LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT
(b. May 31, 1443 — d. June 29, 1509)
BIOGRAPHY:
Margaret Beaufort was the daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset
and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso. She was also through her father a granddaughter
of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and a great-granddaughter of John
of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford; following
Gaunt's marriage to Katherine, their children (the Beauforts) were legitimized,
but their descendants were barred from ever inheriting the throne, though
Edward IV of England and every monarch after him is descended from Gaunt
and Swynford.
Margaret married four times, but had only one child, Henry
VII of England. However, the birth traumatised her 13 year old body and
she was rendered infertile.
Her first marriage was to John de la Pole and took place in 1450, when
she was still a child, but it was annulled after a short time. Her second
cousin Henry VI had as yet no children, and considered naming her his
heir. He married her to his half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond.
Lady Margaret was thirteen and pregnant when Edmund died. She soon married
her third husband, Sir Henry Stafford, son of the 1st Duke of Buckingham.
Buckingham died in 1471 and rumours began to spread of a replationship
between Margaret and Sir Edward Northwood, visiting from Hungary. However,
following her husbands death in 1471, she took a vow of chastity, but
this did not prevent her from marrying Thomas, Lord Stanley, some time
between 1476 and 1482.
Margaret
was known for her education and her piety, and her son is said to have
been devoted to her. Once her son Henry became king, she was the mother
of the reigning King but had never been Queen Consort, so she could not
claim the title of Queen Mother; instead she was referred to in court
as My Lady the King's Mother.
Following the death of her third husband and the accession of her son Henry VII to the throne, she refounded and enlarged God's House as Christ's College, Cambridge with a royal charter from the King. She has been honoured ever since as the Foundress of the College. Her signature can be found on one of the buildings (4 staircase, 1994) within the College. She also founded St John's College, Cambridge.
Margaret died on June 29, 1509 in the Deanery of Westminister Abbey.