Spotlight: Margaret Beaufort

~ Helene Harrison

Name: Margaret Beaufort / Margaret Tudor / Margaret Stafford / Margaret Stanley.

Title/s: My Lady the King’s Mother, Countess of Richmond, Countess of Derby, Lady Stafford, Baroness Stanley.

Birth / Death: 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509.

Spouse: Edmund Tudor 1st Earl of Richmond 1430 – 1456 / Sir Henry Stafford c.1425 – 1471 / Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby 1435 – 1504.

Children: Henry VII 1457 – 1509 (by Edmund Tudor).

Parents: John Beaufort 1st Duke of Somerset 1403 – 1444 & Margaret Beauchamp c.1410 – 1482.

Siblings: John Welles 1st Viscount Welles c.1450-1498 (half-brother)

Noble Connections: Margaret Beaufort was descended from an illegitimate line from Edward III. Her son became Henry VII, and her first husband was Edmund Tudor, the half-brother of Henry VI, who Margaret was devoted to.

Events of their Lifetime: Battle of Bosworth Field 1485, the mystery of the Princes in the Tower 1483?, the reigns of Henry VI (d.1471), Edward IV (d.1483), Edward V (d.1483?), Richard III (d.1485) and Henry VII (d.1509), and the Wars of the Roses.

Controversy: There has been debate over just how far Margaret Beaufort was willing to go to put her son on the throne – did she have a hand in the deaths of the Princes in the Tower?

Works of Fiction:
Gower, Iris, Destiny’s Child (1999)
Gregory, Philippa, The Red Queen (2010)
King, Betty, The Lady Margaret (1965)
King, Betty, The King’s Mother (1969)

Portrayals on Screen:
Sally Edwards, Princes in the Tower, 2005, directed by Justin Hardy
Amanda Hale, The White Queen, 2013, 10 episodes
Marigold Sharman, The Shadow of the Tower, 1972, 8 episodes

Further Reading:
Anglo, S., ‘The Foundation of the Tudor Dynasty: the Coronation and Marriage of Henry VII’, Guildhall Miscellanea, 2 (1960)
Chrimes, S.B., Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII (1966)
Jones, M.K., The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort (1992)
Loades, David, The Tudor Queens of England (2009)
Skidmore, Chris, Bosworth: the Birth of the Tudors (2013)
Strickland, Agnes, Lives of the Tudor Princesses (1868)

Arms:

The Arms of Margaret Beaufort as the Countess of Richmond and Derby, lady Stanley, and the King's Mother.
The Arms of Margaret Beaufort as the Countess of Richmond and Derby, lady Stanley, and the King’s Mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portrait:

A portrait of Margaret Beaufort. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.
A portrait of Margaret Beaufort. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.
A portrait of Margaret Beaufort. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.
A portrait of Margaret Beaufort. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.
A portrait of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.
A portrait of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. None survive from the time, but she is always shown devoutly.

Published by Helene Harrison

I am a historian and author. My debut book 'Elizabethan Rebellions: Conspiracy, Intrigue and Treason' is available now from Pen and Sword Books. I am currently writing book two, due out in July 2024. My main historical interests are the Tudors and the Wars of the Roses, though I also enjoy reading and curling up with a stitching project.

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