Jasper Tudor

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford (c.November 1431 –21 December 1495) was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd.

Jasper Tudor's coat of arms, granted to him by his maternal half-brother, King Henry VI, quarters the three lilies of France with the three lions of England, with the addition of a bordure azure with martlets or (that is, a blue border featuring golden martlets).^[1]

Jasper was the second son of Sir Owen Tudor and the former queen Catherine of Valois, the widow of King Henry V of England. He was thus half-brother to Henry VI. Through his father, Jasper was a descendant of Ednyfed Fychan, Llywelyn the Great's renowned chancellor.^[2] His mother was a daughter of King Charles VI of France.

Jasper was born at the bishop of Ely's manor at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, in 1431, his parents' second child. After the death of Jasper's mother in 1437,^[3] Owen Tudor was arrested and sent to Newgate prison. Jasper, his brother Edmund, and possibly a sister were put into the care of Katherine de la Pole, abbess of Barking Abbey, in Essex, from July 1437 to March 1442.^[4] She was the sister of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, a great favourite of Henry VI, and was able to provide Jasper and his siblings with food, clothing, and lodging. They were also permitted servants to wait upon them as the King's half-siblings.^[5]

In 1442, their half-brother the King began to take an interest in their upbringing.^[6] Sometime after March 1442, Jasper and his brother were brought to live at court. Henry arranged for the best priest to educate them intellectually and morally. The brothers also received military training; when they grew up they were given military positions.^[7] Jasper was recognised as Henry VI's uterine half-brother when, on 23 November 1452,^[8] he was created Earl of Pembroke.^[9]

Owen Tudor was released from prison, most likely thanks to his stepson Henry VI who, after providing for his stepfather, also provided for his two half-brothers. It is not clear whether Henry VI had known of the existence of his half-brothers until his mother told him while she was dying in Bermondsey Abbey. It was after her death that Henry would begin to care for them and eventually raise them to the peerage by giving both brothers earldoms. Jasper became Earl of Pembroke on 23 November 1452, the seventh creation^[10] and with it came Pembroke Castle. In turn, Edmund and Jasper swore unwavering loyalty to Henry and fought and promoted him and his Lancastrian family's interests persistently throughout their lives.

Owen and Catherine's marriage was not recognised by the authorities, in large part due to the secrecy under which it was accomplished, and so the legitimacy of Jasper and his two (or three) siblings was questionable. However, Jasper enjoyed all the privileges appropriate to his birth, including being invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the First Battle of St Albans, Jasper constantly tried to work with the Duke of York and other nobles in order to try to stop the infighting between the two houses.^[11]

On the accession of the Yorkist King Edward IV in 1461, he was subject to an attainder for supporting his Lancastrian half-brother, the deposed King Henry, to whom Jasper was loyal. He strove to place his half-nephew Prince Edward of Lancaster on the throne and provided absolute loyalty to his royal half-brother and Margaret of Anjou, his half-brother's wife. Jasper would also help his other sister-in-law Lady Margaret Beaufort assist her son Henry Tudor to win the throne in 1485 as King Henry VII, father of Henry VIII.

كان جاسبر تيودور مغامرًا ذا خبرة عسكرية واسعة، اكتسب بعضها في المراحل الأولى من حرب الوردتين . ومع ذلك، فإن المعركة الكبرى الوحيدة التي شارك فيها قبل معركة بوسوورث كانت معركة مورتيمر كروس في فبراير 1461، حيث خسرها أمام الملك المستقبلي إدوارد الرابع . ثم أُسر والده، أوين تيودور، وقُطع رأسه في هيريفورد ، حيث وُضع رأسه على صليب السوق. ^{[ 12 ]} احتل جاسبر قلعتي كارمارثين وأبيريستويث عام 1456 حتى خسرهما لصالح ويليام هربرت من راجلان . ^{[ 13 ]} بعد ذلك، حافظ على تواصله مع أخت زوجته، مارغريت من أنجو، زوجة أخيه غير الشقيق هنري السادس ، وتولى إدارة قلعة دينبي لصالح آل لانكستر عام 1460.

قام جاسبر تيودور أيضاً بتربية ابن أخيه، هنري تيودور، الذي توفي والده، إدموند تيودور، قبل ولادته. بعد أن استقبله الملك لويس الحادي عشر عام 1462، مكث جاسبر في فرنسا لمدة ست سنوات قبل أن يعود إلى شمال ويلز عام 1468. عند عودته، خسر جاسبر قلعة بيمبروك لصالح ويليام هربرت، عندما منحه الملك إدوارد الرابع لقب إيرل بيمبروك.

استعاد جاسبر تيودور لفترة وجيزة لقب إيرل بيمبروك بعد عامين عندما عاد أخوه غير الشقيق، الملك هنري السادس ، إلى العرش، ولكن بعد عودة الملك إدوارد الرابع من منفاه المؤقت عام 1471، فرّ جاسبر مجددًا إلى القارة الأوروبية. وخلال إقامته هناك، سافر وحاول حشد الدعم لقضية آل لانكستر. ^{[ 14 ]} وأثناء هروبه من تينبي مع ابن أخيه هنري، أجبرتهما عواصف القناة الإنجليزية على النزول في لو كونكيه في بريتاني ، حيث لجآ إلى فرانسيس الثاني، دوق بريتاني . آوى فرانسيس جاسبر، ابن أخيه، ونواة مجموعتهم من المنفيين اللانكاستريين في قصر سوسينيو في سارزو ، وعلى الرغم من أن الملك إدوارد الرابع مارس ضغوطًا دبلوماسية عليه، إلا أن العم وابن أخيه ظلا في مأمن من براثن ملك يورك، الذي توفي لاحقًا في أبريل 1483. ولمدة 11 عامًا، أصبح قصر سوسينيو معسكرًا مسلحًا، متأهبًا لأي محاولة لاختطاف جاسبر وهنري وإعادتهما إلى إنجلترا، حيث كانا خاضعين لقانون المصادرة وكان سيتم إعدامهما على الفور باعتبارهما تهديدًا لحكم يورك.

