Wars of the Roses: Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond (c.1430-1456)

EDMUND TUDOR, EARL OF RICHMOND, known as Edmund of Hadham, father of Henry VII, first son of Owen Tudor by Henry V's widow, Catherine of Valois, was born about 1430 at Hadham, Hertfordshire. Jasper Tudor was his younger brother.

When his mother retired to the abbey of Bermondsey in 1436, Edmund and his brother were given into the charge of Catherine de la Pole, abbess of Barking. There they remained till 1442, when the abbess brought them to Henry VI's notice, and he gave them in charge of certain priests to be educated. When Edmund grew up, Henry kept him at his court.

He was knighted by Henry on 15 Dec. 1449, summoned to parliament as Earl of Richmond 30 Jan. 1452-1453, and created Earl of Richmond and premier earl on 6 March 1452-3. In the parliament of 1453 he was formally declared legitimate. Henry made him large grants, particularly in 1454. In 1455, by the king's agency, he was married to the Lady Margaret Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. She had been, after Somerset's fall, the ward of himself and his brother Jasper conjointly.

Edmund died on 3 Nov. 1456 at Carmarthen, and was buried in the Grey Friars there. His elegy was written by Lewis Glyn Cothi. His remains were at the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 removed to the choir of St. David's Cathedral. By Margaret, his wife, he had one son, afterwards Henry VII of England, born posthumously on 28 Jan. 1456-7.

      Excerpted from:

      Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. LVII. Sidney Lee, ed.
      New York: The Macmillan Co., 1899. 288.

Other Local Resources:

Books for further study:

Hicks, Michael. The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485.
New York: Routledge, 2003.

Weir, Alison. The Wars of the Roses.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1996.

Edmund Tudor on the Web:

Genealogy - ThePeerage.com

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