![]() ![]() The day and month are not disputed, as she required Westminster Abbey to celebrate her birthday on 31 May. Lady Margaret was born at Bletsoe Castle, Bedfordshire, either on or, more likely, on. She was the daughter and sole heiress of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (1404–1444), a legitimised grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (third surviving son of King Edward III), by his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he married. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, a nineteenth-century foundation named after her was the first Oxford college to admit women. She is credited with the establishment of two prominent Cambridge colleges, founding Christ's College in 1505 and beginning the development of St John's College, which was completed posthumously by her executors in 1511. She was also a major patron and cultural benefactor during her son's reign, initiating an era of extensive Tudor patronage. With her son crowned Henry VII, Lady Margaret wielded a considerable degree of political influence and personal autonomy – both unusual for a woman of her time. She was thus instrumental in orchestrating the rise to power of the Tudor dynasty. Beaufort's efforts ultimately culminated in Henry's decisive victory over King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Capitalising on the political upheaval of the period, she actively manoeuvred to secure the crown for her son. Ī descendant of King Edward III, Lady Margaret passed a disputed claim to the English throne to her son, Henry Tudor. Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: / ˈ b oʊ f ər t/ BOH-fərt or / ˈ b juː f ər t/ BEW-fərt – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. ![]()
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