222 MARGARET BEAUFORT AND WIMBORNE MINSTER. 



own brother George, Duke of Clarence. Lady Margaret was 

 allowed to retain those of her estates that had come to her 

 in dower from her first husband and from her father ; and 

 Pembroke Castle, which belonged to the outlawed Earl of 

 Pembroke, was given to Sir William Herbert, Lord of Ragland, 

 who was directed to take possession of the Castle, and hold the 

 Lady Margaret and her son as State prisoners. A few years 

 after Edward IV. was defeated at Banbury and fled from 

 England, and Henry VI. was released from the tower and 

 reinstated as King of England in 1470. 



The success of the Lancastrian party was, however, of very 

 short duration, and after their disastrous defeats at Barnet and 

 Tewkesbury King Henry VI. was again placed in the tower, 

 where he died 1471, leaving King Edward IV. in possession of 

 the throne. By the death of King Henry VI. the young Earl of 

 Richmond became head of the family and next heir to the 

 throne. The King's party soon besieged Pembroke Castle, 

 where the Lady Margaret and the Earl were still living, but 

 by the timely help of a Welsh chieftain they were rescued, and 

 the young Earl and Jasper Tudor escaped to France, and were 

 arrested by the Duke of Brittany and sent to the Castle of 

 Vannes, where the Earl was confined for many years, and mother 

 and son became separated. In 1481 Sir Humphrey Stafford 

 died, and the Lady Margaret became again a widow, and in 

 1482 she married Lord Stanley, Steward of the King's house- 

 hold, and went to live in London, probably with the idea of 

 being the better able to effect her son's release. Very shortly 

 after this event King Edward IV. died, and his son was 

 proclaimed King as Edward V. in 1483, and after a brief space 

 of ten weeks the Duke of Gloucester, who had been made 

 Protector of the Realm, usurped the throne under the title of 

 Richard III. The Lady Margaret did all in her power to get 

 the King to restore her son to his lawful position, but without 

 avail, as he refused to listen to any such entreaties, and entered 

 into a fresh compact with the Duke of Brittany to continue the 

 imprisonment of Richmond. In utter despair at the failure of 



