Elizabeth Woodville or
Wydeville
(circa 1437 – 8 June 1492) was the
Queen
consort of
Edward IV, King
of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483.
Early life and first marriage
Elizabeth
was born circa 1437 at Grafton Regis
, Northamptonshire
, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl
Rivers and his wife, the former Jacquetta of Luxembourg, widow of
John of Lancaster,
Duke of Bedford. Although spelling of the family name
has sometimes been modernized to "Woodville", it was spelled
"Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton and as "Widvile"
on Queen Elizabeth's tomb at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Through her mother, Elizabeth was a distant descendant of
King John of England.
She was a
maid of honour to
Margaret of Anjou, Queen of
Henry VI in 1445, when she was about
eight years of age.
In about 1452, she married Sir John Grey of Groby, who was killed at the
Second Battle of
St Albans
in 1461, fighting for the Lancastrian cause, which would become a
source of irony as Edward IV
was the Yorkist claimant to the
throne. Elizabeth had two sons from the marriage,
Thomas (later
Marquess of Dorset) and
Richard.
Elizabeth was called "the most beautiful woman in the Island of
Britain" with "heavy-lidded eyes like those of a dragon",
suggesting a perhaps unusual criterion by which beauty in Early
Modern England was adjudged.
Queen consort
Edward IV had many mistresses, the most notorious being
Jane Shore, and did not have a reputation for
fidelity.
His marriage to the widowed Lady Grey took
place secretly (with only the bride's mother and two ladies in
attendance) at her family home in Northamptonshire on 1 May 1464.
In the early years of his reign, Edward's governance of England was
dependent upon a small circle of supporters, most notably his
cousin,
Richard
Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (later known as "Warwick the
Kingmaker" because of the part he played in putting Edward on the
throne and afterward replacing him with Henry VI).
At around the time of
Edward's secret marriage, Warwick was negotiating an alliance with
France
in an effort to thwart a similar arrangement being
made by his sworn enemy Margaret of
Anjou, wife of the deposed Henry
VI. The plan was that Edward should marry a French
Princess. When the marriage to Elizabeth became public, its
concealment was the cause of considerable rancour on Warwick's
part.
Later, when Elizabeth's relatives, especially her brother,
Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl
Rivers, began to challenge Warwick's pre-eminence in English
political society, he turned against Edward and fled to France with
his son-in-law, Edward's brother the
Duke of Clarence.
Warwick and Margaret of Anjou then formed an alliance of their own
to restore Henry VI to the throne and Warwick's daughter
Anne married Margaret's son
Edward of Westminster.
Elizabeth was crowned Queen on
Ascension
Day, 26 May 1465.
There was an infamous incident at her
coronation which was not attended by Edward IV (kings traditionally
did not attend their consorts' coronations) in which her mother's
Luxembourg kinsmen landed in a ship at Ship's Green and arrived at
Westminster
Abbey
carrying shields painted with the figure of
Melusine, a "water-witch" (actually a
medieval version of the old pagan goddess) described variously as a
mermaid or possibly as a female figure depicted as a snake from the
waist down, but with the face clearly that of the young
Queen. This immediately caused whispers of witchcraft to
circulate throughout the Abbey, as it was indeed the intention of
the Luxembourgers to suggest an accusation of witchcraft thereby.
Elizabeth's brother Anthony came to her rescue, driving the
Luxembourg kinsmen forth from the Abbey all the way to Ship's Green
where he would not allow them to embark and depart until he had
answered this charge of witchcraft in single combat with every one
of them and scratched every Melusine shield. (This "infamous
incident" appears to be a modern invention. It is not recorded in
any of Elizabeth Woodville's modern biographies, including the
relatively hostile one by David MacGibbon, or in any contemporary
chronicle. The charge of witchcraft was later laid against the
Duchess of Bedford in 1469, some considerable time after the
Coronation, by a follower of the Earl of Warwick, and she was
acquitted the following year. Although Richard III, in declaring
Elizabeth's children by Edward IV to be illegitimate, accused
Elizabeth Wydeville of having procured her marriage through
witchcraft, he never brought her to trial on witchcraft charges or
otherwise proved their veracity. The 1484 Act of Parliament,
Titulus Regius, that contains the
witchcraft charge, gives no pertinent details. The House of
Luxembourg, however, is said to have claimed a mythical descent
from Melusine, but there is no evidence that Elizabeth Wydeville
made use of this legend or that her beliefs were anything other
than the conventional Christianity of her day.)
