Household Accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509)

Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509) was the mother of Henry Tudor (1457-1509) by her first husband, Edmund Tudor, who died before his son was born. A strong and determined woman, after many vicissitudes she was instrumental in the overthrow of Richard III and the accession of her son to the throne after the Battle of Bosworth (1485). The documents edited here are the principal household accounts, extant in St John's College, Cambridge, for the period 1498-1509, duringwhich she ran her own household, variously at Collyweston, Croydon and Hatfield, independent of her third husband, Thomas Stanley, earl of Derby. The accounts record the economy and management of the household at the height of Lady Margaret's power, wealth, and influence and offer unique evidence ofboth the household and Lady Margaret herself.

Susan Powell is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Texts and Culture, University of Salford. She is the editor of John Mirk's Festial, published in two volumes by Oxford University Press for the Early English Text Society. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Chair of the Harlaxton Medieval Symposium steering committee, and Associate Editor and Reviews Editor of the Journal of the Early Book Society.