Bethany Rees
Part A: What was the significance of Lady Margaret Beaufort in history?
‘She was a gentlewoman, a scholar, and a saint, and after having been three times married, she took a vow of celibacy. What more could be expected of any woman?’
Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, was the mother of Henry VII and grandmother of Henry VIII. An extraordinary woman, she is perhaps best described as the architect of the Tudor Dynasty. Through perseverance, determination and strong will, Margaret labored to firmly establish her only child, Henry, as the founder of the Tudor dynasty, proving herself a mistress of political intrigue during the difficult era of the Wars of the Roses. As patron of William Caxton and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, she had enormous longer term cultural significance. As Michael Jones astutely observes; ‘with a combination of piety and pragmatism she left a deep impression on her age’, and her historical significance is only now beginning to be fully appreciated.
I
Lady Margaret Beaufort was born on 31 May 1443, the daughter of John (Beaufort), Duke of Somerset and his wife Margaret Beauchamp. Through her father’s line she was a direct descendant of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster son of Edward III and his mistress (and subsequent third wife) Katherine Swynford. Her father, the Earl of Suffolk, Henry VI’s ‘most favoured councillor’ is alleged to have committed suicide when Margaret was age one, after a failed campaign in Brittany; ‘the noble heart of a man…labouring under so disgraceful a charge’.
She reached her first birthday as both the daughter of a disgraced lieutenant and one of the richest heiresses in England. William de la Pole, later Duke of Suffolk, was ‘graunted unto hym to have the warde and mariage of the said Margarete’, though she remained in her mother’s household during her childhood. From a young age, she was encouraged by her mother to live a spiritual life devoted to God and the Church; ‘influenced by pious considerations, she also induced her daughter, the Lady Margaret…to become a sister along with her’. For the rest of her life, Margaret took her faith extremely seriously, her belief providing some stability in a world laden with political turmoil and uncertainty. In her funeral oration, John Fisher explained the depth of her piety; ‘first in prayer every daye’ and ‘four or five masses upon her knees, so continuing in her Prayers and Devocyons unto the hour of dyner.’ She was ‘to God and to the Chirche full obedient and tractable’.
II
As her “confessor and spiritual adviser”, as well as executor to her will, Fisher delivered Margaret’s funeral oration in 1509. He focused on a life led with determination and undivided devotion, continually praising her achievements. However his writing is somewhat biased, due to hindsight. At times he exaggerated his personal role and influence, explaining how “she chose me as her director, to hear her confessions and guide her life”, though Fisher’s assessment and judgment of her life are also particularly astute, due to their close relationship. Margaret held great power over Fisher’s career, for she had orchestrated his position, but his praise of her demonstrates his true affection and provides an invaluable source from a close confidante.
In contrast to her later life, in her youth Margaret’s position at the Lancastrian court was precarious. At the age of six, she was betrothed to John De La Pole, the son of her guardian, Suffolk. The marriage was subsequently dissolved in 1453 as the situation in England deteriorated into Civil War. This was the first of Margaret’s four marriages to De La Pole, Edmund Tudor, Sir Henry Stafford, and Thomas Stanley. Arguably, Margaret’s ability to remain in control despite being a ‘pawn in the unstable political atmosphere of the Lancastrian court’ was due in part, to her political prowess. Following the death of Henry VI and his only son, Prince Edward in 1471, Margaret’s son Henry became the main Lancastrian claimant to the throne. For safety, Margaret sent him to exile in Brittany under the protection of his uncle Jasper. During the Wars of the Roses, Margaret’s interests focused on his safe return and rehabilitation at court. In 1482 she attempted to convince Edward IV and later Richard III that he presented no real threat to Yorkist efforts, but this plan did not work. Margaret’s intentions then focused on promoting her son as an alternative to Richard III. In 1483, Henry pledged to marry Edward IV's eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, who was now the presumed heir since the suspected death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower. Having gained the support from the Woodvilles, Henry defeated Richard III's forces at the Battle of Bosworth Field with the support of his stepfather and uncle.
III
Margaret’s role in the Wars of the Roses is often overlooked, without her active support for her son and ability to persuade her then husband, Thomas Stanley and his brother to support Henry also, the outcome of English history would have been very different. Lord Morley later recalled the risk she faced; “albeyt that in King Richardes daies she was oft in jeopardy of her lyfe, yet she bore paciently all trouble in such wyse that ys wonder to think it”. Tudor court historian Polydore Vergil remarked she “was commonly caulyd the head of that conspiracy” and had a prominent role in the Wars of the Roses. Vergil’s ‘Anglica Historia’ was first published in 1534 and provided an influential history of England. He has often been called the “father of English history” however his perspective on events is somewhat propagandist. Vergil’s enemies, Richard and Wolsey were also the enemies of Henry VII and Henry VIII and therefore Vergil’s representation of Margaret is arguably bias. It is fair to say that his work, to a degree favored the rise of the House of Tudor. As Alison Weir observed, Vergil was “an objective writer who drew on his own conclusions.”
