Tudor

Tudor, the surname of a family of Welsh extraction which occupied the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. In the Welsh language Tudor is the equivalent of Theodore. Owen Tudor, the first of the race known in history, claimed descent from Cadwallader, and seems to have been godson of Owen Glendower. He fought at Agincourt, became squire to Henry V. and Henry VI. His dancing at some court pageant is said to have first ingratiated him with Catharine of Valois, widow of Henry V., who appointed him to the office of Clerk of the Household, and before long entered into either an illicit connection or a private marriage with him. The indignation of the public at this step obliged the queen to take refuge in a convent at Bermondsey, where she died (1437); and Tudor was sent to Newgate, but succeeded in escaping, and in obtaining two audiences of the young king, Henry VI., who afforded him protection and conferred on him the lieutenancy of Denbigh. He fought for the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses, was taken prisoner at Mortimer's Cross, and beheaded. Two sons had been born to him by the queen. On the elder, Edmond, the king bestowed the earldom of Richmond, and on the younger, Jasper, the earldom of Pembroke. The Earl of Richmond married Margaret, daughter and heiress of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, whose father was an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt; and his son ascended the throne of England as Henry VII. (q.v.). See also the articles on HENRY VIII., MARY, ELIZABETH, EDWARD VI.