The Passing of a Tudor Matriarch
By Amanda Harvey Purse
Tudor Kings had a flimsy right to the English throne. Being surrounded by many people who had just as much right if not more to it. This produced the famous need for the Tudors to secure their dynasty with a male heir.
However, male heirs in the Tudor period were not always as lucky as they would have liked to have been…
King Henry VII constantly fought battles from ‘pretenders’ to the throne, his heir, Prince Arthur died young. King Henry VIII had difficulty gaining a male heir, changing history, religion and murdering quite a few people to get one. Then, this male heir that King Henry did so much for was weak and died young too.
With this pursuit it could be easy think the Tudor reign was all about the males, however was this true or is that a myth?
It maybe easy to forget that the famous Tudor period was gained through the blood and determination of one woman and on this day, 514 years ago, on 29 June 1509, this woman, Lady Margaret Beaufort, died within Westminster Abbey, London…
It was through her royal family line, as a descendant of King Edward III, that gave her son, the future King Henry VII, the credibility to fight for the English throne. This, ultimately led to the winning of the Battle at Bosworth in 1485, against King Richard III.
Margaret was very close to her son, being his most trusted adviser. She was known to have wept at her own son’s coronation.
When her son passed away in 1509, she became ill and although managed to pushed through her grief, seeing her grandson, King Henry VIII be crowned.
The timing of her death is very interesting…
For the woman that fought so much to have her family on the throne of England in what she thought was their rightful place, the years of work, pain and determination to gain this one mission, Lady Margaret passes away the day after her favourite grandson’s 18th birthday, the day after King Henry VIII was, in our eyes anyway, an adult. It could be suggested then, that she finally allowed herself to pass away when she felt she had finally completed her one mission, to see her family securely on the throne of England.
She passed away within her own house in Westminster Abbey grounds, surrounded by members of her household and in the presence of her friend John Fisher, who later became cardinal before Margaret’s grandson executed him.
She was buried in a tomb that had the arms of the Tudor and Beaufort families, decorating it. With a gilded bronze effigy depicted her with her hands praying and wearing the clothes of widowhood, it is an very impressive tomb.
The Latin inscription around the tomb, written by the humanist scholar Erasmus, read:
‘Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VIII, who donated funds for three monks of this abbey, a grammar school in Wimborne, a preacher in the whole of England, two lecturers in Scripture, one at Oxford, the other at Cambridge, where she also founded two colleges, one dedicated to Christ, and the other to St John, the evangelist’.
Bishop Fisher stated at her funeral that “every one that knew her loved her, and everything that she said or did became her”.
With the well known need for the Tudor kings to have a male heir, it is amazing to think that it was an matriarch that started the royal Tudor Dynasty.
About the Author
Being a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and having studied history at university, Amanda has written academic papers for universities and special events including the Hampton Court Palace’s Field of the Cloth of Gold event.
She is the author of The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors, published by Amberley Publishing.
‘The Boleyns provides a fascinating summary of the lives of some of the Boleyns’ descendants. With adulteresses, soldiers, statesmen, and queens numbered amongst their progeny, it provides a great overview of the later history of a family usually overshadowed by their most famous member.’ — Elizabeth Norton
‘A glittering evocation of the Boleyn family’s rise.’ — Dr Owen Emmerson, Castle Historian, Hever Castle
‘In taking the long view of the Boleyns, this wonderful book offers a genuinely fresh perspective on one of the most famous families in British history. The executioner’s sword might have brought Anne’s story to a brutal close, but her bloodline would endure far beyond that of Henry VIII and is still part of the royal family today.’ — Tracy Borman
Amanda has been a historical researcher for museums, books and television programmes on a range of subjects of different time periods.
She has written articles for many magazines, websites and societies, including: Dan Snow’s History Hit, The Anne Boleyn Files, The Whitechapel Society Journal, The Charles Dickens Society and Tudor Secrets and Myths Facebook page.
She is currently working on a number of historical projects, including another book with Amberley Publishing to follow The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors, due to published in 2025.
Her other historical factual books include: Martha, the life and times of Martha Tabram, a suggested victim of Jack the Ripper. Jack and Old Jewry: The City of London Policemen who Hunted the Ripper, published by Mango Books. The award-winning, Inspector Reid: The Real Ripper Street. The Cutbush Connections: In Blood, In Flowers and in the Ripper case, the life, the cases and the family of Superintendent Charles Henry Cutbush.
ahpurse's Blog: Tudor and Victorian Historian 