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Elizabeth of York & Richard III

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Elizabeth York 217x300 Elizabeth of York & Richard III

Elizabeth of York circa 1500

With “The White Queen” currently being shown on TV and the release of Phillippa Gregory’s new book “The White Princess” about Elizabeth of York, there has been some controversy over a story line which sees Elizabeth falling in love with her uncle, Richard III. As ever with Phillipa’s books her plots are not just plucked out of thin air but are based on some element of evidence which she has interpreted to make a good story!

In the case of the Elizabeth and Richard love affair there is no conclusive evidence but George Buck, who was Master of the Revels to James I, claimed in 1619 that he had seen a letter from Elizabeth to her uncle the Duke of Norfolk which indicates that she was a willing participant in a marriage alliance with Richard. Elizabeth wanted her uncle “to be a mediator for her in the cause of [the marriage] to the king who (as she wrote) was her only joy and her maker in the world, and that she was his hart, in thoughts, and in all, and then she intimated that the better half of Feb was past, and that she feared the queen would never [die].”

Richard III 209x300 Elizabeth of York & Richard III

Richard III by an unknown artist

Unfortunately this letter no longer exists and we have no way of knowing how accurate George was being in his recollection or how corrupt his subsequent manuscript became as his great nephew was involved in editing later on. We also cannot be sure if Elizabeth was definitely asking for help to marry the not yet widowed Richard or for help in getting Richard to arrange a marriage alliance for her with someone else. There is evidence that after Anne Neville died Richard began negotiating a joint marriage alliance with John II of Portugal, whereby Richard would marry his sister Joanna and Elizabeth his cousin, the future Manuel I.

It is also true that rumours of a love affair existed at the time but these were strenuously denied by Richard. The Croyland Chronicle (sometimes called the Crowland Chronicle), an important but not always accurate primary source written at the Benedict Abbey of Croyland in Lincolnshire, says that Richard was forced to deny the rumours by the enemies of the Woodville’s who feared them getting back into power. It would certainly have been in Richard’s interests to quash the rumours so again we have a situation that can be interpreted in different ways, which doesn’t help us piece together what really happened.

Another interesting fact worth noting is that following Richard’s death at Bosworth Henry VII waited 5 months before marrying Elizabeth. Salacious as this might sound, could it have been to ensure that Elizabeth was definitely not carrying Richard’s baby?! Sadly we’ll never know for sure and the lack of any real evidence means we’ll forever be reading between the lines and drawing our own conclusions, which, if nothing else, certainly makes for an interesting debate.

Anne of Cleves – The Lucky One?

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Anne of Cleves Holbein 224x300 Anne of Cleves The Lucky One?

Anne of Cleves by Holbein

Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s 4th wife, was buried in Westminster Abbey on this day in 1557, outliving Henry by 10 years. Whenever we talk of Henry VIII’s wives it is often said that Catherine Parr was the wife who outlived him and that this somehow makes her the lucky one. This is indeed true although Catherine only managed to outlive Henry by 1 year 7 months, dying herself in September 1548. I believe out of all of Henry’s wives, the one who got the best deal was in fact Anne.

Let’s take Catherine Parr as the contrasting example. Catherine spent 3 and a half years married to Henry and spent much of that time being his nursemaid as well as helping him reconcile with his children, who she had a close relationship with. This was a marriage based on duty to her King and country.

After Henry’s death she was finally able to marry her true love, Thomas Seymour, although this itself was marred by a certain tragedy as he was a bit of cad who flirted with her step daughter, the young princess Elizabeth, entering her room at night and stealing kisses. There is a famous and strange incident when Catherine herself held Elizabeth down while Seymour cut off her black gown. In the end Catherine decided enough was enough and sent Elizabeth away. They continued to show affection through letters, which shows that Catherine probably followed this course of action to protect Elizabeth’s reputation rather than out of spite, although it’s very sad to think she never saw her beloved step daughter again. Continue reading →

Henry Marries Catherine of Aragon

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Catherine Aragon young 212x300 Henry Marries Catherine of Aragon

A young Catherine of Aragon c1502

On the 11th June 1509 Henry VIII married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in a church just outside Greenwich Palace.

