Lady Margaret Beaufort (31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509), Countess of
Richmond and Derby, was the mother of King Henry VII and grandmother of King
Henry VIII of England. Lady Margaret played an important part in bringing the
disastrous Wars of the Roses to an end. After the battle of Bosworth Field, her
son Henry, head of the Lancastrian party, became King in large part through her
political strategies. He then united the warring houses of York and Lancaster
through his marriage to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.
Margaret Beaufort's relationship with her only child Henry was
extraordinary. She was 13 years old when he was born. Then she barely saw him
since from the age of two, he lived with his father's family in Wales and from
the age of fourteen, he lived in exile in France. During this period, their
relationship was sustained by letter and few visits
The Countess was known for her education and her piety, and her son is
said to have been devoted to her. He died on 21 April 1509, having designated
his mother chief executor of his will. Her regency was short lived however, as
she died on 29 June 1509 in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey, just over two
months after the death of her son. She is buried in a black marble tomb topped
with a bronze gilded effigy and canopy, between the graves of William and Mary
and the tomb of Mary I of Scotland, in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster
Abbey.
In 1497 she announced her intention to build a free school for the
general public of Wimborne, Dorset. With her death in 1509, Wimborne Grammar
School, now Queen Elizabeth's School, came into existence. In 1502 she
established the Lady Margaret's Professorships of Divinity at Oxford and
Cambridge Universities. In 1505, following the accession of her son Henry VII
to the throne, she refounded and enlarged God's House, Cambridge as Christ's
College with a royal charter from the King. She has been honoured ever since as
the Foundress of the College. In 1511, St John's College, Cambridge was founded
by her estate, either at her direct behest or at the suggestion of her
chaplain. Lady Margaret Hall, the first women's college at the University of
Oxford, was named in her honour.