Margaret appeared the most content in her religious devotions and led a relatively peaceful existence during the beginning of King Edward IV’s reign. Her piety allowed her a means of contact with her son, Henry (later Henry VII)
and in 1465 she managed to secure his admission to the Confraternity of the Order of the Holy Trinity in Yorkshire, demonstrating her retained interest in his spiritual development. Margaret sustained a close relationship with her son and he frequently sought her advice on political matters when he became King. Some of the best surviving sources about Margaret are the letters between them written during his reign. They reveal a strong and supportive bond between mother and son, despite the fact that for fourteen years during his exile they did not see one another. In one such letter, Margaret addressed her son as ‘my dearest and only desired joy in this world’, revealing the often unseen tenderness which she had been deprived of during her early teenage years. Henry’s love for his mother was clearly reciprocated, inferred by phrases such as ‘I shall be glad to please you as your heart desire ir’. As well as revealing their adoration for one another, the letters also provide an insight into two of the most prominent political minds of the 15th and early 16th century. Margaret and Henry often exchanged political advice, in one letter Henry stated ‘I beseech you to send me your mind…which I shall be full glad to follow’. The close relationship with her son would be of utmost importance in securing his position as King, for it was partly through her intelligence and resolve he was crowned. As Fisher aptly recalls, “when thye kynge her son was crowned in all that grete tryumphe and glorye, she wept mervaylously”.
IV
Margaret’s “pious yet pragmatic” nature served her well throughout her life and indeed she was often viewed as possessing qualities pertaining to a man. She was not content to settle for life as a traditional Tudor woman, but rather held a desire to endow her beloved country with the “richness of the Church’s traditional devotion and worship”. Her contribution combined her piety and educational prowess to establish Christ’s and St John’s colleges at Cambridge University as well as Chairs of Divinity at both Oxford and Cambridge. Margaret quickly became a patroness of learning and by 1504, at the age of sixty, the universities had become established as the centres of learning in England at the time. Following Henry VII’s accession in 1485, he would frequently visit Cambridge and supported his mother in her efforts, his visits noted as “a shorte and brief memory by Licence and corveccon of the first progresse of our soveraigne lord King Henry”. To begin with, Margaret equally divided her patronage between both instutions, however in 1497 Oxford University wrote to Margaret, praising her generosity: “nothing can be nobler than to provide, as you have done, unasked for the teaching of theology”. The letter highlights the University’s fears about losing her favour, as Fisher had advised Margaret to direct her efforts towards Cambridge. In the late 1490s, Margaret met a cleric, John Fisher who was visiting the court at Greenwich Palaces. He was “naturally indowed with a sober and deep witt, a perfect and stedfast memorie, and a will prompt and forward to lerne”.
V
Margaret admired Fisher’s sincere interest in religion and as a highly educated man, she found she was able to connect with him and in 1502, Fisher was made the first Cambridge endowed Professor of Divinity. Fisher and Margaret were united that the Church faced a communication problem and sought to change this. At Margaret’s behest Wynkyn de Worde printed Fisher’s sermons on the penitential psalms and shortly before her death, Margaret commissioned the publication of his sermon at the funeral of Henry VII. Indeed Margaret was one of the first sponsors of the printing of early books, using William Caxton’s printing press in the almonry of Westminster Abbey. Caxton flattered his patron as the ‘Duchess of Somerset’ and after her death praised her patronage and interlect: “I late received in French from her good grace, and her commandment withal for to reduce and translate it unto our maternal and English tongue”.
VI
Lady Margaret Beaufort was one of the most influential yet also unconventional women in English history. Her political intrigue and astute understanding of the changing world around her, contributed to the accession of her son and altered the course of history. As one of Margaret’s many biographers, Charles Henry Cooper astutely concluded, “she presents the brightest example of the strong devotional feeling and active charity of the age in which she lived, and…she is entitled to the warmest gratitude of posterity for her generous patronage of the learned and her munificent provision for the advancement of science and literature”. Margaret is buried in Westminster Abbey. The inscription on her tomb composed by Erasmus in Latin reads:
“Margaret of Richmond, mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VII, who gave to three monks of this covent and founded a grammar school at Wimborne, and to a preacher throughout England, and to two interpreters of Scripture, one at Oxford, the other at Cambridge, where she likewise founded two collages, one to Christ and the other to St.John his disciple”.
This few lines summarize a woman who was able to listen not just to the claims of power, but also to the broader needs of religion and scholarship.
Endnotes