The Wars of the Roses is probably one of my favorite periods in history. The period has risen in popularity somewhat in the past few years due to television shows like Game of Thrones (yeah!) and The Tudors (booooo). Basically, the Plantagenets (whose symbol was the white rose) and the Tudors (whose symbol was the red rose) fought for the throne of England. The Plantagenets were known as a lusty bunch, and the stage for the Wars of the Roses and the Yorks and Lancasters came from two of the sons of Edward III. Edward and his wife, Philippa of Hainault had nine children, including the"Black Prince", Edward, who predeceased his father and whose son Richard II, became King of England. (We will talk about Edward's wife, Joan, on a separate post.) The two sons in question are John, Duke of Lancaster and Edmund, Duke of York.
John was often called "John of Gaunt" as he was born in Ghent, Belgium. He married three times-Blanche of Lancaster, Infanta Constance of Castile and Katherine Swynford. Blanche was the daughter of the Duke of Lancaster. When the Duke of Lancaster died, his two daughters inherited equal portions of the estate; the older, Maud, inherited the Earldom of Leicester while her sister Blanche inherited the Earldom of Lancaster,which was part of Blanche's dowry. When Maud died about a year later, John inherited her portion as well. Edward III made John the Duke of Lancaster in 1362.
Blanche died at the young age of 22-23. The children of John and Blanche had a governess named Katherine de Roet Swynford. Y'all see where this is going. John and Katherine had an affair that began sometime after Blanche's death and lasted throughout his subsequent marriage to Constance of Castile and finally culminated in their marriage in 1396. This affair produced four children. Those children were born out of wedlock . The children- surnamed Beaufort- were legitimized on the occasion of their parents' marriage but the legitimization had conditions. Henry IV barred the Beauforts from the line of succession, so they could not inherit the throne. The stain of bastardy and subsequent legitimacy didn't affect the children too much, the children and grandchildren became dukes, earls/countesses, cardinals and a queen (Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland). One of the Beaufort great grandchildren (and the most significant one to the Wars of the Roses) was a little girl named Margaret Beaufort. More on Margaret Beaufort in a bit.
The York line came from Edward III's fourth son, Edmund of Langley. Edmund was a soldier who accompanied his father on numerous military campaigns. Edmund married Isabella of Castile (sister of his brother John's second wife Constance....confused yet?) and their marriage produced three children: Edward of Norwich (2nd Duke of York), Constance of York and Richard of Coinsburgh. Edward was killed at the battle of Agincourt. Constance married and became the great grandmother of Anne Neville. Richard became the father of the 3rd Duke of York and grandfather of both Edward IV and Richard III.
Now that we have the major players and understand the lines of descent (more or less) we can talk about Margaret Beaufort, one of the most famous women of the Wars of the Roses. I will caveat this by saying that Margaret is NOT one of my favorite women in history. I believe her to be calculating, ruthless, zealous to the point of fanaticism and overly haughty, and I personally believe that she was the person responsible for the deaths of the Princes in the Tower as she (and Henry VI) had everything to gain and nothing to lose from their deaths. In fairness, though, if you look at her life you may understand why she became this way. So let's look into Margaret's life a bit.
Margaret was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe. John was the grandson of John of Gaunt. Somerset was planning a military expedition to France on behalf of Henry IV and negotiated with Henry IV that should he die that the wardship and marriage rights of his daughter Margaret would be given only to his wife. This is more significant than many realize as daughters,particularly wealthy ones, were used to cement alliances with other powerful families. Somerset went on his military campaign but when he returned he fell out with Henry VI and died soon thereafter. At the time of his death Somerset was facing banishment from court and charges of treason. Some say that he died of an illness(fever), but others believe he committed suicide. This left Margaret as the sole heir to his estate. Despite the arrangement made with Somerset, Henry VI arranged for Margaret's marriage to John de la Pole, the son of the first Duke of Suffolk. John was only a year or so older than Margaret. It was fairly common in this time for marriages between children of powerful and wealthy families to be made while the prospective spouses were still in the cradle. However, this marriage was annulled a few years later and Margaret herself never recognized this marriage.
