Margaret Beaufort
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.
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
Marriage of Henry V and Catherine of Valois
On 3 January 1437, Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI, and grandmother of Henry Tudor, died in London. She was buried at Westminster Abbey.
More information on Catherine of Valois here.
George of Clarence and Isabel Neville (stained glass at Cardiff Castle, © Wolfgang Sauber)
On 1 January 1477, Richard, the infant son of George, duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, died. He was born on 6 October 1476. His mother had died on 22 December 1476, two and a half months after his birth.
For more information on the marriage of George and Isabel you may wish to read Karen Clark’s blog.
The Battle of Wakefield was fought on 30 December 1460 in West Yorkshire. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland, father and brother of Edward IV and Richard III, were killed. Also killed was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Their heads were stuck on poles and displayed over Micklegate Bar, York, the Duke wearing a paper crown.
For a thorough analysis of the battle read Helen Cox, The Battle of Wakefield Revisited: A Fresh Perspective on Richard of York’s Final Battle, December 1460. You can read more on Helen’s website here.
And for visitors we recommend: Helen Cox, Walk Wakefield 1460: A Visitor Guide to Battle-Related Sites
A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society (you need to scroll down a bit).
Dorothea Preis
Murder of Thomas Becket from an English psalter.
On 29 December 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights.
More information here.
Westminster Abbey (© D Preis)
On 28 December 1065, Westminster Abbey was consecrated under Edward the Confessor.
More information on Edward the Confessor and Westminster Abbey here.
Frederick II (from ‘De arte venandi cum avibus’)
Frederick of Hohenstaufen, later Frederick II, was born on 26 December 1194 in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, the son of the Emperor Henry VI. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1220. He was one of the most powerful Emperors. He was an influential supporter of science and the arts. He died on 13 December 1250.
You can find the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Frederick II here.
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.
‘History of the Chapel’, King’s College Cambridge. URL: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/history.html [last accessed 23 November 2018]
Death of Edward Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) at Eastwell. He is said to have claimed to be an illegitimate son of Richard III.
Death of Isabel Neville, wife of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III
