Did Jasper Tudor Have Secret Children? | Henry VII’s Secret Cousins

From History Calling

Did Henry VII’s uncle, Jasper Tudor, have secret illegitimate children, who would have been the cousins of Henry VII and whose descendants would be members of the Tudor line started by Owen Tudor and Katherine of Valois? There has long been a rumour that Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke, fathered a woman called Helen or Ellen Tudor, who first married William Gardner of London, then William Sibson and was the mother of Thomas Gardiner, Prior of Tynmouth in Northumberland (thanks to the patronage of Mary Boleyn) and monk at Westminster Abbey. There’s even a version which makes Ellen’s son the famous Tudor era figure, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor. Other stories say that Jasper had two daughters, both born in Snowdonia, with the second being called Joan. In this version their mother was a Welshwoman named Mevanvy ferch Daffydd of Gwynedd. According to that tale, Joan married William ap Yevan (son of Yevan ap William and Margaret Kemoys) and died giving birth to their twin sons, Morgan and John ap William(s) in Lanishen in 1479. Morgan then grew up to marry Katherine Cromwell in 1499, sister of none other than Thomas Cromwell, the famed minister of Henry VIII and became the ancestor of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector and the man who was largely responsible for toppling the monarchy in the 17th century. These are great stories and the existence of Ellen at least has been widely accepted in academic studies of the lives of Jasper and Henry Tudor, appearing in Jasper’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and in biographies of Henry VII, including that by S.B. Chrimes. Does any part of this story hold water though? In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling I’m going to reveal the earliest source we have which mentions Ellen Tudor and look at whether Joan Tudor might have existed too. I’ll also look at the marriage of Jasper Tudor to Katherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham and sister of Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Enjoy this episode asking the question, did Jasper Tudor had children!