May the 4th: The Twilight of the House of Lancaster

Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, only son of King Henry VI of House Lancaster and his Queen, Marguerite of Anjou.

On May the 4^th 1471, Edward Prince of Wales, otherwise known as Edward of Westminster for his place of birth, lost his life at the Battle of Tewkesbury. The prince was only seventeen years old, months short of being eighteen. He was the last hope of the Lancastrians. After the Earl of Warwick Richard Neville had been slain at the battle of Barnet the previous month, the Prince and his mother decided not to make any more haste and keep with the plan, and attack the Yorkists. Some historians like Skidmore believe that the death of Richard Neville might have been a blessing in disguise since it eliminated a potential rival, if they ever came to a complete win. However, others are not so sure of this. Jones, Higginbotham, Lisle, among many others view that Warwick’s death was truly the end-game for the Lancasters. The battle of Barnet destroyed whatever chance they had left. Marguerite of Anjou was never one to give up and continued to march forward unto the battlefield. With her, besides her son, was her daughter-in-law, Anne Neville. Anne Neville was the youngest daughter of Richard Neville, and the news of her father’s death when she touched English shore, must have been devastating. Yet, true to her position of Princess Consort of Wales, she kept moving and joined her husband and her mother-in-law in their fight, to completely restore the Lancastrian dynasty to its rightful place. Henry VI had already been captured and sent back to the Tower. London was back in Yorkist control but Marguerite remained optimistic. Weeks after they landed, they made their way to Exeter then to Bristol and the Severn Valley where Edward IV “prepared for a second round of battle, sending out orders to fifteen counties”. He wanted to stop them at all costs from crossing the river Severn but come the end of April he realized they were journeying to Bristol where they were joined by a larger army and supplied with more weapons.

Although Edward had the upper hand, one mistake (he knew) could’ve cost him everything. So it became a race against time, for the Yorkist King to encounter them when he was still strong before they reunited with others (such as Jasper Tudors who was far off and was looking forward to joining with them).

Edward of Westminster in the “White Queen” (2013)

The Lancastrian army then reached Tewkesbury on 3 May. The next day they faced the Yorkist troops. The Prince of Wales along with the Duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort were the principal commanders. Marguerite and Anne Neville were likely hiding as Licence points out in her biography on Anne Neville; probably in Coventry with other Lancastrian wives waiting for news of the outcome.

The following day on Saturday May the 4^th, Edward IV “donned his armor and divided his army into three divisions under the same leadership that had prevailed at Barnet -himself, Hastings and the brilliant young Gloucester, who was not given command of the vanguard.” Jones writes. The Lancastrias “were arrayed under Prince Edward” who was assisted by Lord Wenlock, Sir John Lagstrother (the prior of St. John) and of course his second in command Edmund Duke of Somerset, followed by John Courtenay the Earl of Devon. Edward IV began his assault with “a hail of arrows and gunshot” which was returned by the enemy. The Lancastrias had chosen a “strong defensive position” Skidmore notes “encamped on high ground to the south of Tewkesbury.” The battle raged on, “Somerset had chosen to command the right flank, placing the elderly veteran Lord Wenlock in charge of the center of the army.” Edward did not waste any time and told his brother leading the left flank to advance, the Lancastrians did their best to repel the wave of arrows flown at them, but they were soon overwhelmed.

“Outnumbered, Somerset’s forces force was slowly being driven back up the slope. It was at this point that Edward performed a masterstroke, ordering his 200 men-at-arms waiting hidden in the woods to launch a surprise attack into the side of Somerset’s beleaguered troops. The Duke’s men scattered, ‘dismayed and abashed’; some fled along the lanes, some into the park and down to the meadow by the river running alongside the abbey, but most would suffer the same fate of being cut down and killed as they ran. Somerset, however, refused to give up, making his way back to the Lancastrian center whose troops had stood motionless at Lord Wenlock’s order. Riding up to the aged nobleman, Somerset was in no mood for excuses; according to a latter account, in a fury, he raged at Wenlock, and before he had a chance to respond, Somerset seized his battle axe and beat his brains out, though a more contemporary chronicle suggests that this dramatic confrontation never took place, with Wenlock being captured and executed after the battle.” (Skidmore)

As everyone scrambled and ran to safety, Somerset took refuge in the Abbey with a few. The Prince was not so lucky.

“Exactly how Anne’s husband met his death is unclear. Literary and dramatic sources have presented a range of possibilities, implicating various Yorkists in differing degrees. Of the contemporary chroniclers recording the scene without being present, Commynes agrees with the Croyland and Benet chronicles, which clearly state that he fell on the field of battle, while the Arrival observes, ‘And there was slain in the field Prince Edward, which cried for succor to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Clarence.’ Even having sworn allegiance to him less than a year before, Clarenece clearly did not feel sufficiently moved to show the prince pity, stating in a letter to Henry Vernon that the Prince was ‘slain in plain battle’, differentiating his death from the ‘execution’ of Somerset also described in the correspondence. Warkworth agrees that the prince ‘was taken fleeing townwards, and slain in the field’, perhaps heading back for the safety of the abbey, or ‘poor religious place’ where his wife and mother waited. Tudor Historian Andre Bernanrd writing in 1501, also stated that the prince was slain in combat, even though, at the time, it would have been in his interests to slur the reputation of the Yorkist brothers. The alternative story of Edward’s murder began to gain credence soon after his death. Weeks after the battle, Bettini wrote to the Duke of Milan that the Yorkists had ‘not only routed the prince but taken and slain him, together with all the leading men with him’.” (Licence)

According to various accounts, he was executed by Edward IV, others say that he was killed by Richard III himself. Not surprisingly during the Tudor period the blame was lain on Richard’s feet. Even if this is true, as Licence argues in her biography of both of these men’s only wife, Anne Neville; he would not have risked doing something of that magnitude without his eldest brother and King, Edward IV’s approval. Edward IV wanted the entire Lancastrian line wiped, therefore he was not going to shrink away from executing him or giving the order to someone else if he was indeed brought before him.

