Margaret Beaufort

Marriage of Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford

On 3 January 1462, Margaret Beaufort married Henry Stafford, son of Humphrey, duke of Buckingham.

She had been married as a child to John de la Pole, though the marriage was soon dissolved.

She married in 1455 Edmund Tudor, but he died on 1 November 1456 from the plague.  She gave birth to Edmund’s son Henry on 28 January 1457, who would later defeat King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth and take the crown as Henry VII.

Margaret had no further children.  However, her marriage to Henry Stafford seems to have been happy.  He died on 4 October 1471.

In June 1472 she married Thomas Stanley, surviving him for five years until her own death on 29 June 1509, just two months after her son had died.

Reference:

Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, ‘Beaufort, Margaret , countess of Richmond and Derby (1443–1509)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [last accessed online 2 Jan 2020]

Michael Jones, ‘Lady Margaret Beaufort’, History Today, Volume 35, Issue 8 (August 1985).  URL: http://www.historytoday.com/michael-jones/lady-margaret-beaufort  [last accessed 2 Jan. 2020]

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort, Richard III

Wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas

and lots of happiness and peace for the New Year.

Enjoy a carol from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge (click here).

Richard III was a generous benefactor of the building of the chapel, which had been started by Henry VI.  By the end of his reign the first six bays of the Chapel had reached full height and the first five bays, roofed with oak and lead, were in use. [1]  It was the Tudor kings, Henry VII and Henry VIII, who would eventually finish the chapel.

Note:

‘History of the Chapel’, King’s College Cambridge.  URL:  http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/history.html [last accessed 23 November 2018]

Tags: Cambridge, Christmas, Richard III

Death of Edward Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) at Eastwell.  He is said to have claimed to be an illegitimate son of Richard III.

Tags: Richard III

Jane Austen

Birth of Jane Austen

On 16 December 1775, Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where her Father, George Austen, was rector.  We all know and love Jane Austen’s novels, but her History of England, from the Reign of Henry the 4th to the Death of Charles the 1st is less widely known.   She wrote this at the age of 16 in 1791, but even at this early age it shows the wit she was to become famous for.

Of particular interest to us is of course what she had to say about Richard III.  Jane acknowledges that his character has been badly treated by historians, however, she is “inclined to suppose him a very respectable Man”.  The reason for her positive impression is that “he was York”, so not too many Lancastrian sympathies there.

Quotes taken from:
Jane Austen:  Love and Freindship and other early Works, The Women’s Press, London, 1978, reprinted 1979.  ISBN 0 7043 3823 8, p.71

You can read a short biography here.

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Books, Richard III

Richard is made justiciar of north Wales for life by his brother, Edward IV

Tags: Edward IV, Richard III

Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham, was executed in Salisbury on Sunday, 2 Nov. 1483.  Initially, he had been Richard of Gloucester most trusted ally in the summer of 1483.  It was probably Bishop John Morton, who was Buckingham’s prisoner at Brecon who persuaded him to become involved in the uprising against Richard III.  His part in the rebellion was spectacularly unsuccessful due to atrocious rain, the flooding of the rivers and large-scale desertion of his followers.  He was betrayed and executed without trial.  In a letter of 12 Oct. 1483, which Richard III dictated to his chancellor, Bishop John Russell, he refers to Buckingham as “the most untrue creature living”

Read more:  http://www.r3.org/on-line-library-text-essays/back-to-basics-for-newcomers/henry-stafford-second-duke-of-buckingham/

Tags: Buckingham, Richard III

Edward IV flees to Burgundy, after the rebels under Earl of Warwick, who had by then sided with his former enemy Margaret of Anjou, invaded England with the help of French troops to restore Henry VI.  Edward was accompanied by his brother-in-law Anthony, Earl Rivers, and William Lord Hastings.  It seems his brother Richard (later Richard III) followed later after trying to gather to support for Edward in England.

Tags: Edward IV, Nevilles, Richard III

Death of William Hobbes, royal physician to Richard III.   Hobbes had a long career in the service of the House of York, first to Richard, duke of York, then to his sons Edward IV and Richard III.

He obviously remained proud of this service, even after Henry Tudor claimed the throne, as he asked for the following inscription on his tombstone:

Here lies William Hobbys, formerly physician and surgeon of the most illustrious duke of York, and his sons the most illustrious kings Edward IV and Richard III, whose souls may God protect, amen.

He was buried in Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate, London.

Reference:

ODNB on  ‘Hobbes, William (d. 1488)’

His will can be found in:  Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Hustings, London, A.D. 1258-A.D. 1688, Volume 2, ed.by Reginald R Sharpe,  London, 1890, pp.590-591

Tags: Contemporaries, Richard III

Enthronement of George Neville (brother of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, ‘The Kingmaker’) to the Archbishopric of York.  Around that time  Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), began his time as page with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker), at Middleham.  It is assumed that he stayed with Richard Neville until January 1469.

Tags: Nevilles, Richard III