Person of the Month

Lady Margaret Beaufort’s life is a microcosm of the roles of women during the Wars of the Roses – married four times, all for political reasons, her husbands fought and died for both Lancaster and York. She served the Yorkist queens, whilst intriguing with the Lancastrian exiles to put her son, Henry on the throne. Having achieved her ambition, she went on to be one of the great patrons of education with the foundation of not one, but two, colleges at Cambridge University.

Lady Margaret was a great heiress, and her lands stretched across the Southern and Midland counties of England. As a married woman, she lived in Wales and the North of England, and travelled extensively around the country as she visited her different homes and the royal court.

Whilst the focus of the first two-thirds of Lady Margaret’s life were survival for herself and her son, and the successful pursuit of the English throne, she was also a cultivated and intelligent patron of the new printing press, translating works herself as well as commissioning them. Her Cambridge Colleges remain as a testament to her vision

There is quite a range of books about the Wars of the Roses, in which Lady Margaret Beaufort played such a significant part. Two that we have reviewed are: Dan Jones’ ‘The Hollow Crown’ and ‘Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker’ by Terry Breverton.