Gaining Power By Proxy

A young girl of 12 years of age, Margaret Beufort, was married off to a grown man of 26, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and he - eager to have offspring as soon as possible - not only consummated the marriage, but impregnated her. That means that 13 years old, and thus very young, Margaret, gave birth to a son in 1457. With her more or less secretive help, he became king of England as well as the founder of the royal Tudor family of England, Henry VII (1485–1509). After the death of her husband, Edmund Tudor, a short time before the birth of their son, Margaret married again. Actually, she married several times, but she never had any more children, and it was said that her pregnancy at such an early age and the very difficult birth of Henry had ruined her womb. At that time, children of a noble family were important in many ways, one of them being used as some sort of "tools" in intricate arrangements and deals of their families. When Margaret married Edmund Tudor, she had been of age with the Shakespearean heroine Juliet, but there is no indication that her marriage(-s) were of a romantic nature: One married for power, property and dynastic reasons.

Henry VII

This being the time of the so-called "Rose Wars" several royal careers were made - or ruined - in some unforeseen ways. What was up often came down or was uprooted in wars or intrigues. Margaret was very good at political schemes, apparently not for herself, but for her son. For ages that was the way of the women: A man, be he father, brother, husband or son, became their more or less willing pawn in the game of power. 

The noble family tree of Margaret was quite fine, but neither she nor her son were royal, so for him to become king of England wasn't all that easy: It wasn't in the cards, so to speak, unless someone shuffled them some more. Luckily enough for Henry, his Mom worked diligently to advance his very slim claim to the throne. As far as I can see, he didn't really have a strong legit claim, except as the one who fought and defeated Richard III. What he had was first and foremost based on his lineage through his mother, who was a descendant of the House of Lancaster. However, the one with a much stronger claim to the throne was Elizabeth of York, who was the eldest daughter of Edward IV, and the sister of the so-called "Princes of Tower", who disappeared in 1483. Their marriage brought an end to The War of The Roses and a new royal dynasty on the throne: The Tudors.

Elizabeth of York

Of course, Margaret wasn't of royal birth, although her son had become the king of England. However, she was very good at attaining a position for herself at the royal court. Her son, the king, granted her the elevated title "My Lady the King's Mother", and she made sure that she was treated with due respect, yes, almost as the queen herself. According to some legends, she demanded to walk in front of the queen, and that her clothes were as fine as hers. The old age of the former child bride was spent with pulling the strings at the court of her only son, which I'm sure she, being whom she was, enjoyed very much.

My Lady The King's Mother, Margaret Beufort 

 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Lady-Margaret-Beaufort/ 

https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/margaret-beaufort-mother-of-the-tudors/

 

Britannica

 

Wikipedia