Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty

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Sure, we all know the stories of Henry VIII, his wives, and his children, but the Tudor story is much deeper than just the family in England. The second Act of November 1485 stated that she would enjoy all her properties and titles, and could pursue any legal action as any "single unmarried person might or may do at any time", despite still being married. Arnopp’s Margaret Beaufort is simply a human mother and grandmother who is just trying to do her best for her family. Life looks like it is going Margaret’s way, but then her husband Henry dies and she must make a difficult choice. Alison Weir has brought the tragic yet triumphant story of the first Tudor queen to life through excellent prose and captivating details.

This was all she ever wanted, to see her son happy and alive, but for her to realize that even after the war there would be danger around every corner. In 1457, at the height of the Wars of the Roses, 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort was already a widow and mother to the infant Henry Tudor. Channel 4 and RDF Media produced a drama about Perkin Warbeck for British television in 2005, Princes in the Tower. One portrait by Meynnart Wewyck in 1510 shows her at prayer in her richly furnished private closet behind her chamber. We begin our journey by introducing Lady Elysabeth Scrope, the wife of John Scrope and the half-sister to Margaret Beaufort, going into the sanctuary with Elizabeth Woodville.I have been a huge fan of Margaret Beaufort, ever since I first heard about her rather extraordinary life. They married, and he introduced Margaret to her enemy’s court where she became so well liked that Elizabeth chose her as a godmother for one of the princesses. In 2023, restoration work on the Wewyck portrait revealed that it had been overpainted several times throughout its history, with Margaret's original facial expression made more somber and pious. To see her interacting with Elizabeth Woodville and her children was a delight and makes you wonder what life might have been like for Margaret if she had more children. Margaret Beaufort Middle School (formerly Margaret Beaufort County Secondary Modern School) in Riseley, Bedfordshire, near her birthplace at Bletsoe Castle, is named after her.

Unkynde she woulde not be unto no creature, ne forgetful of ony kyndeness or servyce done to her before, which is no lytel part of veray nobleness.

It was the royal blood and who had the right to rule that was at the heart of the Wars of the Roses, as Jones goes on to explain.