With the arrival on the scene of the new queen came a host of
siblings who soon married into some of the most notable families in
England. The marriages of her sisters to the sons of the earls of
Kent, Essex and Pembroke have left no sign of unhappiness on the
parts of the parties involved, nor does that of her sister,
Catherine
Woodville, to the queen's 11-year-old ward
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke
of Buckingham, though the duke stood with the duke of
Gloucester in opposition to the Woodvilles after the death of
Edward IV. The one marriage which may be considered shocking was
that of her 20-year-old brother
John
Woodville to
Lady Katherine
Neville, daughter of
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl
of Westmorland by
Joan Beaufort,
widow of
John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of
Norfolk and
dowager Duchess of Norfolk. The wealthy Katherine
had been widowed three times and was probably in her
sixties.[[Image:Elizabeth Woodville
Arms.svg|thumb|right|upright|Elizabeth Woodville's arms as queen
consort]]
Queen Mother
Elizabeth and Edward's marriage was to produce ten children,
including two sons who were still living at the time of the King's
sudden death in 1483. The elder,
Edward, had been born in
sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in 1470, during the
period when his father was out of power and in exile following his
overthrow by Warwick in favour of Henry VI.
Edward later returned
to England and Warwick was killed at the Battle of
Barnet
in 1471.
Following Edward's death, Elizabeth now, briefly, became Queen
Mother, but on 25 June 1483, her marriage was declared null and
void by Parliament in the act
Titulus
Regius on the grounds that Edward had made a previous
promise (known as a precontract) to marry
Lady Eleanor Butler, which was
considered a legally binding contract that rendered any other
marriage contract invalid as bigamous. One source, the Burgundian
chronicler Philippe de Commines, claims that
Robert Stillington,
Bishop of Bath and Wells, carried
out the ceremony between Edward and Eleanor. Titulus Regius itself
gives no details of the alleged precontract except for the identity
of the lady involved.
On the basis of the alleged precontract, all Elizabeth's children
by Edward, including King
Edward
V, were declared illegitimate, and her brother-in-law,
Richard III, was given the crown.
Young
Edward and his brother Richard, Duke of
York, were kept in the Tower of London
, where they had already been lodged to await the
Coronation. The exact fate of the so-called
Princes in the Tower has been long
debated; while it seems likely that they were murdered, whether
this took place during the reign of Richard III or that of Henry
VII is unclear.
Elizabeth now lost the title of Queen Mother and was referred to as
Dame Elizabeth Grey. She and her other children were in
sanctuary again, fearing for their safety. This
may have been to protect themselves against jealous courtiers who
wanted revenge against the entire Woodville clan.
Elizabeth and Richard III
On 1 March 1484, Elizabeth and her daughters came out of sanctuary
and returned to Court. Rumours even spread that the now-widowed
King Richard was going to marry his niece
Elizabeth of York. Richard issued a
denial; though according to the
Crowland Chronicle he was pressured to do
this by the Woodvilles' enemies who feared, among other things,
that they would have to return the lands they had confiscated from
the Woodvilles.
Elizabeth's behaviour has been a source of frustration to
historians. They reason that she would never have recognised
Richard as King unless she knew for sure that both her sons were
dead and that she would have to resort to other means to keep her
family in power. There was also the fact that Richard had had her
brother
Earl
Rivers and her son
Richard Grey
executed.
The Wars of the Roses are notorious for the number of times that
leading figures changed sides whenever it suited them (examples
including
Warwick and the
Duke of
Clarence), and it is possible that Elizabeth was no exception.
But would she have been heartless or thoughtless enough to side
with a man who had quite likely killed her own sons and could thus
arrange the deaths of herself and her daughters?
There are several possible explanations for Elizabeth's willingness
to reconcile with Richard:
- The Princes had died of natural causes for which Richard could
not be held responsible (but then why did he not make this public,
especially since rumours about their fate were already
circulating?)
- The Princes had been killed by a third party, and Richard had
convinced Elizabeth that he was not involved.
- It is also known that by this time Elizabeth had been plotting
with agents of Henry Tudor,
another claimant to the throne, and it is possible that she was
getting closer to Richard in case Henry's attempt failed.
- Elizabeth may have planned to coerce Richard into marrying her
daughter, thereby regaining her power, wealth, and prestige.
- Elizabeth realised that, by Richard marrying her daughter, he
would be acknowledging her daughter's legitimacy and thus her
marriage to Edward IV. This would imply that her son Edward V was
also legitimate and so the rightful King and this would at least
discredit Richard.
- Elizabeth viewed people in light of what they could do for her.
She may simply have been more concerned with herself than with the
fate of her sons.
- Elizabeth believed that this was the best choice for her and
her family and that her daughters, being females, were not at risk
from Richard III. She knew that she might not be able to remain in
sanctuary forever, and her growing daughters were probably
miserable there.
It should be noted that before Elizabeth and her daughters came out
of sanctuary, Richard III publicly swore an oath that her daughters
would not be harmed or ravished and that they would not be
imprisoned in the Tower of London or in any other prison. Richard
III also promised to provide them with marriage portions and to
marry them to "gentlemen born."
In the
end, Richard was defeated and killed at the Battle of
Bosworth
. Henry Tudor became King Henry VII and
married
Elizabeth of York.
