MARGARET BEAUFORT, MATRIARCH OF THE HOUSE OF TUDOR. PAGE 2

Although Margaret Beaufort did not see her son for twenty four years, except for that one week or so in 1470, she worked ceaselessly for his return as King Henry VII.

Devoting herself to his cause and the House of Tudor, she at first tried to convince each member of the House of York, that he was of no threat to their interests.

In 1483, the Yorkist King, Edward IV died unexpectedly of an unknown cause, leaving behind seven children, two of whom were Edward his eldest son and therefore heir to the throne, he was aged thirteen and Richard aged ten.

Before he died, Edward named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, protector of his children. Not content with being regent, Richard wasted no time in having the two young boys imprisoned in the Tower of London and declaring them illegitimate.

Richard was crowned king, the two boys were murdered and to this day, it has not been proved who their killers were. There were other suspects besides Richard who would have benefitted enormously from their murder. Henry Tudor was now the only living rival to Richard III and the throne of England.

ABOVE:THE TWO PRINCES, EDWARD V AND HIS BROTHER RICHARD IN THE TOWER OF LONDON, 1483. BY SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, 1878. PART OF THE ROYAL HOLLOWAY PICTURE COLLECTION.

Margaret Beaufort now began to plot the return of her son in earnest and to claim his right to the English throne, as King Henry VII, the first king to come from the House of Tudor, however tenuous that claim may be.

Her fourth husband, Lord Stanley was the head of a powerful family, whose present loyalties lay with the House of York and as such was a considerable obstacle to overcome.

Nevertheless, Margaret Beaufort did not let it stand in her way, for at every opportunity she would quietly work away at him, trying to convince him that her son's cause was the right one.

However, with the late king Edward IV's widow, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort found a much more willing ally.

ABOVE:ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, WIDOW OF KING EDWARD IV, MOTHER OF THE TWO PRINCES IN THE TOWER AND SISTER-IN-LAW OF KING RICHARD III.

After the death of King Edward IV, his brother Richard had treated Elizabeth and her family with no mercy.

He had declared her marriage to the late king invalid, stripping her of her inheritance. Her two young sons had been locked away in the Tower of London and she and her five daughters had been forced into sanctuary at Westminster.

Her brother, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and her son Richard Grey, whilst accompanying her young son, now King Edward V to London, were waylaid by Richard on 30th April 1483, at the market town of Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, where he arrested them both.

They were both taken to the north of England and imprisoned. As soon as an assembly of lords and commoners on 25th June 1483, had endorsed Richard's claims that Elizabeth's children were illegitimate and therefore ineligible for the throne, Richard, Duke of Gloucester officially began his reign as King Richard III.

At Pontefract Castle on 25th June 1483 both Anthony Woodville and Richard Grey, were executed. Elizabeth Woodville, had every reason to harbour a deep seated animosity towards her brother-in-law, the cause of so much grief and suffering to her and an uncontrollable desire to witness his downfall.

On 1st March 1484, Elizabeth and her daughters emerged from sanctuary and returned to court, her behaviour being a source of puzzlement to historians. Their reasoning being that, unless she knew for sure that her sons were dead, she would never have recognised Richard as king.

However, it must be noted that prior to Elizabeth and her daughters coming out of sanctuary, Richard III publicly swore an oath that her daughters would not be harmed or ravished and that they would not be imprisoned in the Tower of London or in any other prison. He also promised to provide them with marriage portions and to marry them to "gentlemen born."

It was while Elizabeth Woodville and her daughters were safely in sanctuary, that Margaret Beaufort, would have approached her through a trusted intermediary, in possession of her offer. An offer which would have been very difficult for the wronged widow of king Edward IV to have refused.

That she would also have to resort to other means, rather than hide away by claiming sanctuary, in order that she may keep her family in power and to exact revenge for all the wrongs which had been done to her and her family, all seem reasonable explanations for her behaviour.

The proposal put forward by Margaret Beaufort to Elizabeth, in return for the widowed queen's promise, of the support of the entire Woodville family, in her son Henry's bid for power, was the marriage of her son Henry, to Elizabeth's eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York.

ABOVE:ELIZABETH OF YORK, QUEEN CONSORT OF KING HENRY VII.

It would at last bring the two warring factions of the same family together, with a possible solution to end what had turned out to be by far, the bloodiest chapter in the nation's history to date. These Wars of the Roses, had cost not only the royal family, but the whole country so much in blood and grief.

It would appear that Elizabeth Woodville immediately accepted the offer put to her by Margaret Beaufort, pledging both her and her family's full support behind the Tudor cause. This it seems was the chance she had been waiting for.

