least four Masses a day . Margaret Beaufort was also known to fast and to wear a hair shirt on some occasions.
Margaret survived to see her only surviving grandson crowned as Henry VIII, and at her funeral in July 1509, her life long friend John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester spoke: "the poor creatures that were wont to receive her alms …the students of both the Universities, to whom she was as a mother; all the learned men of England, to whom she was a very patroness; all the virtuous and devout persons, to whom she was as a loving sister; … all the good priests and clerics, to whom she was a true defendress; all the noble men and women, to whom she was a mirror, an example of honour; all the common people of this realm, for whom she was in their causes a common mediatrix, and took right great pleasure for them."
For many, Beaufort is a strong example of a woman who exceeded politically in a time when no woman could, and her undying love and ambition for her only son, founder of the greatest dynasty in English History, who she birthed at just 13 is a feat not many did, or could, live up to.
Further research on Lady Margaret Beaufort:
Uncrowned Queen - Nichola Tallis
The House of Beaufort - Nathan Amin
The War of the Roses: A Mother's Love (Part 4 of 4) - Real Royalty
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