The Beaufort Bride by Judith Arnopp

The Beaufort Bride

The Life of Lady Margaret Beaufort

The Beaufort Chronicles Book 1

by Judith Arnopp

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‘Wonderfully written book about Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.’

As King Henry VI slips into insanity and the realm of England teeters on the brink of civil war, a child is married to the mad king’s brother.

Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, takes his child bride into Wales where Margaret must put aside childhood, acquire the dignity of a Countess and, despite her tender years, produce Richmond with a son and heir.

As the friction between York and Lancaster intensifies 14-year-old Margaret is widowed and turns for protection to her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor.

At his stronghold in Pembroke, two months after her husband’s death, Margaret gives birth to a son whom she names Henry, after her cousin the king.

Margaret is small of stature but her tiny frame conceals a fierce and loyal heart and a determination that will not falter until her son’s destiny as the king of England is secured.

The Beaufort Bride traces Margaret’s early years from her nursery days at Bletsoe Castle to the birth of her only son in 1457 at Pembroke Castle. Her story continues in Book Two: The Beaufort Woman.

‘Ms Arnopp breathes fresh life into the world that Margaret lived.’ – Mary Anne Yarde, author of the Du Lac Chronicles´

A Word from the Author

As an author of historical fiction featuring strong women from all walks of life, I am astounded at the way Margaret Beaufort has been depicted in fiction and on television. I felt compelled to allow Margaret to tell her own story – in her own words.

In Book one of The Beaufort Chronicle, Margaret is a small player in the big game of English politics. The daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp puts her firmly in the Lancastrian camp. Heiress of her father’s vast estates Margaret is first married at around the age of eight to the son of the Duke of Suffolk, a union that is quickly annulled when Suffolk falls foul of King Henry VI.

When Margaret is scarcely thirteen, a second marriage takes place, this time to the King’s half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Despite her youth, Richmond takes Margaret into Wales where she is put in charge of his household, and expected to fulfil her role as his Countess. While Edmund defends the king’s lands against the adherents of York, Margaret quickly falls pregnant with Richmond’s heir. After a clash with William Herbert’s men near Carmarthen, Edmund is wounded and Margaret finds herself suddenly widowed and vulnerable in a hostile world.

She turns to her brother in law, Jasper Tudor, who offers the protection of his stronghold, Pembroke Castle, where, after a prolonged and life threatening labour, she gives birth to a son, Henry Tudor – the future King Henry VII.

I had a great time reading and researching the years of Margaret’s first marriage and visiting the places she lived or visited in Wales. It wasn’t always easy to be objective when dealing with the delicate subject of her youthful marriage and the birth of a son when she was only just fourteen but we shouldn’t judge the 15^th century with the values of today. Her early experiences helped shape Margaret into a strong woman whose sense of duty came before everything else … except perhaps for Henry.

(Judith Arnopp, November 2019)