- Jasper Tudor
Jasper Tudor (Welsh: "Siasbar Tudur"): c. 1431 – December 21/26, 1495,
Earl of Pembroke and 1stDuke of Bedford , was the uncle of KingHenry VII of England and the architect of his successful conquest ofEngland andWales in 1485.Lineage
Jasper was the third son of
Owen Tudor and the former QueenCatherine of Valois , widow of King Henry V. Hence he was a half-brother to King Henry VI, who, on attaining his majority, made JasperEarl of Pembroke (sometime in 1452 or 1453).Through his father, Owen Tudor, he was a direct descendant of
Ednyfed Fychan ,Llywelyn the Great 's renowned Chancellor; this added greatly to his status inWales .Although there was uncertainty as to whether Jasper and his two (or three) brothers were legitimate, their parents' probably secret marriage not being recognised by the authorities, he enjoyed all the privileges appropriate to his birth until 1461, when he was subject to an
attainder for supporting King Henry VI against theYorkist s, who eventually deposed him.Wars of the Roses
Jasper was an adventurer whose
military expertise, some of it gained in the early stages of theWars of the Roses , was considerable. He remained in touch withMargaret of Anjou , Queen of Henry VI, as she struggled to regain her son's inheritance, and he heldDenbigh Castle for theHouse of Lancaster . He also brought up his nephew, Henry Tudor, whose father had died before his birth, until 1461, when custody was taken over byWilliam Herbert . Following the return of the Yorkist king Edward IV from temporary exile in 1471, Jasper took the teenage Henry with him into exile, this time inBrittany . It was thanks to him that Henry acquired the tactical awareness that made it possible to defeat the far more experienced Richard III at theBattle of Bosworth Field . On Henry's accession in 1485, Jasper was restored to all his former titles, includingKnight of the Garter . He was madeDuke of Bedford . In 1488, he took possession ofCardiff Castle .Marriage and children
Jasper was married on
November 7 ,1485 toCatherine Woodville (c. 1458 – 1509).Catherine was the daughter of
Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers andJacquetta of Luxembourg , and thus was sister to (among others)Edward IV 's queenElizabeth Woodville ,Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers andRichard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers . She was also thewidow ofHenry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham .They may have had one stillborn son, born c. 1490. Catherine survived Jasper and later married Sir
Richard Wingfield ofKimbolton Castle .Jasper reportedly had two illegitimate daughters:
*Helen Tudor (born c. 1459), wife of acloth merchant William Gardiner, sometimes spelled William Gardynyr for his Welsh descent (born c. 1450) and mother of:
**Stephen Gardiner ,Bishop of Winchester (c. 1490 –November 12 ,1555 )
**Richard Gardiner, (1486 – 1548)
**William Gardiner, (1488 – 1549)
*Joan Tudor . Wife ofWilliam ap Yevan and reported mother ofMorgan ap Williams . Morgan was later married to Catherine Cromwell, an older sister of Tudorstatesman Thomas Cromwell . They were fourth-generation ancestors toOliver Cromwell .Death and burial
He died in December, 1495, and was buried at
Keynsham Abbey inSomerset which Lady Agnes Cheyne, the incumbent ofChenies Manor House , bequeathed to him in 1494.Titles, styles, honours and arms
Arms
Jasper bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a "bordure azure with martlets or". [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family] ]
References
*"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" -R. S. Thomas , "Tudor, Jasper, duke of Bedford (c.1431–1495)"
* [http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-TUDO-SIA-1431.html Welsh Biography Online]
###@@@KEYEND@@@###
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.