In October 1483, the Tudors launched an invasion of England from Brittany. However, the invasion failed and Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry returned to Brittany. In mid-1484, when the Duke of Brittany was incapacitated with illness, his treasurer, Pierre Landais, who took over the reins of government, reached an agreement with the new Yorkist king, Richard III of England, to send Jasper and his nephew back to England in exchange for a pledge of 3,000 English archers to defend Brittany against a threatened French attack. John Morton, the Bishop of Ely who was then in exile in Flanders, learned of the scheme and warned the Tudors in time. Jasper and Henry then managed to escape separately, hours ahead of Landais' soldiers, across the nearby border into France.^[15] They were received at the court of King Charles VIII of France who allowed them to stay and provided them with resources.^[16] Shortly afterwards, when Duke Francis II had recovered, he offered the 400 remaining Lancastrians, still at and around the Château de Suscinio, safe-conduct into France and even paid for their expenses.

On Henry Tudor's subsequent accession to the throne in 1485, Jasper Tudor had all previous attainders annulled,^[17] and was thus restored to all his former titles, including Knight of the Garter, and was created Duke of Bedford. In 1488, he took possession of Cardiff Castle.

v t e English royal families in the Wars of the Roses

Dukes (except Aquitaine) and Princes of Wales are noted, as are the monarchs' reigns. †=Killed in action;  =ExecutedSee also Family tree of English monarchs Henry of GrosmontDuke of Lancaster Edward IIIKing of Englandr.1327–1377 Edward of Woodstock"The Black Prince"Prince of Wales Thomas of WoodstockDuke of Gloucester Blanche of Lancaster John of GauntDuke of Lancaster Katherine Swynford Edmund of LangleyDuke of York Lionel of AntwerpDuke of Clarence Edward of Angoulême Richard IIPrince of Wales, King of Englandr.1377–1399 Henry IVDuke of Lancaster, King of Englandr.1399–1413 John Beaufort Thomas BeaufortDuke of Exeter Joan Beaufort Ralph Neville Philippa of Clarence Owen TudorLancastrian Catherine of Valois Henry VDuke of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, King of Englandr.1413–1422 HumphreyDuke of Gloucester Henry Percy "Hotspur" Elizabeth Mortimer Roger Mortimer Edward of NorwichDuke of York Richard of Conisburgh Anne de Mortimer John BeaufortDuke of SomersetLancastrian Margaret of AnjouLancastrian Henry VIKing of Englandr.1422–1461, r.1470–1471Lancastrian Edmund BeaufortDuke of SomersetLancastrian †1st St Albans William NevilleYorkist Anne Neville Henry PercyLancastrian †1st St Albans Eleanor Neville Richard NevilleYorkist Wakefield Cecily Neville Richard of YorkDuke of York, Prince of WalesYorkist †Wakefield Henry BeaufortDuke of SomersetLancastrian Hexham Richard Woodville Edgecote Edmund BeaufortDuke of SomersetLancastrian Tewkesbury Margaret Beaufort Humphrey Stafford Henry PercyLancastrian †Towton John NevilleYorkist, then Lancastrian †Barnet Richard Neville"Kingmaker"Yorkist, then Lancastrian †Barnet Margaret BeaufortLancastrian Edmund TudorLancastrian Jasper TudorDuke of BedfordLancastrian Catherine Woodville Henry StaffordDuke of BuckinghamYorkist, then Lancastrian  Elizabeth Woodville Edward IVDuke of York, King of Englandr.1461–1470, r.1471–1483Yorkist George PlantagenetDuke of ClarenceYorkist, then Lancastrian Tower Edward of WestminsterPrince of WalesLancastrian †Tewkesbury Anne Neville Richard IIIDuke of Gloucester, King of Englandr.1483–1485Yorkist †Bosworth Field Henry VIIKing of EnglandLancastrianr.1485–1509 Elizabeth of York Edward VPrince of Wales, King of Englandr.1483Yorkist Tower Richard of ShrewsburyDuke of York Tower

In 1485,^[18] Jasper financed the rebuilding of the north-west tower of Llandaff Cathedral, near Cardiff.^[19] It now holds the Cathedral bells, and is named the Jasper Tower in his honour.^[20]

In 1486, Jasper was involved in helping Henry VII put down a Yorkist threat in the form of the Stafford and Lovell Rebellion.^[21] A year later, in 1487, he was also involved in assisting Henry VII with defeating the pretender Lambert Simnel, which resulted in the defeat of Yorkist rebels at the battle of Stoke Field.^[22]

After 1485, he would describe himself as the "high and mighty Prince Jasper, brother and uncle of Kings, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke".^[23] It was after the death of his elder brother, Edmund, that Jasper took over the responsibility of maintaining the Lancastrian ties within Wales. Along with this, he took into his care his sister-in-law and infant nephew.^[24]

Jasper was married on 7 November 1485 to Katherine Woodville (c. 1458–1497).^[25] She was the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and was sister to Edward IV's queen Elizabeth Woodville and to Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers. She was the widow of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who had been executed for treason in 1483. There were no children of her marriage with Jasper Tudor.

توفي جاسبر تيودور في قلعة ثورنبري في 21 ديسمبر 1495، ودُفن في دير كينشام في سومرست ، والذي أوصت به له السيدة أغنيس تشين، رئيسة قصر تشينيز مانور هاوس ، في عام 1494.