Elizabeth Wydeville's marriage to Edward IV was declared to have
been valid, and thus their children were once again legitimised
(because Henry wanted his wife to be the Yorkist heir to the
throne, to cement his hold on it). Elizabeth was accorded the title
of Queen Dowager.
Later life
Scholars
differ about why Dowager Queen Elizabeth spent her last five years
living at Bermondsey
Abbey
. Among her modern biographers, David Baldwin
believes that Henry VII forced her retreat from the Court, while
Arlene Okerlund presents evidence that indicates she was planning a
religious, contemplative life as early as July 1486. At the Abbey,
Elizabeth was treated with all the respect due to a Queen Mother,
lived a regal life, and received a pension of £400 and small gifts
from the King. She did not attend her daughter's coronation, but
was present at the birth of her second grandchild, Margaret, at
Westminster Palace in November
1489. The Queen rarely visited her, although Elizabeth's younger
daughter,
Viscountess Welles, came to
see her as often as she could.
Henry VII briefly contemplated marrying Elizabeth off to King
James III of Scotland, when
James' wife,
Margaret of
Denmark, died in 1486. James was killed in battle later that
year, rendering the plans of Henry VII moot.
Elizabeth died at Bermondsey Abbey on 8 June 1492. With the
exception of the Queen, who was awaiting the birth of her fourth
child and
Cecily , her daughters
attended the funeral at Windsor Castle:
Anne (the future Countess
of Surrey),
Catherine (the future
Countess of Devon) and
Bridget (a
sister at
Dartford Priory). Her will
specified a simple funeral. Many ardent Yorkists, who considered
themselves slighted by the ordinary and very simple burial of
Edward IV's Queen on 12 June 1492, were not pleased.
Elizabeth was laid to
rest in the same chantry as her husband King
Edward IV in St George's
Chapel
in Windsor
Castle
.
Legacy
During her later years, Elizabeth Woodville had the satisfaction of
knowing that her daughter was securely on the consort's throne. She
lived to see the birth of two grandsons, Princes
Arthur and Henry, the latter of whom
would later become
Henry VIII.
Through
her granddaughter, Queen Margaret of
Scotland, Elizabeth became an ancestress of the Stuart, Hanover, and Windsor dynasties, whose descendants today
reign over Great
Britain
.
Children of Elizabeth Woodville
By Sir John Grey
By King Edward IV
- Elizabeth of York (1466-1503),
Queen Consort of England
- Mary of York
(1467-1482), buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor
Castle
- Cecily of York (1469-1507),
Viscountess Welles
- Edward V of England
(1470-1483/5), one of the Princes
in the Tower
- Margaret of York (Apr.
1472-Dec. 1472), buried in Westminster
Abbey
- Richard,
Duke of York (1473-1483/5), one of the
Princes in the Tower
- Anne of York,
Countess of Surrey (1475-1511)
- George Plantagenet
(1477-1479), Duke of Bedford; buried
in St
George's Chapel, Windsor
Castle
- Catherine of York (1479-1527),
Countess of Devon
- Bridget of York (1480-1517), nun
at Dartford Priory, Kent
In Literature
Elizabeth is a character in the plays
Richard III and
Henry VI Part
3 by William Shakespeare.
Philippa Gregory's 2009 novel
The White Queen follows a (at times, highly) fictionalized
account of Elizabeth's life from meeting her future husband,
King Edward, up through the
disappearance of her sons and the reign of her brother-in-law,
Richard III. The novel places a great deal of focus on the legend
of
Melusine and Elizabeth and her mother's
ties to witchcraft.
Elizabeth Woodville is a central figure in all five books
encompassing the
Rose of York Series by
Sandra Worth, from the time she meets
Edward IV in The
Rose of York: Love &
War to her death in
The King's Daughter: A Novel of the
First Tudor Queen (Penguin Group, December 2008).
Elizabeth of York is the narrator. All
five books are award winners in their own right, with Sandra
Worth's
The King's Daughter taking Best Historical
Biography of the Year Award from RT Book Reviews.
Sympathetic fictional portraits of Elizabeth Woodville can be found
in
Jan Westcott's
The White
Rose and in
A Secret Alchemy by
Emma Darwin
Screen portrayals
Film
Television
References
Further reading
- David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville (Stroud, 2002)
[7728]
- Christine Carpenter, The Wars of the Roses (Cambridge,
1997) [7729]
- Michael Hicks, Edward V (Stroud, 2003) [7730]
- Rosemary Horrox, Richard III: A Study of Service
(Cambridge, 1989) [7731]
- J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens (Oxford,
2004) [7732]
- Arlene Okerlund, Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered
Queen (Stroud, 2005); Elizabeth: England's Slandered
Queen (paper, Stroud, 2006) [7733]
- Charles Ross, Edward IV (Berkeley, 1974) [7734]
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Facts
Map
Search
