Another CP Change: Marriage Date of Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford
Douglas Richardson
Complete Peerage 10 (1945): 825-827 (sub Richmond) includes a good
account of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and his wife, Margaret
Beaufort, which couple were the parents of King Henry VII of England.
Following Edmund Tudor's untimely death in 1456, Margaret Beaufort
married for her 3rd husband Henry Stafford, 2nd son of Humphrey
Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. The editor of Complete Peerage
states only that Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford were married
"before 1464."
There is more information on the specific date of this marriage in the
recent book, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of
Richmond and Derby (1992), by Michael K. Jones. On pages 40-41, Mr.
Jones states:
"After Edmund Tudor's death another marriage had been arranged with
remarkable speed. In March 1457 Jasper Tudor and Margaret Beaufort
had travelled from Pembroke to the duke of Buckingham's manor of
Greenfield, near Newport in Gwent. The discussions had concerned the
possibility of a marriage with Buckingham's second son, Henry
Stafford. Not yet fourteen, Lady Margaret was now taking an active
part in planning her future. Her chief concern was to protect her own
interests and those of her infant son. Humphrey, duke of Buckingham,
was the only English magnate as powerful as Richard, duke of York.
Margaret's chief aim was to gain Buckingham's protection and avoid
another husband being forced upon her. Bishop Reginald Boulers of
Coventry and Lichfield granted dispensation for the match on 6 April,
necessary because Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford were second
cousins (Buckingham's wife Anne Neville was a daughter of John
Beaufort) [Footnote 13: Lichfield RO, B/A/1/11, fols. 87, 87v. We owe
this reference to Professor Ralph Griffiths and the general line of
interpretation to Mr. T.B. Pugh]. The ceremony may have taken place
at Buckingham's favourite residence of Maxstoke (Wark.), within the
Coventry and Lichfield diocese, on 3 January 1458. Margaret's early
life had fitted only too well the pattern of a young and wealthy
heiress being treated as a marketable commodity. But from her
marriage with Henry Stafford the stability of a long and harmonious
relationship was finally to emerge." END OF QUOTE.
From the above, we learn that Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford
were dispensed to marry on 6 April 1457. The source for the
dispensation is a document in the Lichfield Record Office. Mr. Jones
states that the actual marriage "may have taken place" at Maxstoke,
Warwickshire on 3 Jan. 1457/8. I'm uncertain if the word "may"
modifies the place of marriage, or the date, or both. I assume Mr.
Jones meant the word "may" to modify the place of marriage only, and
that the couple were definitely married on 3 January 1457/8.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
E-mail: royala...@msn.com