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| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Armoiries_Edmond_Tudor.png |
Edmund Tudor is best known as the father of Henry VII. His death in November 1456 at Carmarthen at the age of twenty-five means his presence on the historical record is scant. While his brother Jasper went on to play a leading role in the Wars of the Roses, Edmund passed into shadow. In most academic books he is mentioned briefly, often scathingly, but although short, his life was vital to British history.
Edmund was the eldest son of Owen Tudor and
Katherine de Valois, widow of Henry V. Katherine was rich and powerful, and a very desirable prize. The Protector, Humphrey of Gloucester disliked an attraction she formed for the ambitious Edmund Beaufort and, in 1427-28 an act was passed in parliament
preventing Katherine from marrying without the consent of her son, the six year old King Henry
VI. Even the king’s consent could not be given until he reached his majority; a clever move by parliament to disempower a prominent woman. Owen,
a groom in Katherine’s household is a surprising choice for a woman of her status and there have been many theories to explain it. Perhaps the
union between Owen and the queen dowager was a love match, perhaps not. There are
suggestions that Edmund was in fact the bastard child of Edmund Beaufort and Tudor stepped in to save her reputation when marriage to Beaufort was denied but
there is nothing to substantiate that claim. That particular subject requires a whole new blog and luckily there is a fabulous article by
Susan Higginbotham about it here
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| Marriage of Katherine de Valois and Henry V https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Marriage_of_henry_and_Catherine.jpg |
There is no existing record of a marriage taking
place between Owen and Katherine and many think that, if they married at all, they
did so in secret making their offspring the illegitimate issue of a common
law marriage. Their first child, Edmund, was born in June 1431, followed by perhaps
six others but only Edmund and Jasper had any prominent role in history.
After Katherine’s death in 1437 Edmund and
Jasper were given to Catherine de la Pole, the abbess of Barking who brought
them to the attention of their half-brother, Henry VI. After their education
was complete Henry kept Edmund at court, knighting him in 1449 and creating him
Earl of Richmond in 1452. In 1453 Edmund was made legitimate and endowed with
large grants and property; he was also given the wardship of the
heiress, Margaret Beaufort. In 1455 they were married at Margaret’s mother’s
home, Bletsoe Castle. Margaret was twelve years old.
Shortly afterwards Edmund was sent by the king
to Wales to quell unrest there. At first they stayed at Caldicot, where
Margaret was to become pregnant, then moved to Lamphey Palace which Edmund used
as his power base. Conflict with the Duke of York’s henchman, William Herbert, led to
Edmund’s capture and imprisonment at Carmarthen castle where he died either
from wounds inflicted in battle, or from some infection contracted during his
interment. Margaret, now just thirteen and well advanced in pregnancy, turned
to her brother-in-law, Jasper, for protection and fled to Pembroke castle where she
gave birth to a son.
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| Pembroke castle, birthplace of Henry VII |
There was nothing unusual in a girl marrying
so young but in most instances consummation was postponed until the girl had
matured. Edmund however, did not wait and Margaret fell pregnant straight away.
There may have been a few contemporary raised eyebrows but there was no undue
outrage, and Margaret was not alone. In 1350 Bianca of Savoy was married at thirteen
and gave birth a year later, and in 1493, aged thirteen, Lucrezia Borgia married her first
husband and bore a child within a few years. Of course, although records
show that many more girls who married young didn’t give birth until they'd been married a few years this does not necessarily prove that consummation did not take place. We should
perhaps consider if they were physically able to pro-create. Child birth is not an
immediate evidence of consummation having taken place, it is often delayed. We
should not be too quick to judge.
Margaret was as ambitious as her
contemporaries, she may have considered herself lucky to have secured a relatively
young and powerful husband. She was a cousin of the king, married to a beloved
brother of the king. She could have done a lot worse. Had Edmund survived the outcome of the wars of the roses may have been very different and Margaret in a very good position.
