Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (c. 1430 – November 1, 1456) was the father of King Henry VII of England.
Tudor was born either at Much Hadham Palace in Hertfordshire or at Hadham in Bedfordshire, an older son of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois (former queen of King Henry V of England). It is not known for certain whether he was born legitimately after his parents were secretly married. Whatever the case, his mother died in 1437, but his half-brother, King Henry VI recognised him, creating him Earl of Richmond in 1452.
In 1455, he married Margaret Beaufort, a daughter of the legitimised John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset. She was twelve years old at the time, and became pregnant in the following year. However, with the beginnings of the Wars of the Roses, Richmond was captured by the Yorkist Herbert family. They imprisoned him at Carmarthen Castle in south Wales, where he caught the plague and died. Henry, his only child, was born more than two months after his death.
Preceded by: New Creation |
Earl of Richmond 1452-1456 |
Succeeded by: Henry Tudor |