Margaret's wardship was given to the two half brothers of Henry VI- Jasper and Edmund Tudor. These men were the children of the former queen Catherine of Valois, who scandalously married her husband's squire, Owen Tudor. When Margaret was about 12, she was married to the 24 year old Edmund Tudor. Though marriage between a girl of such tender years to a grown man twice her age is abhorrent to our modern sensitivities it was a fairly common age for girls to be married in the time, though such marriages were not usually consummated until the young lady was a bit more mature and able to physically withstand the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth. This marriage, however, was obviously consummated as Margaret became pregnant at the age of about 13 with the child we know as Henry VII. The war between the Lancasters and Yorks had just begun and Edmund was captured and died of the plague while in captivity, leaving the seven months pregnant Margaret a widow. The pregnancy and birth was extremely traumatic for Margaret- she was unable to carry or birth any subsequent children and one cannot help but speculate that the cause was her young age.
When Margaret was 14 she was married for the third time to Sir Henry Stafford. The guardianship of Margaret and Henry had been given to the powerful Herbert family after Jasper went into exile upon the ascension of Edward IV to the throne. When Margaret married, however, Henry did not go with her. He stayed with the Herberts. The relationship between mother and son was mainly through letters-visits were few and far between. This practice was also common for the time- children of nobles often "fostered" with other noble families rather than be raised by their own parents. Fostering commonly started around the age of 6 or 7. Though this was common, one can only imagine how hard it was for Margaret to be separated from her child.
Margaret zealously protected her child's birthright and fervently prayed for his protection and the opportunity for him to claim the right to the throne. Margaret's fourth marriage at about 28 to Thomas Stanley,a Yorkist lord, took her to the court of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Margaret ingratiated herself into the royal circle and was even chosen as godmother to one of the royal daughters. Edward IV died and left his 11 year old son, Edward V as heir to the throne. However, the young two sons of Edward IV, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were declared bastards as their father had been precontracted to another woman before he married Elizabeth Woodville. In those days, a betrothal was a legal union and contract and promising to marry was as good as the actual deed. Richard III, therefore became king and the "Princes in the Tower" were never seen again.
Richard was married to Anne Neville. Anne was the dowager Princess of Wales as she had been married to Henry VI's son Edward of Middleham. Margaret became a lady in waiting to Anne, carrying her train at the coronation. However, she still had her son's best interests at heart- she was involved in a plot to overthrow Richard and her considerable wealth was transferred to her husband, thus preventing her from aiding the Tudors or any other anti Yorkist plot. It was during this time that Margaret plotted with Elizabeth Woodville to betroth Henry to the eldest daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth of York. This marriage would unite the York and Lancaster lines and any children would carry the blood of both families.
Most of us know what happened next- Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field and Henry Tudor became Henry VII of England. What a lot of people don't know is that one of the main reasons why Richard was defeated is because of Margaret's husband Thomas Stanley. Thomas prided himself on always being on the winning side and decided to delay his troops from coming to Richard's assistance. Richard was defeated and Stanley himself placed the crown on Henry's head.
After Henry became king, his mother's status elevated much higher than her rank of Countess of Richmond and Derby. She gave herself the title of "My Lady, The King's Mother" and as such only walked one half a pace behind the Queen, Elizabeth of York. She signed her name in the style of queen regnants- "Margaret R" instead of Countess of Richmond or M. Richmond. Her son did not forget his mother- one of the first things he did was to recognize her right to hold property on her own and separate from that of her husband. She took a vow of chastity whilst still married and lived separately from her husband for the rest of her life. Margaret was involved in many aspects of her son's life and that of the royal household, and many of the decisions that the Queen would traditionally make were made by Margaret rather than Elizabeth. Margaret decided on the marriages of her grandchildren, their education and even the protocol for "confinement" when a royal lady was preparing to give birth.
Margaret outlived her daughter in law, Elizabeth and her beloved son Henry. Henry made her the executrix of his will and she was given the highest precedence of all the ladies in his funeral procession. When her grandson Henry VIII ascended the throne, Margaret was known as "My Lady the King's Grandmother" but passed away shortly after Henry VIII's coronation, which she planned.