I am not in any way condoning sex with young
girls but we must not forget that the medieval mind set was vastly different to
ours. When a young girl married it was seen as her taking her place in the
adult world and celebrated as such. It is unlikely Margaret would have been expecting
romance from marriage. She would not have been ignorant of the facts of life
for there was little marital privacy in the medieval world. Marriages were
celebrated by ‘bedding’; a custom when the wedding party accompanied the newly-weds
to their chamber to witness them being put naked to bed. It was an occasion for
ribaldry and jest, often a drunken finale to the wedding feast.
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| Margaret Tudor: Granddaughter of Margaret Beaufort https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Margaret_Tudor_-_Daniel_Mytens_-_1620-38.jpg |
In many books, both fiction and non-fiction,
the union of Margaret and Edmund is described in horrified tones. Elizabeth
Norton in her book Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty, says the ‘marriage
shows an unpleasant side of Edmund Tudor’s character, and it is clear that he
was acquisitive to the point of disregarding his young wife’s health and
well-being.’
Jones and Underwood in The King’s Mother
describe the event as follows: ‘Edmund quickly made his twelve year old
wife pregnant, his wish to secure a life interest in her estates taking priority
over any concern for her safety and well-being.’
Margaret’s intervention in later life during the arrangements for
her granddaughter and namesake, Margaret Tudor's marriage to the King of Scotland,
is often taken as evidence that she regretted her own early union with Edmund. In ensuring
that a clause was worked into the marriage treaty that consummation would not
take place until her granddaughter was of age merely indicates Margaret regretted the
unforeseen damage done by childbirth, not that she regretted her relationship
with Edmund.
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| Margaret Tudor: grandaughter of Margaret Beaufort https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Margaret_Tudor_-_Daniel_Mytens_-_1620-38.jpg |
Some novelists have taken Margaret's early deflowering and run with it, several novels describe lurid wedding night scenes
involving abuse and rape. It may very well be true that greed was at the root
of Edmund’s decision not to wait to consummate the marriage but that doesn't make him a monster. I prefer to consider other possible explanations.
Until a marriage was consummated it was
easily annulled, co-habitation provided a form of protection to the couple. Margaret
was a great marital prize in a time of political unrest, her position so close
to an unstable crown made her valuable, not just to Edmund.
I am not sure why modern day readers (and
authors) relish the idea of violence. It does not automatically follow that early
consummation meant she was subjected to any form of force. She wouldn’t be
the first twelve year old to have formed romantic feelings for an older man. There is nothing else to suggest Edmund was anything other than a good, attractive man. Perhaps she was willing; perhaps she was gently wooed and seduced.
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| Edmund Tudor's tomb photo by Judith Arnopp |
In her later life there is no evidence that Margaret ever spoke
critically of Edmund; some sources suggest she requested to be buried with
him, a request that was denied for she lies at Westminster close to her son. Edmund Tudor may have taken Margaret's virginity at a
young age, his action may well have made it impossible for her to conceive or
carry another child but, in doing so, he gave her the very thing she most
cherished; her son, Henry, the future Henry VII. A son to whose cause she was to
dedicate the remainder of her life; a son who, despite two further marriages,
was to remain the love and the focus of her very remarkable life.
If Margaret held no resentment toward
Edmund, why should we?
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| Coming soon |
Pembroke castle photo by Judith Arnopp
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons
Further Reading
Elizabeth Norton, Margaret Beaufort; the King’s
mother
Debra Bayani, Jasper Tudor, godfather of the
Tudor dynasty
Jones, M.K. & Underwood, M. G The King’s
Mother
Skidmore, C. The Rise of the Tudor Dynasty
Susan Higginbotham, Arms and the Man: Was
Edmund Tudor illegitimate click
to read
Judith Arnopp is the author of seven
historical fiction novels set in the medieval and Tudor period. She is
currently working on Book two of The Beaufort Chronicles: the life of
Margaret Beaufort. To read excerpts and customer reviews please visit:
Her webpage: www.juditharnopp.com
Her Amazon page: http://author.to/juditharnoppbooks