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Catherine (or Katherine) of Valois was the mother of Sir Edmund Tudor, the 1st Earl of Richmond. Sir Edmund Tudor was the second husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort. Lady Margaret Beaufort was the daughter of Sir John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp.

Sir Edmund Tudor, the 1st Earl of Richmond married Lady Margaret Beaufort on November 01, 1455 at Bletsoe Castle, Bedfordshire. Lady Margaret was twelve years old when she was married to Sir Edmund Tudor, the 1st Earl of Richmond. They had one son from this marriage, the future King Henry VII of England.

Catherine (or Katherine) of Valois was the daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau de Baviere. She was born on October 27, 1401, at the Hotel de St. Pol, in Paris, France. In 1420, she was given in marriage to King Henry V of England, as part of the settlement following the Battle of Agincourt (her elder sister Isabella of Valois having been the original candidate). She was married to King Henry V on June 02, 1420 in Troyes. Sbe was crowned in Westminster Abbey on February 24, 1421, and was the Queen Consort of England until King Henry V's death on August 31, 1422, in Bois de Vincennes. The only issue of his marriage was the future King Henry VI of Engoand.

After the sudden death of King Henry V in 1422, Catherine was effectively exiled from court, suspicion falling on her nationality. The regents kept her away from her child, and she turned for comfort to Owen Tudor, a Welsh courtier, who would become the founding father of the Tudor dynasty. Although Catherine was forbidden by a new law to marry again, there was a general lack of interest in her on the part of the authorities which enabled her to form a liaison with, and possibly to marry secretly (but, if so, it was legally invalid), Owen Tudor, and give birth to at least four children.

The daughter of Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor was born in the summer of 1436, and was named Margaret, but baby Margaret only survived for a few days.

Their oldest son, Owen, became a monk. Their other two sons, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, were to play an important role in the future of the English monarchy.

Catherine (or Katherine) died on January 03, 1437, at thirty-six years of age, in Bermondsey Abbey, London, England, and was buried in the old Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey. Her tomb was erected by Henry VI. The Latin inscription referred to her only as a widow of Henry V, but when her grandson, Henry Tudor had become King Henry VII, he had it replaced by another inscription acknowledging her Tudor marriage. Catherine's mummified body was disinterred when Henry VII was buried and remained above ground in a chest near Henry V's tomb for the best part of three centuries. Here it was shown to the curious for a few pence, and Samuel Pepys visited the Abbey with his wife and a party of friends. "I had the upper part of her body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it, that I did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday, thirty-six years old, that I did first kiss a Queen." Owen Tudor, her husband, or lover, lived on until February 02, 1461, when he was executed at Hereford by the Yorkists following the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. Their sons were given earldoms by King Henry VI after Catherine's death. Edmund Tudor was invested as a knight on December 15, 1449. Edmund Tudor gained the title of "1st Earl of Richmond" on November 23, 1452. Sir Edmund Tudor would become the father of the future King Henry VII of England.

(ourtesy of "Catherine of Valois", Wikipedia Encyclopedia, One Page Article.)

(Courtesy of "Catherine of Valois", from a Peerage of Margaret Beaufort Article, from thePeerage.com - Person - Margaret Beaufort, on Page 5 of a 8-Page Article.)

(Courtesy of "Debrett's Kings and Queens of Britain", by David Williamson, Published by Salem House Publishers, in Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1986. Pages 90 and 91.)