1443

• 31ST MAY Margaret Beaufort was born in Bletsoe Castle, Bedfordshire, England. The daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe

1444

• 7TH FEBRUARY Margaret was married to John de la Pole. The son of William de la Pole. The marriage was dissolved three years later.

• 17TH MAY John Beaufort Margaret's father died at Wimborne, Dorset, England

1447

• 14TH APRIL Margaret's mother,Margaret Beauchamp married for a third time to Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles,

1450

• John (de) Welles, Margaret's half brother is born through her mother's third marriage

1453

• 24TH MARCH Edmund Tudor, was given the ward-ship of the nine-year-old Margaret Beaufort,

1455

• 22ND MAY The First Battle Albans was the Start of the Wars of the Roses. Between the House of York and Lancaster. King Henry VI and Richard 3rd Duke of York

• 1ST NOVEMBER Margaret married Edmund Tudor at Bletsoe Castle

1456

• 3RD NOVEMBER Margaret's husband Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond died at Carmarthen Castle aged 26years after being infected with the bubonic plague

• Margaret is now known under the titleThe Dowager Countess of Richmond

• Margaret was taken into the care of her brother-in-law Jasper Tudor, at Pembroke Castle

1457

• 28TH JANUARY Henry Tudor is born at Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales , Margaret and Edmund Tudor's son.The birth was particularly difficult; at one point, both the Countess and her child were close to death, due to her young age and small size

• 6TH APRIL A dispensation for the marriage,was granted for Margaret to Marry Henry Stafford the son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. As they were second cousins

1458

• 3RD JANUARY Margaret married Sir Henry Stafford at at Maxstoke Castle

1461

• 4TH MARCH King Henry VI is now deposed and Edward Earl of march is King Edward IV of England

• 29TH MARCH Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles , Margaret's step-father was killed at the Battle of Tow ton. Part of the Wars of the Roses.

• 25TH JUNE Henry Stafford, Margaret's husband was granted a pardon by King Edward IV of England

• King Edward IV had purchased Margaret's son' Henry Tudor’s wardship for £1000 and placed him in the household of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, a staunch Yorkist. Margaret and her husband Henry Stafford had to leave their home and her son at Pembroke Castle

1466

• King Edward IV granted Henry Stafford and Margaret the former Beaufort manor of Woking in Surrey

1468

• MAY Margaret and her husband Henry Stafford were in London to hear the King's public announcement of his intention to invade France.

• 20TH DECEMBER Edward IV visited Woking to attend a hunt and afterwards dined with Margaret and her husband Henry at their hunting lodge at Brookwood

1470

• 12TH MARCH The Battle of Loose Coat Field. Part of the Wars of the Roses Henry Stafford, Margaret's husband fought at this battle. Result Royal Victory

• 3RD OCTOBER King Edward IV is now deposed and King Henry VI is back on the English Throne.

• Margaret and her husband Henry Stafford , together with her son Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, attended an audience with the restored King and dined with the King's chamberlain, Sir Richard Tunstall.

1471

• 11TH APRIL King Henry VI is now deposed again and Edward IV  is back on the English throne.

• 14TH APRIL Battle of Barnet Part of the Wars of the Roses . Location (north of) Barnet, Hertfordshire, England Result Yorkist victory Henry Stafford was present at the battle and was badly wounded.

• 17TH APRIL Margaret hurried from Woking to London and sent a rider to Barnet for news of her husband

• Margaret's son Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany, where he spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany.

• 21ST MAY The deposed King Henry VI died in the Tower of London.

• 4TH OCTOBER Margaret's husband Sir Henry Stafford died from wounds from the Battle of Barnet.

1472

• Margaret made a will. Margaret specified in her will that she wanted to be buried alongside Edmund

• JUNE Margaret married Thomas Stanley, the Lord High Constable and King of Mann. This was marriage of convenience

1482

• 3RD JUNE Margaret Beauchamp died, Margaret's mother

1483

• 3RD APRIL King Edward IV of England is now dead, and now his son Edward V is King with his uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector

• 26TH JUNE King Edward V is now deposed and is kept in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard. Now Richard Duke of Gloucester is King of England as Richard III

• 6TH JULY The coronation of King Richard III and his wife Anne Neviille. Margaret had befriended the new Queen Anne Neviille, and carried Anne's train at her coronation.

• SUMMER Both the deposed King Edward V and his brother Richard have gone missing from the Tower of London and are presumed dead.

• Margaret's husband Thomas Stanley is now Lord High Constable 1483–1504

• while serving the new king and Queen Anne Neviille, Margaret was secretly plotting with the dowager Queen, Elizabeth Woodville,and was involved in Buckingham's rebellion against the new regime. Richard III then stripped Margaret of all her titles and estates, and transferred her property to her husband.

• Due to the fact that both Queen Elizabeth Woodville's sons, the Princes in the Tower, were presumed dead, Margaret and Elizabeth agreed to the betrothal of Margaret's son, Henry, to Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth and Edward IV.

• 25TH DECEMBER At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day Henry Tdor, Margaret's son pledged to marry, Elizabeth of York,

1485

• 22ND AUGUST The Battle of Bosworth Field, Part of The Wars of the Roses. This is between houses of York King Richard III and HenryTudor, House of Lancaster. Richard III is killed and Henry Tudor wins and becomes King Henry VII of England.

