LadyMargaretBeaufort(1443-1509)wasthemotherofHenryTudor(1457-1509)byherfirsthusband,EdmundTudor,whodiedbeforehissonwasborn.Astronganddeterminedwoman,aftermanyvicissitudesshewasinstrumentalintheoverthrowofRichardIIIandtheaccessionofhersontothethroneaftertheBattleofBosworth(1485).Thedocumentseditedherearetheprincipalhouseholdaccounts,extantinStJohn’sCollege,Cambridge,fortheperiod1498-1509,duringwhichsheranherownhousehold,variouslyatCollyweston,CroydonandHatfield,independentofherthirdhusband,ThomasStanley,earlofDerby.TheaccountsrecordtheeconomyandmanagementofthehouseholdattheheightofLadyMargaret’spower,wealth,andinfluenceandofferuniqueevidenceofboththehouseholdandLadyMargaretherself.
wealth Cambridge LADY ACCOUNTS
