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    Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
    Unavailable
    Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
    Unavailable
    Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
    Ebook592 pages9 hours

    Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch

    By Nicola Tallis

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    About this ebook

    The first comprehensive biography in three decades of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of the Tudor Dynasty.

    During the bloody and uncertain days of the Wars of the Roses, Margaret Beaufort was married to the half brother of the Lancastrian king Henry VI. A year later she endured a traumatic birth that brought her and her son close to death. She was just thirteen years old.

    As the battle for royal supremacy raged between the houses of Lancaster and York, Margaret, who was descended from Edward III and thus a critical threat, was forced to give up her son - she would be separated from him for fourteen years. But few could match Margaret for her boundless determination and steely courage. Surrounded by enemies and conspiracies in the Yorkist court, Margaret remained steadfast, only just escaping the headman's axes as she plotted to overthrow Richard III in her efforts to secure her son the throne.

    Against all odds, in 1485 Henry Tudor was victorious on the battlefield at Bosworth. Through Margaret's royal blood Henry was crowned Henry VII, King of England, and Margaret became the most powerful woman in England - Queen in all but name.

    Nicola Tallis's gripping account of Margaret's life, one that saw the final passing of the Middle Ages, is a true thriller, revealing the life of an extraordinarily ambitious and devoted woman who risked everything to ultimately found the Tudor dynasty.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael O'Mara
    Release dateNov 7, 2019
    ISBN9781789291483
    Unavailable
    Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch
    Author

    Nicola Tallis

    Dr Nicola Tallis is a British historian and researcher. Her debut book, Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey, was published to wide praise. She has previously lectured at the University of Winchester and worked with Historic Royal Palaces and the National Trust.

    Read more from Nicola Tallis

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    Reviews for Uncrowned Queen

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      This is a very readable and well researched biography of one of the most important female figures of late Medieval English history, mother of the first Tudor king Henry VII and indeed at times, almost his deputy, especially after the death of Henry's wife Elizabeth of York in childbirth in 1503. Later, slightly outliving her son who died in 1509, she was also unofficial regent to her grandson Henry VIII during the first two months of his reign until he came of age and married his brother's widow Katherine of Aragon. The book of course covers the political and military events of the Wars of the Roses and subsequent events, but also brings across clearly Margaret's intense devotion to her son's interests. Giving birth to him before her fourteenth birthday - extremely young even for the time - and largely perforce separated from him during his childhood and adolescence, she was utterly devoted to him throughout the whole of his life, both as exiled pretender and later as king. Henry's father Edmund Tudor died before he was born, and Margaret's subsequent marriages were made with the view of attaining security for herself as well as protection of her son's interests. The book also brings across Margaret's religious devotion, and her charitable and educational work, in which she took a personal interest and role which exceeded that of the merely conventional royal patronage of the age - she was the founder of Christ's and St John's Colleges, Cambridge.
    • 3/5
      I have always been fascinated by the history of Britain's monarchy and have read numerous books related to the War of the Roses so I was very interested in reading this biography of Margaret Beaufort, the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.Throughout the book I felt as if I was reading the author's dissertation for a PhD in history. The book was filled with names and dates and events but it held no life. I never once gotten the feeling of Margaret Beaufort as a real person. Yes, there was an amazing amount details and descriptions, but IMHO, no reality of the person being written about. Was this fiction or non-fiction, I'm not sure.
    • 5/5
      This has got to be one of my favorite book's of the year. The life of Lady Margaret Beaufort is one well worth reading. Married off at the tender age of twelve, she was widowed and giving birth to her only child at thirteen. Though her three subsequent marriages produced no other children, Margaret cared for her only child with an unmatched zeal. That child was to be Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch and the founder of the most famous royal dynasty in England.I applaud the author's way of telling Margaret's story. It's very easy to read, and you don't get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of minutiae. Margaret was a power player. She worked to advance her son's cause when he was banished from England. Her actions during that time could have cost her her very life. I took away half a star because the only illustration we have in the entire book is on the cover. I wish the author/publishers would have included pictures of the ruins of Margaret's home, her tomb (which is described in great detail and still survives today), her rooms at the educational institutions she patronized. It would've gone a long way in helping to tell Margaret's story.Still, this was an excellent read, and provides us with accessible coverage of the life of an underrated lady.
    • 5/5
      Margaret Beaufort, the ultimate survivor of the 15th century. Henry VIII, Magaret's grandson, gets all the attention of the Tudor period but for me, Margaret is the star. When Margaret is an infant her father the Duke of Somerset is disgraced in France comes home and does suddenly. It is suspected he committed suicide leaving Margaret wealthy but unprotected. Henry VI gives the Duke of Suffolk Margaret's hardship and while she is still a child of 9 she is married to his son. Times being what they are the Duke of Suffolk runs afoul with the government and is exiled and murdered before he can leave the country. Her first married is dissolved and at 12 is married to Henry VI's half brother Edmund Tudor. Edmund doesn't control himself and beds Margaret immediately and gets her pregnant. He then skips off to fight, gets captured, catches the plague(?), and dies. Margaret, pregnant, at thirteen is left again wealthy without a protector and now with a kid on the way. She goes to her brother in law for help at Pembroke castle and has her baby, a son. However, because of this birth, she doesn't have any more kids probably because she has internal damage from the birth. The author floats the idea it could also have been because she was frigid. After two months Margaret goes with her brother in law Jasper Tudor to the Duke of Buckingham to arrange a marriage between herself and his second son. She is STILL thirteen. She marries her third husband and this marriage is happy and there a many ups and downs due to the Wars of the Roses. The author dies a great job explaining who is who but the explanations are short. Not a lot of depth. This book is about Margaret, not the Yorks and the Lancasters. There is a fabulous bibliography at the back of this book if you want to read more about the War of the Roses and the cousins who fought it, the battles, and the complicated relationships of all personages involved. It really is a fascinating study. To make a long story short, Margaret sees little of her son as he goes up as his guardianship is given to others. It seems back then you were not allowed to raise your own child if your hub and died and there was money involved. By the way, Henry VI is dead and Edward IV is king but the wars rage on. Margaret's third husband dies of his wounds after a battle. Margaret buries her husband and hustles out and gets married a fourth time. She is still rich and needs a protector. Margaret marries Thomas Stanley, Edward IV is in a bad mood and wants to do away with Margaret 's son Henry so Henry and Jasper go into exile on the continent for fourteen years. Edward IV does and Richard I I I usurps the throne from Edward V. The author makes a compelling case that Richard III killed the princes in the tower. I say he was in charge of the kingdom and the buck stops with him. He should have taken better care of his prisoners. I mean "Where are they?" Richard III and Henry fight it out at Bosworth for the throne Richard loses and Henry is king. Henry is now Henry VII and Margaret is "My lady the king's mother." Henry married well has kids one being Henry VIII and rules England with the help of Margaret. Today Margaret does not have a great reputation. She is thought of a cold, conniving, fanatical about religion, and putting Henry on the throne. Contemporaries describe her as loving, King, and generous. She kept almshouses for the poor, gave generously to the church and the poor, cared for the sick, and patronized higher education. She also liked music, fine clothes, and jewelry. She was pious, fasted, heard mass 4-5 times a day, and spent long hours on her knees in prayer. She was wealthy and kept her own books. She had a large family and looked out for them. She loved her son and her grandchildren and was very close to them. She sadly outlived her son and several grandchildren including her first grandchild Arthur. I enjoyed this book and I would like to the Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.