HENRY TUDOR
2nd Earl of Richmond, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Born 1456 (25).
Status: Married to Lady Anne Holland.
Children: Margaret Tudor (1472-1473), Arthur Tudor (1473), Henry Tudor (1480), Mary Tudor (1481).
Titles: 2nd Earl of Richmond, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
Seat: Pembroke Castle and Margaret Beaufort's numerous properties.
Traits (6):
+3 Wealth.
+2 Charisma.
+1 Survival.
Phlegmatic:
- Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma.
- Empathic: This character is strongly attuned to the emotions of others and cares for them, making them great friends or kinsmen to have - but poor warriors and generals. +2 Charisma, -1 to battle/joust/duel rolls.
Melancholic:
- Haggler: This character is obsessed with getting the best possible deal for themselves, and ever watchful (even paranoid) for anyone trying to rip them off. This sort of fellow is rarely the sort others like, but none can deny their ability to sniff for gold. +7,5% income and improves loot from raids, -2 Charisma.
BIOGRAPHY:
The Tudors were relatively obscure and unimportant until Owen Tudor found himself in bed with a widow: coincidentally, the widow was Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI and wife of the English Mars, Henry V. She fathered several children by the Welshman, including Edmund, the eldest, and Jasper, who were uterine brothers to Henry of Lancaster. Around 1442 Henry VI, childless and lacking relations, acknowledged his half-brothers and both were ennobled: Edmund was created Earl of Richmond (a prestigious title formerly held by the Dukes of Brittany and more recently by John, duke of Bedford) and Jasper Earl of Pembroke. Willing to tie his living relatives closer, Henry VI married his distant cousin, Margaret Beaufort (who before Edward of Westminsters birth was once considered his heir by the Commons) to Edmund, furthermore she was the 1st Duke of Somerset only heir, which made her a quite wealthy heiress.
However, in 1456, Edmund died prematurely, of bubonic plague, while he was prisoner of Richard of York during the first stages of the War of the Roses. He left a very young widow, Margaret, pregnant of six months: three months later she delivered a boy called after the king, Henry. A very thin, aquiline-nosed, charming and bright child he grew under the tutelage of Jasper Tudor, his paternal uncle. The Earl of Pembroke was dispossessed of his titles in 1462, after the battle of Towton, and had to flee, unfortunately bereft of his tutor Margaret herself took the reins and assumed the regency of Richmond and all the Tudor lands. With the death of Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Marquis of Dorset without a son, remained the issue of who would inherit whatever lands the family could retain. Finally, in 1464, both Somersetshire and Dorsetshire were granted to Kent and Exeter by royal writ, but in turn Henry Tudor was installed as Earl of Pembroke, instead of Lord Herbert who had occupied the castle and held the title since 1462. In 1471 he married his betrothed Lady Anne Holland, eldest daughter of the Duke of Exeter and his wife, Anne of York, sister to the King Edward IV. His marriage proved fruitful and happy for both, with several children being born in the following years, including three healthy sons, called Arthur, Henry and Edmund, all of apparent good health. During the years of war Tudor himself commited little to the fight, unconcerned with the Yorkist claim to France, but nevertheless had to follow his liege. Still, Tudor is no commander or skilled warrior, prefering to delagate such things into his subordinates and retainers, for he is more comfortable behind a desk than in the battlefield itself or the tilts. He is a surprisingly good administrator, some say even slightly miserly and too concerned with profit and increasing his wealth.
At twenty-five Henry is tall, rather skinny, aquiline-nosed, with small blue eyes, which are said to have a noticeable animation of expression, and truly bad teeth in a long, sallow face beneath very fair hair. Amiable and high-spirited, Henry Tudor is friendly if dignified in manner, exactly like his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, whom he greatly resembles both in body and mind. Both Tudor and his mother, Lady Margaret, consider him the rightful heir of Lancaster after the ill-fated, posibly illegitimate and erratic Edward of Lancaster. Not only because his Beaufort ascendance, but also due his close kindred to the pious, noble, gentle and well-intentioned Henry VI, who always favored his half-siblings and nephew.
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Tudor Estates
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Originally Posted by Barry Goldwater