If Henry's attempt to overthrow King Richard III was successful, not only would she have the chance to regain what was rightfully hers, being the widow of the deceased King Edward IV. It would probably be her one and only chance to gain revenge against the one person, who by inflicting so much pain and grief on her, had also filled her with so much overwheming bitterness and loathing for him. Her brother-in-law, King Richard III.

Margaret Beaufort continued to work unceasingly behind the scenes, absolutely devoted to her son's cause. She encouraged disaffected members of the aristocracy to back her scheme, constantly cajoling her husband Thomas Stanley to see things her way.

Her hour of triumph finally came, when on August 22nd 1485, the army of her son Henry, overcame the army of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. In the battle Richard was killed, leaving Henry to emerge as undisputed heir to the throne.

The throne of England would no longer be occupied by a member of the House of Plantaganet, which had produced fifteen kings in three hundred and thirty one years since the reign of King Henry II.

A new dynasty had been born which would bear the name of the father of the beloved son of Margaret Beaufort. That of the House of Tudor.

The outcome of the battle had been decided by what was considered to be the treachery of the Stanley brothers, who supposedly were on Richard's side. They delayed entering the battle until they saw the likely outcome, at which point they suddenly decided to enter it, but on Henry's side.

This wavering as to which side he would support, had been Thomas Stanley's stance throughout the Wars of the Roses. Until he was absolutely certain which side would be victorious, he would not commit himself.

This hesitation was the result of his political manoeuvrings for which he was amply rewarded. By the end of the battle of Bosworth Field he had served three kings, they were, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and the victor at Bosworth, Henry VII.

This non-commital earned him the respect and loyalty of his men, who perceived these actions as concern for them, by refraining from needlessly sending them to their deaths.

Their intervention apparently saved Henry's life, for Richard without warning, decided to charge Henry who was only being guarded by a few men and would undoubtedly have cut him down if Stanley had not intervened by bearing down upon Richard and slaying him.

One can only surmise now, how much effect the persistant cajoling of her husband by Margaret Beaufort, had on Thomas Stanley in influencing the events of Bosworth.

It was the same Thomas Stanley who is credited with placing the crown which had been worn by Richard, on the head of King Henry VII immediately after his victory at Bosworth Field. Henry proclaimed himself to be king from the day before the battle.

With her son having won the crown by his victory, he was king in his own right. His mother, Margaret Beaufort, was now referred to in court as "My Lady the King's Mother." She was allowed to enjoy independence, both legal and social, which other married women could not. Her son's first parliament fully recognizing her right to hold property independently from her husband, as if she were not married.

King Henry VII, as he was now, kept the vow he had made on Christmas Day 1483 at Rennes Cathedral, by marrying Elizabeth of York and in so doing enabled his mother to fullfill the promise she had made to Elizabeth of Yorks mother, Elizabeth Woodville.

The two Houses of Lancaster and York were now reunited after so many long years with their horns locked together, in what had been a dreadful orgy of bloodletting.

Elizabeth Woodville's marriage to King Edward IV was declared to have been valid, making their children once again legitimate. This was especially important to King Henry VII as he wanted his wife to be the Yorkist heir to the throne, thus strengthening his hold on it.

Elizabeth was given the title of Queen Dowager and spent the last five years of her life in Bermondsey Abbey, dying there on 8th June 1492.

There is a difference of opinion as to the reasons behind this choice of life. Many historians believe the decision was forced upon her by King Henry VII banishing her from court on the instigation of his very influential mother Margaret Beaufort, who was reluctant to accept a lower status than the Dowager Queen Elizabeth.

Other historians however, are of the opinion that she had been planning to take up a religious, contemplative life some years before. Whatever the reason for her decision, it would appear she was treated with all the respect due to a Queen Mother, receiving a pension of four hundred pounds a year and continuing to live a regal lifestyle.

The Countess Margaret Beaufort, outlived her beloved son, King Henry VII by just two months. He died on 21st April 1509, she died on 29th June but was still able to arrange both her son's funeral at which she was given precedence over all the other women, and the coronation of her grandson, King Henry VIII.

She had been declared regent for her young grandson Henry VIII, but this was cut short by her death, which occurred in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey. It is in the Abbey where she now lies, buried in the Henry VII Lady Chapel, which was constructed by her son.

ABOVE:LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT AT PRAYER, c1500. THIS IS THE MOST FAMOUS OF HER PORTRAITS.

The above portrait is the most famous one of Margaret Beaufort (1443 to 1509), the mother of King Henry VII of England. She kneels in prayer in her private prayer room which is a superb representation of the typical royal prayer room.

The portcullis, the Beauforts' emblem, is visible in the rondelle in the window on the left and in the tapestry on the right. This portrait is held at Cambridge University, which Margaret generously supported during her lifetime. The painting was presented To St John's College in 1598.

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