The Life and Trials of Jasper Tudor
The Political and Military Career of a Prominent Lancastrian
Jasper Tudor (1431-1495) was an important Welsh Lancastrian during the Wars of the Roses and played a vital role in placing his nephew Henry VII upon the throne of England and founding the Tudor dynasty. A capable if unlucky soldier, Jasper’s greatest virtue was his loyalty that never wavered even when the Lancastrian cause seemed hopeless.
Blood Ties to the House of Lancaster
Jasper was the half-brother of the King of England, Henry VI, his mother Queen Catherine’s son by Henry V. In 1452 he and his brother Edmund were dubbed earls: Edmund was made the Earl of Richmond and Jasper the Earl of Pembroke. The following year the brothers were given joint custody of the rich heiress Margaret Beaufort, and in 1455 Edmund married her. Thus Jasper was closely bound by blood and title to the royal family, otherwise known as the House of Lancaster.
Death of Edmund Tudor
Jasper fought in Henry VI’s army at the Battle of St Albans in May 1455, where the royal army was beaten and Henry himself captured. Jasper survived the battle and attempted to reconcile the warring factions. He was briefly successful as the rebel lords renewed their oaths of allegiance to King Henry, but fighting soon broke out again. In 1456 Edmund Tudor was captured by the Yorkists and died of an illness contracted in prison, leaving his young widow with an unborn child.
The Resumption of War
War resumed in 1459 when the Duke of York returned from exile in Ireland. Jasper was ordered to seize Denbigh Castle to block York’s lines of communication between England and Ireland, which he did successfully. Disaster struck when the Yorkists met and defeated King Henry’s forces at Northampton in July 1460. Jasper was left isolated at Denbigh but refused to surrender. A Yorkist army stormed Denbigh but Jasper managed to escape and join up with Lancastrians in Wales.
The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross
The fortunes of war now swung in Lancaster’s favour as the Duke of York was ambushed and killed by Lancastrian forces at Wakefield and his army wiped out. The Lancastrians then marched south and defeated another Yorkist army at St Albans while Jasper Tudor helped to gather an army in Wales. In early 1461 the Welsh force, which included Jasper’s father Owen, marched to the borders of Herefordshire to face an army led by the Duke of York’s son Edward.
The ensuing battle at Mortimer’s Cross was noted for the appearance of three suns in the sky. Jasper’s army was defeated and in memory of their victory the Yorkists adopted the image of the sun as a symbol. Jasper escaped but sadly his father was captured and executed in the market place at Hereford. His last words were ‘This head shall lie on the block that once lay in Queen Catherine’s lap’.
Flight and Exile of Jasper Tudor
Soon after Mortimer’s Cross the main Lancastrian army was exterminated in a colossal battle at Towton in Yorkshire. Edward marched to London and was crowned King Edward IV, while Jasper fled to Ireland and spent the next few years living as a hunted fugitive. He reappeared in 1468, landing in North Wales to try and relieve Harlech Castle (the valiant defence of the garrison was the inspiration for the song ‘Men of Harlech’)
Jasper was involved in another Lancastrian invasion in 1470, and this one was more successful as Edward IV’s soldiers deserted him and he was forced to flee abroad. Henry VI was brought out of imprisonment and restored as King, but by now his feeble wits had deserted him. He did have one moment of prophetic lucidity, for when Jasper brought his young nephew Henry Tudor to court King Henry declared that the boy would one day rule England.
Short-lived Restoration of Henry VI
Henry VI’s restoration was short-lived as in 1471 Edward returned with a new army. The war was finally decided by two dreadful battles at Barnet and Tewkesbury, which resulted in the virtual destruction of the Lancastrian cause. Henry VI was murdered soon after, leaving Jasper’s nephew Henry Tudor as the sole surviving Lancastrian claimant to the throne. Henry’s life was preserved by Jasper, who fled with him to Brittany where they spent the next thirteen years in exile.
The Battle of Bosworth
In 1485, Accompanied by his uncle and about 2000 mercenaries, Henry landed in Pembrokeshire and marched east, relying on his Welsh ancestry and Lancastrian heritage to gain support. By the time he reached England his army had swelled to 5000 men, though Richard was waiting to meet them at Market Bosworth in Leicestershire with an army twice the size.
The Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485 was decided by the treachery of Richard’s supposed allies the Stanleys, who betrayed him as he led a reckless charge against Henry’s bodyguard. Richard was dragged from his horse and hacked to death, his crown rolling away into a thorn bush where it was later found and placed upon the head of Henry Tudor, who was proclaimed Henry VII.
Sources:
“The Early Tudors” by Charles Edward Moberly, published by BiblioBazaar (2008)
“Lancastrians to Tudors: England 1450-1509” by Andrew Pickering, published by Cambridge University Press (2000)
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