Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Question from Jennifer - Margaret Beaufort's vow of celibacy

Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, married twice after the death of Henry's father, Edmund Tudor. Following her third marriage, a political alliance to Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, she is supposed to have taken a formal vow of celibacy and lived apart from her husband. Is there a date available for this vow and subsequent separation?

1 comment:

Lara said...

In "The King's Mother" by Jones and Underwood, they say she took the vow at the beginning of 1499 and set up her household at Collyweston. I couldn't find a more precise date though.

They also mention a second vow that she made to John Fisher (I can't remember if he was Bishop yet) in 1504 after Stanley's death.