Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke

Also known as: Iasper / Iasper earle of Penbroke / Jasper Tudor · Family: England · Role: earl · First appears: Henry VI 26

Jasper Tudor was the son of Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor, and brother to Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. He was also the maternal half-brother of Henry VI, who, after their mother’s death in 1437, created Edmund Earl of Richmond and Jasper Earl of Pembroke. A later account likewise records that Henry VI elevated him, saying Jasper “created erle of Penbroke, which died without issue.” Edward IV had Jasper and Edmund placed with honest and virtuous prelates to be brought up.

Around 1461, Jasper and James Butler, Earl of Ormond assembled Welsh and Irish forces against Edward IV, but Edward defeated them at Mortimer’s Cross. Around 1470, Jasper joined Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, Margaret of Anjou, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and John de Vere, Earl of Oxford in an alliance formed in France; after the marriage, they swore to continue the war until Henry VI or Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was restored to the crown. That same period, Jasper and John de Vere were restored to their names, possessions, and dignities.

In London, Jasper took his nephew Henry VII from the custody of the lady Herbert and brought him to Henry VI. Around 1471, he was sent into Wales to prepare its people to aid Henry VI’s supporters, with plans for the Welsh force to join them in Cheshire and Lancashire.