Like her or not, there is no argument that Henry VII's ascension to the throne was largely due to the continual machinations and undying loyalty of his mother. It was through her that he was able to make a claim to the throne and she always put him and his interests first, suffering many times financially and personally. This single minded dedication led to one of the most famous English royal dynasties- the Tudors.
Hope y'all enjoyed this first post.....next time we will explore another royal lady, this time a Plantagenet princess, who like so many of her relatives met a violent end.
John was often called "John of Gaunt" as he was born in Ghent, Belgium. He married three times-Blanche of Lancaster, Infanta Constance of Castile and Katherine Swynford. Blanche was the daughter of the Duke of Lancaster. When the Duke of Lancaster died, his two daughters inherited equal portions of the estate; the older, Maud, inherited the Earldom of Leicester while her sister Blanche inherited the Earldom of Lancaster,which was part of Blanche's dowry. When Maud died about a year later, John inherited her portion as well. Edward III made John the Duke of Lancaster in 1362.
Blanche died at the young age of 22-23. The children of John and Blanche had a governess named Katherine de Roet Swynford. Y'all see where this is going. John and Katherine had an affair that began sometime after Blanche's death and lasted throughout his subsequent marriage to Constance of Castile and finally culminated in their marriage in 1396. This affair produced four children. Those children were born out of wedlock . The children- surnamed Beaufort- were legitimized on the occasion of their parents' marriage but the legitimization had conditions. Henry IV barred the Beauforts from the line of succession, so they could not inherit the throne. The stain of bastardy and subsequent legitimacy didn't affect the children too much, the children and grandchildren became dukes, earls/countesses, cardinals and a queen (Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland). One of the Beaufort great grandchildren (and the most significant one to the Wars of the Roses) was a little girl named Margaret Beaufort. More on Margaret Beaufort in a bit.
The York line came from Edward III's fourth son, Edmund of Langley. Edmund was a soldier who accompanied his father on numerous military campaigns. Edmund married Isabella of Castile (sister of his brother John's second wife Constance....confused yet?) and their marriage produced three children: Edward of Norwich (2nd Duke of York), Constance of York and Richard of Coinsburgh. Edward was killed at the battle of Agincourt. Constance married and became the great grandmother of Anne Neville. Richard became the father of the 3rd Duke of York and grandfather of both Edward IV and Richard III.
Now that we have the major players and understand the lines of descent (more or less) we can talk about Margaret Beaufort, one of the most famous women of the Wars of the Roses. I will caveat this by saying that Margaret is NOT one of my favorite women in history. I believe her to be calculating, ruthless, zealous to the point of fanaticism and overly haughty, and I personally believe that she was the person responsible for the deaths of the Princes in the Tower as she (and Henry VI) had everything to gain and nothing to lose from their deaths. In fairness, though, if you look at her life you may understand why she became this way. So let's look into Margaret's life a bit.
Margaret was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe. John was the grandson of John of Gaunt. Somerset was planning a military expedition to France on behalf of Henry IV and negotiated with Henry IV that should he die that the wardship and marriage rights of his daughter Margaret would be given only to his wife. This is more significant than many realize as daughters,particularly wealthy ones, were used to cement alliances with other powerful families. Somerset went on his military campaign but when he returned he fell out with Henry VI and died soon thereafter. At the time of his death Somerset was facing banishment from court and charges of treason. Some say that he died of an illness(fever), but others believe he committed suicide. This left Margaret as the sole heir to his estate. Despite the arrangement made with Somerset, Henry VI arranged for Margaret's marriage to John de la Pole, the son of the first Duke of Suffolk. John was only a year or so older than Margaret. It was fairly common in this time for marriages between children of powerful and wealthy families to be made while the prospective spouses were still in the cradle. However, this marriage was annulled a few years later and Margaret herself never recognized this marriage.