Anne Neville played by Faye Marsay in the “White Queen” (2013).

The battle was a huge and decisive win, Jones notes for Edward because he had “at last gained a glorious victory” and two days after he had slain Edward Prince of Wales, he dragged Edmund Duke of Somerset, Sir John Langstrother, Sir Hugh Courtenay and other Lancastrians who had sought sanctuary inside the Abbey, to behead them. The following day on the 8^th, he left Tewkesbury to track the Queen and her daughter-in-law, Anne Neville who was now a widow and like the Queen, at the mercy of the Yorkist King. Not long after, Henry VI also died under mysterious circumstances. No one believed the official story that he had died of melancholy.

Sources:

• The Rise of the Tudors: The Family that Changes English History by Chris Skidmore
• The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
• Anne Neville: Richard III’s Tragic Queen by Amy Licence
• The Prince who did not become King: Edward of Lancaster (1453-1471) by Susan Higginbotham

The marriage of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV

Edward IV and Elizabeth in portraits and in the White Queen (2013) played by Max Irons and Rebecca Ferguson.

1 MAY 1464: The traditional date given to Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV’s union.
The day better known as “Love Day” was famous for juxtaposing gender and status roles. It was a day of mayhem and fun that has its roots in pagan religions and pre-Christian traditions. In all honesty though, there is no concrete evidence that the marriage took place that day. What is known is it must have taken place before August of that year when Lord Hastings was given the wardship of Elizabeth’s eldest son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey.

Several chroniclers that place the marriage on this day are Antonio Cornazzano, an Italian writing four years after the event took place. He writes that Elizabeth threatened Edward with a dagger after he offered her to become his mistress. Angry, Dominic Mancini writing nearly twenty years later adds that Edward attempted to make her submit but “she remained unperturbed and determined to die rather than live unchastely with the king. Whereupon Edward coveted her much the more, and he judged the lady worthy to be a royal spouse”. Thomas More writing nearly a century later omits the dagger but the end result is all the same: “She showed him plain that as she wist herself too simple to be his wife, so thought she herself too good to be his concubine. The king much marvelling of her constance … he set her virtue in the stead of possession and riches”.

Other historians believe there was more to this match than simply love or lust. Dan Jones in his recent book on the wars of the roses and the rise of the Tudors, points out that by this time, people were pointing out how much power his cousin [Richard Neville the Earl of Warwick] had. There were some that stated that he was the real ruler. Edward IV did not want to become a puppet like his predecessor, Henry VI. Henry VI had started his rule when he was just a baby and barely two years old. He had been ruled by indecision and fear. Edward was his complete opposite. Handsome, impulsive, he was not willing to let others decide for him. While the match that Warwick proposed with the King of France’s relative would have benefit him more; his match with Elizabeth sent a powerful statement that he was his own man. No one was going to rule for him, and  the fact that she was a Lancastrian fitted perfectly with his plans of reconciliation. Edward wanted an end to the bloodshed. He pardoned many Lancastrians after he took the crown in 1461, including Elizabeth’s family. It is very probable he knew her or had some vague recollection of her from her days serving Queen Marguerite of Anjou, or through her mother who had been very close to the Queen. Her mother had been married to a Lancastrian -the former King’s late uncle, John Duke of Bedford and Elizabeth’s husband had fought for Henry VI. In marrying her, it is possible that Edward intended to show a union of both houses, something that wasn’t as symbolic as his future daughter’s marriage to Henry Tudor two decades later, since Elizabeth had no blood ties to that House. But her affiliation with it, made her somewhat Lancastrian. And there was another reason. Elizabeth had a large family. He could marry off her cousins, sisters, brothers and other family members to the most important noble houses in England, including former Lancastrians, tying them and enforcing their loyalty to him.

Regardless of his reasons, they backfired on him in the end.

The marriage was kept a secret until Edward was forced to admit to it at the Reading Council in September. The fact that the bride was not royal, noble (her mother was a member of the House of St. Pol of Luxemborg, but that wasn’t enough when her father was only a Baron), and brought no foreign alliance to the marriage, shocked and outraged many members of court and his family. As for the common man, they could care less who this woman was and where she came from. Six years later when she was pregnant with their first son she fled into sanctuary in Westminster taking along with her, her daughters. She asked the mayor of London and others to submit to Warwick and the Lancaster Readeption to save themselves. Something they saw as a great contrast to her predecessor who had taken up arms against her enemies. After the Lancastrian forces were defeated the following year, the people were more welcoming to their Queen. She had not brought a foreign alliance, riches, or anything else, but she had lived up to the medieval expectations of women of the day.

She had continued her predecessor’s work and endowed universities, shown patronage to learned men and artists and shown herself subservient to her husband and to the church. This last one is less remarked in fiction but it should be, because the real Elizabeth was far from being the scheming witch she is shown in portrayals such as in the White Queen or romantic fiction. Queen Elizabeth was a very pious woman who belonged to some of the most famous religious fraternities at the time, her brothers were able soldiers and administrators. Her brother Anthony is perhaps the most famous, but her others brothers also served the Yorkist regime under her husband then under her son-in-law (Henry VII) in every capacity.
She was also ambitious. During Richard III’s reign, she conspired with Margaret Beaufort to bring about the marriage between her eldest daughter and Henry Tudor (then) Earl of Richmond after the disappearance of her sons. She spent the last days of her life leading an ascetic life. Her last wishes to be buried with little pomp and a few valuables were carried out.

Sources:

• The Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses and England’s Most Infamous Family by Susan Higginbotham
• Blood Sisters by Sarah Gristwood
• Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings by Amy Licence
• The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

Dispelling myths: The Truth Behind Edward IV & Cecily Neville

Edward IV “the Rose of Rouen” and his mother “Proud Cis” Cecily Neville, Duchess Dowager of York.

Today historians still debate Edward IV’s parentage but a poem done in his honor, shortly after he was sworn in as King, leaves it very clear he was Richard, Duke of York’s son:

“Y is for York that is manly and mighty
That be grace of God and great revelation
Reining with rules reasonable and right-full
That which for our sakes hath suffered vexation.

E is for Edward whose fame the earth shall spread
Because of his wisdom named prudence
shall save all England by his manly deeds
Wherefore we owe to do him reverence

M is for March, through every trial
Drawn by discretion that worthy and wise is
conceived in wedlock and coming of blood royal
Joining unto virtue, excluding all vices.”

There was a scene in the White Queen, both in the book and the mini-series where Cecily Neville, Duchess of York and “Queen by Rights” is completely humiliated by her daughter-in-law and her mother, Lady Rivers. She threatens to disown her son Edward in favor of George because she is mad he married a Lancastrian impoverished widow. Elizabeth Grey nee Woodville’s father was a knight, albeit he had been made a Baron thanks to his service to the Crown –and Jacquetta’s friendship with the Lancastrian Queen. Her mother was Jacquetta of Luxemborg whose lineage was quite impressive. However in the middle ages, if your father was a nobody, it didn’t matter if your mother was a somebody, to their standards, you were technically a nobody unless you married above your station. Edward was the first King of the York dynasty –another branch of the Plantagenet Dynasty. His position was very unstable as Henry VI was still alive somewhere and his warring wife and son were seeking the support of Scotland and France to invade England and restore her husband to the throne. Everything he did or said could be used against him; he couldn’t afford to be his own man until he was safely installed. Yet, Edward disregarded this –as he did many things- and went ahead and married Elizabeth Woodville.

There are many possible reasons as to why he did this. Susan Higginbotham in her biography on the Woodville posits that he could have done it as another plot to convince Elizabeth to sleep with him, or for the simplest reason that he genuinely fell in love with her. Dan Jones in his latest book on the wars of the roses and the Tudors, give another approach that combines all reasons: That Edward was uncertain regarding his cousin Warwick’s proposal to marry the King of France’s relative, Bona of Savoy. If he agreed to marry this girl then he would be seen as Warwick’s tool. People were already saying that Warwick ruled. Edward didn’t want to give them any more reason to think this way. It was a great risk he was running but he did it anyway. Marrying Elizabeth was a public statement of his independence and furthermore that he was not going to show favoritism to any nobles regardless of their previous affiliations. The Woodvilles like so many former Lancastrians, had been pardoned in 1461 but there was still a lot resentment between noble families. People expected Edward IV to be like his counterpart and his wife and take retaliation against the people that supported his enemies.

He clearly didn’t.

Edward IV and Elizabeth in portraits and in the White Queen (2013) played by Max Irons and Rebecca Ferguson.

His marriage with Elizabeth could have been handled better, and publicized more as his daughter’s to Henry VII was. Perhaps Edward believed that marrying her was enough for people to get the message of a reconciliation between both parties. It failed drastically. As we all know, Warwick and the rest were appalled at his decision. These were no simple dissatisfied nobles after all. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick had lost his father and younger brother when they helped Edward’s father, Richard Duke of York and his second eldest son Edmund Earl of Rutland fight the Queen’s army at Sandal Castle. His father as the rest, were beheaded, their heads stuck on a pole and exhibited on top of the gates as traitors. Warwick had to flee many times and muster whatever men he could, with what money he had left for his cousin. To have his cousin all the sudden say ‘sorry dude but I don’t like you anymore. Get the hell out’ was a huge slap in the face.

Warwick also had other motives for hating this union. Edward IV had always felt close to Burgundy. His mother had ties to that royal family, but Warwick wanted an alliance with France for obvious reasons (the Lancastrian Queen, Margaret of Anjou was there, begging the King to send troops to invade England and restore her husband. If she succeeded, then it was the end of everything and everyone they loved. Plain and simple. The best way to avoid that was by marrying Edward to the King’s relative so Margaret of Anjou would be completely cut off from allies. Now thanks to Edward’s latest marriage, that wasn’t going to happen).

Cecily had more reasons to hate that marriage though. She loved her son fiercely. Having lost her husband and her second son in such a brutal way, she became increasingly protecting of her remaining children. The year before her husband and son lost their heads (when they had to go abroad to escape the royal army) what do you think Cecily Neville did? She had to beg (I repeat, beg) for mercy and throw herself at the feet of her enemies so her youngest children would be spared. She counted on her friendship with Queen Margaret, to help her in these difficult times. It paid off.  Margaret of Anjou never lifted a finger against her and let her be (under the condition that she stayed with her sister, Anne, Duchess of Buckingham whose husband was a die-hard Lancastrian and who happened to be Margaret Beaufort’s mother-in-law). This time though, Cecily knew it wasn’t going to be so simple. Even *if* -and that was a big *if*- the Queen forgave her as before, she would see her youngest offspring (Richard, George and Margaret) as potential claimants who would one day rise to avenge their fallen brothers if Edward died too. Cecily had no choice but to send her two boys abroad to Burgundy where they were well taken care of. Imagine yourself as a forty five year old woman who had been married since she was twelve, who had lived through so much carnage and humiliation, and you suddenly found out that your sons could be seen as potential dangers to your best friend? What could you do? They say there is nothing a mother won’t do for her children, and that is what Cecily did. She let go of her children, and took refuge in God, praying that the next news she would receive would be a good one.

Edward’s choice therefore angered her. The White Queen made her look as if she hated Elizabeth because of her condition of ‘commoner’. But as much as I did enjoy some parts of the White Queen, we must look at it for what it is, fiction and acknowledge the facts. Cecily did not want to acknowledge Edward’s marriage to this Lancastrian widow because it was dangerous. She had seen the worse of humanity. She had lost nephews, uncles, husband, son, and a brother! Edward wasn’t even in his fifth year when he married Elizabeth. He had so many enemies, this marriage left him without alliances and completely naked to them. Not only that, but his failure meant the destruction of her family.

Cecily was not about to act all happy and ignorant and pretend this was okay. Her husband was gone but she was still there. Before Edward married Elizabeth, she was the most powerful woman in the land and many ambassadors met with her before they met with her nephew Warwick and her son, Edward IV. Elizabeth might become a good Queen, but her common status put them all in danger.

Cecily Neville is forced to bow to Elizabeth.

When Jaquetta and her daughter enter the Duchess’ chambers, smirking at her as if she is too far beneath them, the former threatens her to expose her as a “common whore”. Jacquetta says in the TV show that she vouched for her when the rumors began circulating that she had cheated on her husband with a Welsh archer. “Blaybourne, wasn’t it? Ah yes, I said that a great lady like you would not so demean herself as to lie with a common archer and let his bastard slip into a nobleman’s cradle like she was a common whore.”
Fiction sensationalizes these things to make them more interesting, I take it as an alternate universe where people are obviously very different from what they really were. A woman as conscientious of her lineage, her status, would never let herself be humiliated by a woman who was lower in rank than her. Even her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Woodville, was lower in rank to her since she had been the daughter of a knight and although her mother had great lineage, that didn’t matter. Queen she might be, but to Cecily she was lower than her. And furthermore, she and Richard were very close in age, the two got to know each other since they were children –when his custody as passed to her father Ralph Neville, the Earl of Westmorland and then her mother. Her mother was Joan Beaufort and she was the only daughter of John, 1^st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress, Katherine Swynford. He had been married two times before he married her. When he did, Richard II agreed to legitimize their children for all the good services his uncle had done in government. John’s cruel nature was a small price to pay to protect his third wife and their children whom he obviously felt closer to. Their half-brother and the first Lancastrian King, Henry IV, added a new clause to their legitimate status where it excluded them from the line of succession. Because of this, many of them became very religious because they felt deeply ashamed of having been born a bastard and their birth being an impediment to being in the line of succession. The fact that they didn’t carry the last name Plantagenet, was awful enough. Joan spent her entire life praying and making huge donations to churches, and her piety was passed on to her youngest offspring, Cecily.
Many medieval women took comfort in religion. Contrary to what it shown in movies and TV, many women saw religion as a means to an end. It gave some of them power and comfort from their everyday hardships. A year before her third son’s George Duke of Clarence’s death, Cecily began to take on a rigorous religious routine and wake up at certain hours of the day for religious devotion.
With this in mind, it is impossible that a woman such as Cecily whose other nickname was “proud Cis” would have gone behind her husband’s back and cheat with the first bloke she saw. Status was everything and as I’ve stated, Cecily was very aware of her place in society. Of course some historians will then state the matter of Edward’s low key baptism. This can be explained simply. The belief of something in between heaven and hell: Purgatory. People believed that premature children would die quickly and if they died quickly without being baptized then that meant that their souls would never reach heaven and they would be stuck in a perpetual limbo.

Not something nice, isn’t it?

Cecily Neville and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Woodville.

“Cecily fell pregnant soon after her arrival in Rouen. The exact timing of the conception has been the subject of much debate among historians and would later prove a significant bone of political contention. Edward would arrive on 28 April 1442. This would place his conception sometime at the end of July 1441 or in the early days of August, assuming that it was a nine-month pregnancy. Records discovered in Rouen recently detail that Richard, Duke of York was absent from Rouen on campaign at Pontoise for several weeks, returning to the city on 20 August. From this detail, several historians have inferred that Edward was not Richard’s son. They believe this proves that Cecily must have had an adulterous liaison during his absence, which would render Edward illegitimate.

There are a number of problems with using this timing as evidence. If Cecily conceived on the night of Richard’s return to Rouen, 20 August, this still allows for a pregnancy of thirty-six weeks … To be premature, a baby must be born before thirty seven weeks and there is a fair chance that Edward might have arrived early.” -Licence

Richard and Cecily were very young when they were married and they didn’t consummate their marriage right away. When Cecily’s first recorded pregnancy became known, it probably wasn’t an easy pregnancy as her baby died in less than a year. He was named Henry for the King and the loss devastated them both. They had a daughter later who thankfully was born healthy, but like any couple they would have been hoping for a son. If Edward was premature and conceived during Richard’s comings and goings from his camp to Rouen Castle, then it makes perfect sense why they wanted to baptize him right away. If they didn’t then he would likely die (being so frail) and his soul would be wandering off in purgatory. There were some extreme cases where –if a priest wasn’t found- the midwife could take on the role of the priest and baptize the baby instead. The other reason for his quick baptism could be that although he wasn’t premature, they were both worried that he would die like his brother or Richard could be killed any day. The two weren’t exactly living in a peaceful area. England was still at war with France and he had been sent there to defend Normandy from Charles VII’s forces.

Sources:

• The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
• Cecily Neville: The Mother of Kings by Amy Licence
• Royal Babies by Amy Licence
• The Woodvilles by Susan Higginbotham

Winds of confusion: The Battle of Barnet

The Battle of Barnet

On the 14th of April 1471, the Battle of Barnet was fought between the Lancastrian army commanded by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and the Yorkist commanded by the three sons of York -Edward IV, Richard Duke of Gloucester, and the recent traitor turned ally, George, Duke of Clarence.

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence was Edward IV’s younger brother and he allied himself with Warwick, marrying his eldest daughter, and then went back to Edward’s side after his father-in-law allied himself with Marguerite of Anjou.

George, Duke of Clarence had been Warwick’s ally since he married his eldest daughter, Isabel Neville in July of 1469. The Duchess Dowager of York, Cecily Neville “Queen by Rights” likely gave them her blessing before she returned to her residence. Her latest biographer, Amy Licence, believes it is possible that she also tried to warn them not to go because they would anger Edward and his wife. Obviously [if this was her intention] it didn’t work because George and Isabel married right away, had a lavish wedding reception unlike his eldest brother and his Lancastrian wife; and afterwards returned with a small army to depose him. The rebellions failed miserably. The upper class was angry at Edward but they didn’t want to launch England into another civil war –especially when there was another King locked in the Tower, and his Queen and their son vying for support across the Narrow Sea. Edward returned to his seat of power and pardoned his cousin and brother; but Elizabeth Woodville never trusted them again. There are no records as to how she felt in regards of the Earl of Warwick or her brothers-in-law. But after they had rebelled against her husband, captured him, killed her brother and father, and then released him so he would pardon them; it is likely she didn’t see them too well.

In late October of the following year when Warwick had switched bands yet again, Elizabeth escaped to sanctuary while her husband and youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, escaped to Burgundy to take refuge in their brother-in-law, Charles “the Bold” Duke of Burgundy’s court. Elizabeth was very far along; and contrary to what is shown on fiction where Warwick is a complete ogre and pretty much says Elizabeth and her poor mother and daughters taken refuge in Westminster Abbey, living in relative poverty and fed by the mercy of the bakers nearby, could go to hell; he showed them mercy. Warwick was not one to enjoy the killing of women and children, and much less a pregnant woman so he allowed Elizabeth and her family to stay in sanctuary and paid for a midwife to assist her in the birth of her firstborn royal son. During this time, Marguerite of Anjou and her son, Edward of Westminster, the Prince of Wales, were growing anxious to have the papal dispensation that would allow him to marry the Earl’s youngest daughter, Anne Neville. With the realm torn between two kings and time running short, it was vital that the pope grant the Lancastrians that dispensation. After all, Anne and Edward were distant cousins and if they married without it, their marriage would seem unlawful and heavily criticized as Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville’s was. When the dispensation was finally granted, the couple didn’t waste time and married. Marguerite planned to set sail that November to England but there were two problems: she didn’t want to risk her son and daughter-in-law and wanted the two to get to know each other better *and* the weather. When she finally set sail on March of next year, 1471, the country was in more chaos than she had expected. Just as she had amassed a great army of Lancastrian loyalists and French-men; Edward had also amassed an army that consisted of loyal Yorksits and Burgundians.

Max Irons (center) and Aneurin Barnard as Edward IV and Richard, Duke of Gloucester in the White Queen (2013).

Edward IV’s forces captured London and took the King, Henry VI, prisoner, “to the universal acclamation of the citizens” who looked kinder on him (because of his wife). While she had been criticized for being of low birth [despite the fact that her mother had noble and royal blood]; she had behaved differently than her predecessor. Her retinue and ladies-in-waiting numbered less than Marguerite’s and her spending was also less. When she went to take refuge, she refused to raise up in arms as her Lancastrian counterpart would have done, and instead stayed put, patiently and obediently waiting for her husband to rescue her. Such virtues of passivity and acceptance of her gender role, were well seen among the populace. After Edward went to St. Paul to give thanks for his victory, he went to visit his wife who presented him with his namesake “to the King’s greatest joy, a fair son, a prince.”

The war was far from over, as Dan Jones and Chris Skidmore write in their respective biographies of this conflict. The King was their prisoner, but there were many Lancastrians loyalists and anxious to see him back on the throne. Out of these, Warwick was the first one that Edward encountered after he took London, on the town of Barnet. The Battle was fought from nightfall Saturday April 13 to Easter Sunday, April 14. The weather was foggy and it caused a lot of confusion, together with the canon fire that Warwick ordered as night fell –hoping to surprise his enemies. According to some accounts, Warwick’s army greatly outnumbered Edward’s but because of the “damp, cold night air” and the scattered men from both armies; people began to wonder who were fighting who and some of Warwick’s men “mistook Oxford’s livery badges of a star with streams that the Earl’s men displayed on their coats for Edward’s badge of the Yorkist sun in splendor.” Gloucester’s flank managed to penetrate Exeter’s while “Hastings was hobbled in his fight against Oxford” whose numbers had been decimated because of Warwick’s forces’ foolishness. Battle raged on “cruel and mortal”. Edward IV could barely see because of the fog, but still charged against his enemies, managing (barely) to distinguish them. When Richard’s brother, Lord Montague, realized all was lost he “harangued his brother … insisting that he should demonstrate the Neville family’s courage by fighting on foot and sending his horses away” to confuse his enemies. If they did this, he promised his older brother, they might still had a chance. But this, as historian Jones points out, turned out to be Warwick’s gravest mistake.

James Frain as Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick in the White Queen (2013).

The battle lasted three hours. One thousand Lancastrians were killed, and five hundred Yorkists. The “Kingmaker” Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and his younger brother, Lord Montague were killed. The few Lancastrian noblemen who survived, fled to Scotland Edward lost a few of his noblemen too, among them were Lord Cromwell, Lord Saye and Sir William Blount. His brother-in-law and younger brother, Anthony Woodville and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, were severely injured.

Marguerite of Anjou and her son, Prince Edward. They arrived two days after the battle of Barnet on April 16. They received news of the Earl’s death but still decided to move on. Edward died nearly a month later on May 4, and his father -the last Lancastrian King two weeks later under mysterious circumstances. Marguerite was ransomed back to France four years later in 1475.

This was not the end of the war however. “Just one enemy remained” Jones says, and that was Queen Marguerite and her son Prince Edward and his wife, Anne Neville, who had just landed on the south coast at Weymouth two days after the battle of Barnet. Imagine their surprise when they found out what had happened. Skidmore believes that Marguerite might not have been too angry, and actually glad since this left her completely in charge but it is hard to imagine this since Warwick’s forces were a lot and if the two met, it would have made a difference in the  end.

Margaret Beaufort, Lady Tudor, Lady Stafford, her second husband was Stafford and although the two had previously entertained Edward IV at their house; the Lancastrian Readeption returned her to her old family roots and she tried to convince him to fight for them, but Stafford decided to aid Edward IV instead. Perhaps he foresaw the outcome, He was grievously injured, Margaret nursed him but he died months later. Margaret grew very scared as she started to hear the news of defeat and all Lancastrians being rooted out, imprisoned and killed. She would not see her son, Henry Tudor, considered the last Lancastrian scion, in fourteen years. In the White Queen she is portrayed by Amanda Hale (left).

Margaret Beaufort who had courted the Lancastrian king and her cousin, Edmund, Duke of Somerset for their favor after the Readeption, suddenly found herself on the losing side again. Her husband had refused to help her family and instead remained loyal to Edward; but fighting for Edward had cost him his life and then there was Margaret’s most precious jewel: Henry. What would happen with the young Earl of Richmond? They were killing Lancastrians. Edward IV didn’t want to see any more Lancastrian threats. As Cersei from the popular fantasy series based on history, game of thrones, says “if you want to win, this is how you do battle. You lie in a bed of weeds and you start ripping them out one by one before they strangle you in your sleep.” Well, Edward was not far behind; he was rooting out all his Lancastrian enemies one by one, caring very little about violating sanctuary. Margaret’s cousin and his allies who had taken refuge after the defeat at Tewkesbury, were dragged out of the church and beheaded right in front of Edward. She was not going to risk her son face the same fate. We do not know if she corresponded with her fourteen year old son’s uncle, Jasper Tudor; but immediately after news of Barnet and Tewkesbury and Henry VI’s death circulated England; he and her son escaped, intending to sail to France but a heavy wind made them deviate from course and they landed in Brittany where they would be the Duke’s “guests” for the next thirteen years.

Sources:

• Tudor. Passion. Manipulation. Murder: The Story of England’s Most Notorious Family by Leanda de Lisle
• The Rise of the Tudors by Chris Skidmore
• The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
• Cecily Neville by Amy Licence
• Jasper Tudor: The Godfather of the Tudor Dynasty by Terry Beverton
• Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and her World by Alison Weir

Elizabeth of York: York and Lancaster

Her union with Henry would seal the fate of a nation. Her parents’ marriage had been controversial, though it might not have been his father’s initial intention. Her significance in the dynastic conflict proved vital and helped Henry legitimize and validate his claim, as well as validate the claim of his future heirs.

Elizabeth of York was born on 11 February 1466. After her parents marriage in 1464, there had been an urgent need for a male heir. Her father’s marriage placed his dynasty in great peril. His cousin, the Earl of Warwick (Richard Neville) had secured a French marriage for him with Bona of Savoy who was Louis XI’s cousin. But when his marriage to the impoverished Grey widow changed everything. Elizabeth brought no dowry and no alliance, but she brought him a large brood of family which some scholars believe Edward took advantage as a means to securing the nobles’ loyalty.

“It would be foolish to totally disregard love as an important factor … But it is also possible, with hindsight, to detect a line of political thinking that may well have allowed Edward to convince himself that his love match was also a tool of useful public policy.” (Jones)

This makes perfect sense as, as soon as he made it known that he had married Elizabeth, he started marrying off her large brood of siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins. But not all was flowers and sunshine. Most of the nobility disapproved of this match. Edward could be a merciful king but he could also be very cruel. This was very common, keeping in with the attitudes of the period. Edward came into the throne with a conciliatory mood, pardoning most of the Lancastrians -including his in-laws three years before he married Elizabeth. Over two decades later, her daughter would marry the last Lancastrian scion, in a ceremony symbolizing the union of both Houses, and creating a new motif that would became the official symbol of the Tudor House: The double rose. Edward IV might have tried the same when he married the Lancastrian widow. Not since the Norman Conquest had an English King married a commoner. While it is highly possible love was involved, it is not implausible that Edward had other strong motives for pursuing this match. For decades to come the match would be criticized and it would be used as a cautionary tale, with writers saying “take heed of what love may do!”.

Edward IV to the end of his life. Edward was handsome, wielding a war hammer in battle, and a cultured man. He was every woman’s dream and his intention to marry Elizabeth might have been both romantic as well as political.

Given that Edward had to placate Lancastrian insurrections while wining their support at the same time, and on top of that, make it known to everyone, especially his cousin and his maternal relations that he was his own man, it’s not surprising that he did what did. At the time it must have looked like the perfect thing to do. A marriage to an impoverished widow, and from a staunch Lancastrian family at that, would have made him look very popular. A King who did not care for sides and had even taken one of the enemy as his bride -and used her family to form his own party, and force the nobility to its knees. And if that was not enough, he also sent a clear message that he was going to be master of his realm, unbound to anyone, and by marrying into a local house, he was also forcing that house’s loyalty to him because their fortunes would depend entirely on him.
The Woodvilles didn’t disappoint him. Though entirely nepotistic; they never failed to do their jobs, and Anthony Woodville, his brother in law became one of the first patrons of the printer William Caxton and he was a well known poet, warrior, jouster, and on top of that, a highly devout man as his sister and younger brother Edward Woodville (who served Isabella and Ferdinand, and was highly commended by them who regarded him as one of the most Christian knights in Western Europe). Furthermore, Queen’s College which was founded by Elizabeth Woodville’s predecessor, Marguerite of Anjou, was continuously founded by her. And she became widely loved by the commons after she refused to call them to arms when Warwick and the Lancastrian forces retook the city in October of 1470. She received many charity from them when she went into charity, in her pregnant state, at Westminster Abbey. And before she died, she made her will asking that she be buried with very little ceremony. England as Castile (Katherine of Aragon’s mother’s realm) was highly religious and this could have been one of the many reasons why Elizabeth and her daughter, Elizabeth of York, were more accepted consorts than their Lancastrian predecessor.

Elizabeth’s birth was highly anticipated. Although she was not the Prince that everyone was hoping for, the fact she was healthy and her mother had previously given birth to two perfectly healthy boys, gave the King hope.

“Like all babies in those days, the infant princess was swaddled in tight bands with a close-fitting cap on her head, and she would have remained swaddled for the first eight or nine months of her life to ensure that her limbs grew straight. She was assigned a stately household that included a nurse and a wet nurse.” (Weir).

The future for Elizabeth of York, looked bright. As the eldest of the King’s daughters, she was betrothed several times, the best known betrothal is to the Dauphin and to Henry Tudor who was in exile at the time in Brittany with his uncle. Edward IV, writes Lisle, might have no intention on fulfilling his promise. Margaret Beaufort, possessing more experienced and wary of the Yorkist King (though he had issued a pardon for her son), decided to do a will in which she would leave everything to her son, so he would not be left penniless.

There were many rumors after the death of Richard III’s son that he intended to leave Anne so he could marry Elizabeth. To this day, no one can say for certain what Richard truly intended. Herstorian Amy Licence says it best. Richard might have truly loved his wife, and there is no doubt that his actions from 1472 at the time he married Anne to 1483 show that he was a doting husband and father, and she a doting wife and mother. But he was King now, and as King he had to put personal feelings aside and think of the future of his House. It was not just his life that was on the line after all, it was his family, his mother, his de la Pole nephews, Margaret and Edward, his brother George’s children, and so many more. And then there the future of the Plantagenety dynasty. The dynasty had ruled England for more than three hundred years. He was not going to be known as the King who let it all go to hell. But we all know, that is what happened. When he publicly stated that he had never had any intentions to marrying his niece, and later planned to marry a descendant of John of Gaunt via his second marriage to Constance of Castile, to represent a union between the Houses of Lancaster and York that would have ruined Henry Tudor’s plans of his own with Elizabeth; his allies turned against him; he lost, he died and effectively more than three hundred years of Plantagenet rule was over.

Through their union, a new symbol was created: The Tudor Rose symbolizing the union of the (previously) warring houses of York and Lancaster.

Elizabeth went on to become the Consort of Henry VII, and the mother of the Tudor Dynasty. Elizabeth was always conscious of her position. She had been trained to think that it was her destiny to marry a prince or a king. She was not going to go for less; Henry’s actions re-legitimizing her parents’ union and herself and her siblings; restoring their status. would have seemed to Elizabeth like a godsend and acceptable as she was now going to be Queen. And she had the benefit of knowing her husband before the marriage. Most royal couples did not have that benefit. Another couple that did was her aunt and uncle, Anne Neville and Richard III who had grown up together, when Richard had been sent as his cousin’s ward to Warwick Castle.
Elizabeth gave birth many times but only four survived childhood: Arthur (1486), Margaret (1489), Henry (1491), and Mary (1494). Out of those four, only three lived to adulthood and it was Margaret’s descendants from her first two marriages whose descendants still sit on the English Throne today.

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York tomb at the Lady Chapel located in Westminster Abbey.

When Elizabeth died, also on February 11, on her thirty seventh birthday, she was widely mourned. Out of all the Tudor Consorts, he was the only to be safe from suspicion and this was largely in part due to her religious devotion, and what her union with Henry represented. Henry mourned her death deeply, but like Richard he thought of remarrying but he never did in the end. He is buried next to her in the Lady Chapel he ordered to be constructed for both of them at Westminster Abbey. At the time of their marriage, their union was widely praised, the pope himself praised it. The new motif is still known today, and it also served as a new tool to give a new interpretation to the wars that had plagued England for most of the fifteenth century (known today as the wars of the roses).

Sources:

• Elizabeth of York: The Forgotten Tudor Queen by Amy Licence
• Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and her World by Alison Weir
• Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
• Tudor by Leanda de Lisle
• Richard III: The Road to Leicester by Amy Licence
• Richard III by David Baldwin

14 JANUARY 1559: ELIZABETH’S GLORIOUS PROCESSION

Elizabeth’s procession. A day away from her coronation, she began her progress and was met with glorious pageants.

On the eve of her coronation, Elizabeth Tudor left the Tower of London at three o’clock in the afternoon to start her procession. She was carried in a litter, and rode through London, telling her men to stop at every pageant she encountered to appreciate the artistry behind them.

The streets she passed and five pageants are as follow:

• Gracechurch  Street –The first pageant that greeted Elizabeth referred to Elizabeth’s genealogy. Her Tudor forefathers, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and was compared to the latter who was praised for bringing unity and peace when she married Henry VII.
• Cornhill -A stage was erected where it depicted  Elizabeth’s government governed by the four virtues: True Religion, Love of Subjects, Wisdom and Justice.
• Soper’s Lane -The Beatitudes were orated for her ‘”lessed are the poor, Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”. An allegory to Elizabeth’s plight at the hands of her sister.
• Little Conduit, Cheapside -This pageant also attacked her sister, calling her reign “a decayed commonwealth” and portraying Elizabeth’s future one as a “flourishing” one. Further jest and jabs were made when Mary’s motto ‘Truth the daughter of time’ was deconstructed as Time’s daughter emerged carrying an English Bible which was labelled “Word of Truth” and pointed towards Elizabeth, symbolizing her as the true daughter of time and truth.
• Fleet Street -This pageant delivered the most powerful tribute to Elizabeth, depicting her as the powerful prophetess Deborah.

After her eldest sister, Elizabeth was the second Queen Regnant in the history of  England, and the third in the British Isles. The iconography in each of these pageants is amazing. Dan Jones who wrote the Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors, talks about how the Tudors invented a mass propaganda machine to turn the war into their favor, and symbolize that their rise to power was pre-ordained. Elizabeth’s ascendance therefore, used the same type of spectacle her grandfather and founder of their dynasty, used.

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth I’s paternal grandparents.

“At the corner of Fenchurch Street and Gracechurch Street a large stage was erected across the street, “vaulted basements and built on “on the lowest stage was made one seat royal, wherein were placed two personages representing King Henry the Seventh and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of King Edward the Fourth … not divided but that the one of them which was King Henry processing out of the House of Lancaster was enclosed in a red rose, and the other which was Queen Elizabeth being heir to te House of York enclosed with a white rose … Out of the which two roses sprang two branches gathered into one, which were directed upward to the second stage … wherein was placed one, representing the valiant and noble prince King Henry VIII.” (Starkey)

After she thanked the performers she turned to the people gathered around her who, as always, were eager to catch a glimpse of their new monarch. Elizabeth Tudor had always been a pragmatic, witty, and highly intelligent young woman. With her smile she had won over hundreds, now it won her the popular acclaim of the entire city.

Elizabeth played by Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth” (1997)

“At Cheapside she smiled happily when someone called out to her ‘Remember King Henry VIII’ … and at Conduit (also in) Cheapside, she saw one of the performers holding up a copy of the English Bible which people had been imprisoned for reading in the days of old King Henry VIII. She asked what that boo was, and when they told her that it was the English Bible, she said that she would oftentimes read over that book’. She asked to have that book … When she received it, she took it in both hands and pressed it to her breast.” (Ridley)

After she reached the city limits at Temple Bar, another child came. Like the child who handled her the bible and she rewarded him with a kind gesture of devotion to the new religion, Elizabeth did the same, as the poem depicted her as Deborah -the mighty and indomitable biblical woman who fervently defended her people and fought the heathens. Elizabeth was the people’s chosen Queen, the blood of Lancaster and York united. Two roses from which sprung the glorious Tudor House, now produced from their descendant Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (who was depicted gloriously as Henry’s rightful Queen), their next monarch, Elizabeth I.

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn played by Damien Lewis and Claire Foy. They were an integral part of their daughter’s coronation procession. They were presented in a glorious light.

“Henry sat at his second wife, Anne Boleyn and on the stage above them sat a final figure representing Elizabeth I herself “crowned and apparelled as the other princess were.” The whole pageant was garnished with red roses and white and in the forefront of the same pageant in a fair wreath was written: ‘The Uniting of the two houses of Lancaster and York.'” A great play was made on Elizabeth’s name: like Elizabeth of York who brought unity to the realm through her marriage, it was explained he new Elizabeth would “maintain the same among her subjects.”” (Jones)

The people gathered would have had public access to these plays and seen these beautiful images. There is no question that the union between the Houses of Lancaster and York was a brilliant device crafted by her grandfather that gave England the illusion of peace and it worked so well that it protected him and his heirs throughout their kingdom. Threats remained -they always would, no matter what the dynasty- but this imagery was so evocative that it became the official language of history and monarchy. Now we know that the red rose was not the official Lancaster symbol, and that both sides used white roses; however we must see these symbols in the context of when they were used and how they were used.

Elizabeth’s coronation progress is one of the most symbolic royal progresses. Everyone was mesmerized, and Elizabeth returned their joy by these small acts of kindness, and made contact with every man and woman she encountered. At the last pageant there was a poor woman who had nothing great to give her except a sprig of rosemary and she was probably fearful that Elizabeth would not accept it, but she did and she was seen holding it firmly in her hands until she reached Westminster. Her next great moment, the one she had been waiting and wishing for secretly during her sister’s reign would come the following day, on Sunday January 15 when she would return to Westminster to be crowned.

Sources:

• Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey
• Elizabeth I by Jasper  Ridley
• On this day in Tudor History by Claire Ridgway
• Wars of the Roses and Rise of the Tudor  Dynasty by Dan Jones