Margaret Beaufort Gives Birth To A King ~ Henry VII

Margaret Beaufort Gives Birth To A King ~ Henry VII

On 1st November 1455, Margaret Beaufort married Edmund Tudor.
Margaret was just twelve years old, and her husband was twenty-four.
By the following spring, Margaret was pregnant…

Edmund Tudor died on 1st November 1456, leaving Margaret Beaufort a pregnant 13 year old widow.
Skirmishes had broken out in England, as part of the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York.
Margaret was seven months pregnant and suddenly found herself without protection.
She immediately traveled to nearby Pembroke Castle, a risky journey so far along in her pregnancy, to the home of her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor.

Once at Pembroke Castle, Margaret prepared herself for the most traumatic experience of her life.
Two months later, on 28th January 1457, Margaret was delivered of a son, Henry the Earl of Richmond.
While details of the labour are unknown, it’s believed to have been physically traumatic for both mother and child.
Margaret, was believed to have been quite petite to begin with, and her young body was barely physically equipped for pregnancy and childbirth.

While both she and her son survived, there is no record of Margaret ever conceiving again, despite two more marriages.
Margaret’s young body was likely damaged by her experience.
Henry would be her only child, and the first Tudor King of England – Henry VII…..

Margaret felt an extremely strong bond with her son from the time he was born, which would last throughout his life.
Her devotion to him bordered on the obsessive.
Some scholars attribute this to a possible trauma response, to almost losing both her own and hers son’s life during childbirth.

Pembroke Castle, birthplace of King Henry VII.
Image: Robert Cutts, Creative Commons