• 27TH OCTOBER King Henry VII of England created his mother s husband Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby

• 30TH OCTOBER The coronation of Henry Tudor . He was crowned King Henry VII of England by Thomas Bourchier. Archbishop of Canterbury

• Margaret is titled The Countess of Richmond and Derby

1486

• 18TH JANUARY King Henry VII married Elizabethof York at Westminster.

• 20TH SEPTEMBER Arthur Tudor is born in Winchester Cathedral Priory, Winchester, Kingdom of England Margarets first Grandson.

1487

• 16TH JUNE Battle of Stokefield. Part of The Wars of the Roses.Between those who want the Yorkists on the throne and Henry Tudor.LocationEast Stoke, Nottinghamshire, England.ResultDecisive Tudor (Lancastrian) victory

• Queen dowager Elizabeth Woodville left the Royal court

• DECEMBER John (de) Welles, 1st Viscount Welles , Margaret's half brother married Cecily of York, the daughter of the late King Edward IV of England.

1488

• Margaret was invested as a Lady Companion, Order of the Garter

1489

• 28TH NOVEMBER Margaret Tudor was born Westminster Palace, London, , the daughter of Margaret's son Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Margaret was named after her grandmother. Margaret was God-mother to her granddaughter.

1491

• 28TH JUNE Margaret's grandson is born, Henry, The future King Henry VIII of England.

1495

• 16TH FEBRUARY Margaret's brother-in-law was executed under King Henry VII of England for his role in the support of Perkin Warbeck the Yorkist Pretender

1496

• 18TH MARCH Margaret's granddaughter Mary Tudor is born at Sheen Palace, London, Surrey, Kingdom of England

1497

• Oliver St John , Margaret's half brother from her mother's first marriage died.

• John Fisher, became Margaret's chaplain and confessor

• Margaret announced her intention to build a free school for the general public of Wimborne, Dorset.

1498

• 9TH FEBRUARY John (de) Welles, Margaret's half-brother died

1499

• Margaret with her husband's permission, she took a vow of chastity in the presence of Richard FitzJames, Bishop of London

• Margaret changed her signature to Margaret R. Perhaps to signify her royaty

1501

• 14TH NOVEMBER Margaret's grandson Arthur married Catherine of Aragon at Saint Paul's Cathedral; both Arthur and Catherine wore white satin. The ceremony was conducted by Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assisted by William Warham, Bishop of London and another nineteen bishops .Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles bore the train of Catherine of Aragon

• Sir Nicolas Byron was created a Knight of the Bath by Arthur, at his wedding. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham attended wearing a gown worth £1500.Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset ,who was first cousin to Arthur, was 'chief answerer' at the marriage

• After which followed was a bedding ceremony, laid down by Margaret the bed was sprinkled with holy water, after which Catherine was led away from the wedding feast by her ladies-in-waiting. She was undressed, veiled and "reverently" laid in bed, while Arthur, "in his shirt, with a gown cast about him", was escorted by his gentlemen into the bedchamber, while viols and tabors played. The Bishop of London blessed the bed and prayed for the marriage to be fruitful, after which the couple were left alone. This is the only public bedding of a royal couple recorded in Britain in the 16th century

• 15TH NOVEMBER Tournaments are held day after Arthur's wedding. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was the chief challenger at the tournament

1502

• MARCH Prince Arthur and his wife Catherine had fallen ill. With sweating sickness and consumption (tuberculosis). Catherine recovered, she was not well for bit and missed her husband’s funeral at Worcester Cathedral

• 2ND APRIL Arthur Tudor died at Ludlow Castle, Ludlow, Shropshire, Kingdom of England

• Margaret established the Lady Margaret's Professorship of Divinity at the University of Cambridge

1503

• 11TH FEBRUARY Margaret's daughter-in-law Elizabethof York died

• King Henry VII took his wife Elizabethof Yorks death bad. He became extremely ill himself and would not allow any except his mother Margaret near him. For Henry Tudor to show his emotions, let alone any sign of infirmity, was highly unusual and alarming to members of his court.

• 8TH AUGUST Margaret's granddaughter, Margaret Tudor married King James IV of Scotland,

1504

• 29TH JULY Thomas Stanley died, at Lathom, Lancashire Margaret's husband.

• When King Henry VII banned Cecily of York, (Margaret's sister-in-law)  from court and all her estates were confiscated due to the fact that when she re-married it was to some-one of lower birth status, . Margaret helped Cecily get some of her lands were restored.

1505

• Margaret refounded and enlarged God's House, Cambridge as Christ's College, Cambridge with a royal charter from her son king Henry

1509

• 21ST APRIL King Henry VII is dead and now his son is King Henry VIII of England.

• 11TH JUNE King Henry VIII married Catherineof Aragon, his brother's widow.

• 24TH JUNE The joint coronation of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

• 29TH JUNE Margaret Beaufort died in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey at London, England aged sixty-six years. Bishop John Fisher was present at her death-bed.

 

Margaret Beaufort was buried at Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey