Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (1430 – 1 or 3 November 1456), also known as Edmund of Hadham (Welsh: Edmwnd Tudur), was the father of King Henry VII of England

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

 and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd

Tudors of Penmynydd

The Tudors of Penmynydd was a noble and aristocratic family, connected with the village of Penmynydd in Anglesey, North Wales who were very influential in Welsh politics....

, North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

.

Birth and early life

Edmund Tudor was born either at Much Hadham Palace

Much Hadham Palace

Much Hadham House was a manor house in Hertfordshire, England. In the fifteenth century, it was the house of Owen Tudor and his wife, the widow of Henry V of England and a Princess of Frances, Catherine of Valois. It was the birthplace of their son, Edmund, who was the father of Henry VII of England....

 in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

 or at Hadham in Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

, an older son of Owen Tudor

Owen Tudor

Sir Owen Meredith Tudor was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from a daughter of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffudd, "Lord Rhys". However, Owen Tudor is particularly remembered for his role in founding England's Tudor dynasty – including his relationship with, and probable secret marriage to,...

 and Catherine of Valois

Catherine of Valois

Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...

 (widow of King Henry V of England

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

). It is not known for certain whether he was born legitimately after his parents were secretly married.

In 1436, his mother retired to Bermondsey Abbey

Bermondsey Abbey

Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Most widely known as an 11th-century foundation, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site of Bermondsey Market, Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast...

 where she died in 1437. Therefore he and his brother Jasper were brought up in the care of Katherine de la Pole

Katherine de la Pole

Katherine de la Pole was the oldest daughter of Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk and Katherine de Stafford.She became abbess of Barking Abbey. In this capacity, she took care of Edmund and Jasper Tudor, the two eldest sons of Catherine of Valois by her second husband Owen Tudor...

, abbess of Barking, with whom they remained till 1442. The abbess then brought them to Henry VI's notice, who in turn sent them over as the charges of certain priests to be educated. When Edmund grew up, Henry kept him at his court. Edmund was knighted on 15 December 1449, summoned to parliament as Earl of Richmond 30 January 1452, and created Earl of Richmond and premier earl on 6 March, acceeding on 23 November, while Jasper was created Earl of Pembroke

Earl of Pembroke

Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...

. In the parliament of 1453 Edmund was formally declared legitimate. Henry made him large grants, particularly in 1454.

Marriage to Margaret Beaufort

In 1452 Lady Margaret Beaufort, the nine-year-old daughter of the Duke of Somerset

John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset

John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, KG was an English noble and military commander.-Family:Baptised on 25 March 1404, he was the second son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland, and succeeded his elder brother Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset to become the 3rd Earl of...

 was summoned to the court of her second cousin, King Henry and, at Bletsoe Castle

Bletsoe Castle

Bletsoe Castle was a late medieval fortified manor house in the village Bletsoe, Bedfordshire.-Details:Bletsoe Castle was created by John Pateshull, who received a license to crenellate an existing manor house on the east side of Blestoe in 1327...

 on 1 November 1455, married to Edmund. She had been, after Somerset's fall, the ward of himself and his brother Jasper conjointly. She was twelve years old at the time of the marriage and became pregnant in the following year.

Capture, captivity and death

However, the Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

 had begun and Edmund (a Lancastrian

House of Lancaster

The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

) was captured by Yorkist

House of York

The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...

 partisan William Herbert in mid-1456. Herbert imprisoned him at Carmarthen Castle in South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

, where he died of the plague on 3 November 1456, and was buried at Carmarthen Grey Friars. 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

St David's Cathedral

St David's Cathedral is situated in St David's in the county of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly point of Wales.-Early history:The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589...

.

Edmund's only child, the future Henry VII, was born at Pembroke Castle

Pembroke Castle

Pembroke Castle is a medieval castle in Pembroke, West Wales. Standing beside the River Cleddau, it underwent major restoration work in the early 20th century. The castle was the original seat of the Earldom of Pembroke....

, almost three months after his death.