Owen Tudor

Owain ap Maredudd (or Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur or Owen Tudor) (c. 1400 - February 2, 1461) was a Welsh soldier and courtier, directly descended from The Lord Rhys but remembered only because of his role in founding the Tudor dynasty and for his relationship with Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V of England. At some point Owain anglicised his name from the Welsh Owain ap Maredudd to Owen Tudor, taking his grandfather's name for a surname rather than the more common practice of taking his father's.

Marriage/Affair and children

Owain was assigned to the service of Catherine of Valois following the death of her consort Henry V of England on August 22, 1422. Catherine was French and therefore distrusted by an English Royal court still involved in the Hundred Years' War. She was removed from court and denied any part in the upbringing of her son, the infant King Henry VI. Henry had succeeded his father as the King of England. Following the death of his maternal grandfather Charles VI of France on October 21, 1422, Henry had also been declared King of France, a title that would be disputed by his maternal uncle Charles VII of France, also coronated King of France on July 17, 1429.

Related Topics:
Catherine of Valois - Henry V of England - August 22 - 1422 - French - English - Royal court - Hundred Years' War - Henry VI - King of England - Charles VI of France - October 21 - King of France - Charles VII of France - King of France - July 17 - 1429

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Catherine was apparently not trusted by either side of the conflict. Forced into retirement from public affairs, Catherine apparently chose Owen as a lover. She and Owen are sometimes said to have been secretly married, though there is no documentary evidence of this.

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They certainly had at least five children:

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• Lady Tacinda Tudor (c. 1425 - after May, 1469). She later married Reginald Grey, 7th Baron Grey of Wilton (c. 1420 - February 22, 1493/1494. Reginald is also known as the husband of Thomasine Beaufort, illegitimate daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and half-sister of Margaret Beaufort.
• Thomas Tudor (November 6, 1429 - 1501/1502. Served as a monk of Westminster Abbey. Some sources identify him as a younger Owen Tudor. Believed to have used the alias Edward Bridgewater for uncertain reasons.
• Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (c. 1430 - November 1, 1456. Later married Margaret Beaufort. Their only son became King Henry VII of England.
• Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (c. 1431 - December 21/26, 1495). Later married Katherine Woodville, daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.
• Catherine Tudor. Some sources name her Margaret Tudor. Believed to have died young.
• A daughter of uncertain name. Became a nun according to Polydore Vergil who alone mentions her.

On January 3, 1437, Catherine died in childbirth. Owen would later have an illegitimate son.

Related Topics:
January 3 - 1437 - Childbirth

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• Sir David Owen (1459 - 1535). He was first married to Mary de Bohun, daughter of Sir John de Bohun of Midhurst and his wife Anne Arden. He married secondly to Anne Blount, daughter of Sir William Blount and Margaret Etchingham. He married thirdly Anne Devereux, presumed to be a daughter of John Devereux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley and his wife Cecile Bourchier. He had four children by his first marriage.