The books are now back decorating all four corners of the cocktail table, which means I plan on writing several reviews in the next few weeks.
Lady Margaret Beaufort is one of the most fascinating of Plantagenet-Tudor women. Margaret was the great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt and his mistress Katherine Swynford. It was not until after the death of his second wife, Constance of Castile, that John, the duke of Lancaster, was able to marry Katherine. Their four children were legitimated but their older half-brother, King Henry IV excluded them from succession to the throne.
But as the War of the Roses would show, the line of succession was not always clear, and certainly never safe. Margaret was just a year old when her father died, perhaps from suicide. He had recently returned from France where he led a failed military campaign.
With her father's death, Lady Margaret (1443-1509) became an heiress and a formidable heiress at that. Before she was three years old, she was married to John de la Pole, son of the Duke of Suffolk. Margaret was a wealthy heiress and Suffolk saw an opportunity to marry his son to someone who had potential rights to the throne. The marriage would be annulled as Henry IV wanted Margaret to marry his half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond.
She was twelve when she married Edmund. It was at this time when the War of the Roses began in earnest. Edmund, who supported the Lancaster cause, was taken prisoner by the Yorkists. His 13-year-old wife was pregnant with their child.
Margaret's only child, Henry Tudor was born on January 28, 1457. Margaret's devotion to her son -- and she would not see him for several decades -- was paramount. She did all in her power to keep him safe.
She was a devout Catholic, and shrewd, intelligent, and complicated. Her plan was to put her son on the throne. The plan was not without peril and or danger especially after the death of King Edward IV and the murders of his two young sons, King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, led to the accession of King Richard III.
Margaret envisioned a plan that would bring about a marriage between Edward IV's eldest daughter and her son, a marriage that would unite the Houses of Lancaster and York, thus bringing the War of the Roses to an end.
This was not an easy task for Lady Margaret who had to summon all the courage, internally and externally, to remain in control. She ingratiated herself with Richard III, a major accomplishment because she was actually trying to overthrow him and have her son become king.
And that is what happened. On August 22, 1485, Richard III became the last English king to die in battle, defeated by Henry Tudor. King Henry VII.
Goal achieved. A goal that essentially changed the course of English and ultimately British history. The marriage between Henry and Elizabeth of York offers a wiggly direct line of descent to the present Queen Elizabeth.
Margaret - Henry VII - Margaret - James IV of Scotland - James V -Mary - James VI & I - Elizabeth - Sophia - George I - George II - Frederick (Prince of Wales) - George III - Edward Duke of Kent - Victoria - Edward VII - George V - George VI - Elizabeth II
Dr. Nicola Tallis is at the forefront of young British women historians. She is the author of Uncrowned Queen The Life of Margaret Beaufort Mother of the Tudors (Basic Books).
The Plantagenet dynasty featured several strong-willed women who fought for their families, their birthrights, but Lady Margaret accomplished far more. She was able to use her position to upend history, get rid of the usurper to place her son -- yes, he too can be described as a usurper, but his succession brought an end to nearly a century of civil wars and finally brought stability to England.
Dr. Tallis is a masterful storyteller who engages her readers with diverse characters and an unfolding tale of maternal love. She has delved into a myriad of sources to bring the legacy of this fascinating woman to life. Margaret used her wealth to finance education and religious foundations. She supported writers and charities.
Tallis noted that she had to be flexible to handle to vicissitudes of her life.
Lady Margaret, a Queen mother in name, died on April 29, 1509, only two months after the death of her son, King Henry VII. She had been ill for some time and was unable to attend her grandson, Henry VIII's Coronation, which took place five days before she died in the Deanery at Westminster Abbey.
Uncrowned Queen is a sympathetic, fascinating portrayal of one of English history's most influential politicians, a woman whose primary focus in life was her son and keeping him alive and safe ... and getting him to the throne of England.
Dr. Tallis is also the author of the rivetting Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey.
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