Margaret's wardship was given to the two half brothers of Henry VI- Jasper and Edmund Tudor. These men were the children of the former queen Catherine of Valois, who scandalously married her husband's squire, Owen Tudor. When Margaret was about 12, she was married to the 24 year old Edmund Tudor. Though marriage between a girl of such tender years to a grown man twice her age is abhorrent to our modern sensitivities it was a fairly common age for girls to be married in the time, though such marriages were not usually consummated until the young lady was a bit more mature and able to physically withstand the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth. This marriage, however, was obviously consummated as Margaret became pregnant at the age of about 13 with the child we know as Henry VII. The war between the Lancasters and Yorks had just begun and Edmund was captured and died of the plague while in captivity, leaving the seven months pregnant Margaret a widow. The pregnancy and birth was extremely traumatic for Margaret- she was unable to carry or birth any subsequent children and one cannot help but speculate that the cause was her young age.
When Margaret was 14 she was married for the third time to Sir Henry Stafford. The guardianship of Margaret and Henry had been given to the powerful Herbert family after Jasper went into exile upon the ascension of Edward IV to the throne. When Margaret married, however, Henry did not go with her. He stayed with the Herberts. The relationship between mother and son was mainly through letters-visits were few and far between. This practice was also common for the time- children of nobles often "fostered" with other noble families rather than be raised by their own parents. Fostering commonly started around the age of 6 or 7. Though this was common, one can only imagine how hard it was for Margaret to be separated from her child.
Margaret zealously protected her child's birthright and fervently prayed for his protection and the opportunity for him to claim the right to the throne. Margaret's fourth marriage at about 28 to Thomas Stanley,a Yorkist lord, took her to the court of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Margaret ingratiated herself into the royal circle and was even chosen as godmother to one of the royal daughters. Edward IV died and left his 11 year old son, Edward V as heir to the throne. However, the young two sons of Edward IV, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were declared bastards as their father had been precontracted to another woman before he married Elizabeth Woodville. In those days, a betrothal was a legal union and contract and promising to marry was as good as the actual deed. Richard III, therefore became king and the "Princes in the Tower" were never seen again.
Richard was married to Anne Neville. Anne was the dowager Princess of Wales as she had been married to Henry VI's son Edward of Middleham. Margaret became a lady in waiting to Anne, carrying her train at the coronation. However, she still had her son's best interests at heart- she was involved in a plot to overthrow Richard and her considerable wealth was transferred to her husband, thus preventing her from aiding the Tudors or any other anti Yorkist plot. It was during this time that Margaret plotted with Elizabeth Woodville to betroth Henry to the eldest daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth of York. This marriage would unite the York and Lancaster lines and any children would carry the blood of both families.
Most of us know what happened next- Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field and Henry Tudor became Henry VII of England. What a lot of people don't know is that one of the main reasons why Richard was defeated is because of Margaret's husband Thomas Stanley. Thomas prided himself on always being on the winning side and decided to delay his troops from coming to Richard's assistance. Richard was defeated and Stanley himself placed the crown on Henry's head.
After Henry became king, his mother's status elevated much higher than her rank of Countess of Richmond and Derby. She gave herself the title of "My Lady, The King's Mother" and as such only walked one half a pace behind the Queen, Elizabeth of York. She signed her name in the style of queen regnants- "Margaret R" instead of Countess of Richmond or M. Richmond. Her son did not forget his mother- one of the first things he did was to recognize her right to hold property on her own and separate from that of her husband. She took a vow of chastity whilst still married and lived separately from her husband for the rest of her life. Margaret was involved in many aspects of her son's life and that of the royal household, and many of the decisions that the Queen would traditionally make were made by Margaret rather than Elizabeth. Margaret decided on the marriages of her grandchildren, their education and even the protocol for "confinement" when a royal lady was preparing to give birth.
Margaret outlived her daughter in law, Elizabeth and her beloved son Henry. Henry made her the executrix of his will and she was given the highest precedence of all the ladies in his funeral procession. When her grandson Henry VIII ascended the throne, Margaret was known as "My Lady the King's Grandmother" but passed away shortly after Henry VIII's coronation, which she planned.
Like her or not, there is no argument that Henry VII's ascension to the throne was largely due to the continual machinations and undying loyalty of his mother. It was through her that he was able to make a claim to the throne and she always put him and his interests first, suffering many times financially and personally. This single minded dedication led to one of the most famous English royal dynasties- the Tudors.
Hope y'all enjoyed this first post.....next time we will explore another royal lady, this time a Plantagenet princess, who like so many of her relatives met a violent end.
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