He wanted to marry Margaret Beaufort to his half-brother Edmund Tudor in order to keep her ostensible claim to the throne within the family. In due time, Henry VI’s grand plan came to light. But he still had more in store for the young girl… 10. Next, he dissolved Margaret’s marriage to John de la Pole, leaving the boy out in the cold. Does that name sound familiar? Well, Margaret was about to make it sound a lot more familiar. In 1453, the King summoned Margaret and her mother to court and transferred her wardship to his two half-brothers, Jasper and Edmund Tudor. No, he was going to exploit her connections for himself. This time, he wasn’t about to shunt her off to some courtier. Margaret was still under the care of her mother, but her wardship, along with that of John, fell once again to King Henry VI. Once again, Margaret was adrift-and stuck with her dud child-husband. William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, set sail away from England after his exile, only for sailors to nearly immediately capture and execute him. The bride was maybe seven years old, and the groom, not much older. In a panic to ensure his son’s future, he married the boy, John de la Pole, to his ward, Margaret Beaufort. It ended up being Suffolk, who faced banishment. The English were on a downward trend when it came to losing territory to the French, and someone had to take the blame. Unfortunately for him, he had similar luck to her father. He Was Using Her As A Pawnįor the Duke of Suffolk, Margaret Beaufort was his ace in the hole-and he was ready to deploy her at just the right time. Well, when it came time to exploit that connection to the English throne, the people around Margaret Beaufort were all too eager to ignore that one sticking point… 7. It said that while they were legitimate descendants of King Edward III, they would never have any claim to the throne. When John of Gaunt had his children legitimized, his older brother, who was King at the time, had added a catch. John had married his mistress and legitimized their children shortly before his passing, creating that connection to the crown that so many were ready to exploit. If you trace her lineage back, her branch of the family had been the result of an illicit affair between King Edward III’s son, John of Gaunt, and a mistress. She had a tenuous connection to the English throne. See, there was something they all knew about Margaret Beaufort-something that she was far too young to comprehend. Henry VI passed on Margaret’s wardship to one of his favorites, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who quickly formulated his own plans for the young heiress. He’d asked King Henry VI to make Margaret’s mother her sole guardian-but the King had other ideas. John may not have been great at planning his military campaigns, but he had planned for Margaret’s future. John Beaufort had been quite wealthy, and all that now passed down to Margaret, making her one of the most eligible brides at court, even though she was still just a toddler. Margaret Beaufort never knew her father, who left the world with shame and mystery hanging over his name-and hers, as a result. It had been such an embarrassment that the king had banished him from court and accused him of treason. He had recently experienced a humiliating military blunder in France. John Beaufort passed on a year later, in 1444- but the story behind his death is truly twisted. Beaufort was just 40, and the cause of his death was ambiguous, which led many to believe that he’d taken his own life. In 1443, Margaret was born-but this joyous occasion was followed up by an utter disaster. After his release, he married and climbed the career ladder. Early on, he spent 13 years as a prisoner of France. He Didn’t Have Long With Herĭuring his career, John Beaufort saw his fair share of humiliating failures on the battlefield. His position should’ve brought his family great wealth and honor, and ensured a prosperous future for Margaret. Margaret Beaufort’s father John was a prominent general who helped the English lead campaigns against the French.
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