Catherine was the widow of Henry’s brother Arthur and because of that a special dispensation was required from the Pope in order for them to be allowed to marry. This stated that Catherine’s first marriage had ‘perhaps’ not been consummated, a rather ambiguous turn of phrase. Henry could never have imagined at the time that this dispensation or the use of that little word ‘perhaps’ would be the subject of much argument later on in his marriage!

Despite the legalities Henry was officially betrothed to Catherine on the 23rd June 1503 but Henry VII then spent the next few years arguing over the terms of her dowry with Catherine’s father, Ferdinand of Aragon. He basically made her life a misery in a bid to persuade Ferdinand to send more money!

Henry VIII young 192x300 Henry Marries Catherine of Aragon

A Young Henry VIII c1509

Henry VII had also been widowed in 1503 which put him back on the marriage market. By the summer of 1505 he was rumoured to be seeking a triple Habsburg alliance, marrying his daughter Mary to the future Charles V, Henry to Charles’ sister Eleanor or Austria and himself to Charles’ aunt, the Archduchess Margaret of Austria. Catherine was basically left hanging whilst Henry VII toyed with these various marriage alliances and argued over money. She was left isolated, made all the worse by the fact she couldn’t yet speak English fluently and could barely provide for her own household because of the situation with her dowry. Catherine’s health started to fail with the stress and she finally wrote to her father in the spring of 1509 saying she could no longer take being persecuted by Henry VII and wanted to return to Spain. As it turned out there would be no need for this as Henry VII died on 21st April 1509, releasing Catherine from his clutches after nearly 7 years. Henry VIII was now King and his marriage to Catherine could finally move forward! Continue reading →

Henry VIII’s Enforcer

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I wanted to write about the Thomas Cromwell documentary that was on the other night as part of BBC2′s Tudor Court Season, ”Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell”. Cromwell’s enduring image in history is one of a mindless thug who pillaged and dissolved monasteries, drove a wedge between England and Rome and thought nothing of removing his rivals. In the programme Professor Darmuid MacCulloch argued that Cromwell was so much more than this, that he was in fact a great statesman, religious reformer and a self-educated visionary who, motivated by religion and a desire to serve the country, laid the foundations for our modern state.

I’ve summarised MacCulloch’s main arguments below:

  • Cromwell was employed to sort out a problem for the Guild of St Mary in Lincoln. They were making most of their money from selling indulgences at the Boston Stump (church) but their licence was about to expire. Cromwell travelled to Rome, arranged a chance meeting with the Pope and got the licence renewed. Cromwell’s reputation as a fixer grew but he also saw first-hand how corrupt the Church could be.
  • Cromwell joined Wolsey’s household and quickly moved up the ranks by showing Wolsey how effectively he could get things done. Wolsey was also from humble origins and wanted other poor boys to have opportunities so he set about opening Cardinal Colleges in Ipswich (his home town) and Oxford. Cromwell was able to make this happen by closing down 12 monasteries for each College – his previous legal work had shown him how just much wealth there was in the church! Continue reading →

Finding out more about Anne Boleyn

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Following on from my post on ‘The Last Days of Anne Boleyn’ I thought it would be useful to suggest some further reading for anyone interested in finding out more about Anne.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy – Eric Ives

Eric Ives brilliant book is seen by many as the definitive biography on Anne Boleyn. Expertly researched as you would expect from the leading expert on Anne it is a fascinating read and definitely one for the collection. Eric was a real Anne supporter and was very much of the view that Cromwell was responsible for her downfall. In the book he explores all the evidence in detail and makes a compelling argument in favour of this theory. Ives book is so much more than just an account of Anne’s downfall, it also provides detail on her early life, courtship with Henry and involvement in religion and politics. We don’t have much evidence on Anne ‘the person’ or her early years but Ives painstakingly put’s together everything we do have to paint a full and detailed account of her life.

Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions – G W Bernard

G W Bernard’s biography of Anne couldn’t be more different to Eric’s as he is of the opinion that Anne was guilty of adultery, which he also argued the case for in ‘The Last Days of Anne Boleyn’. Such is the difference of opinion between Bernard and Ives that they spent much of the 1990′s debating the subject in historical journals and when this book was published in 2011 it was seen by many as an attempt by Bernard to reignite the argument. As a huge fan of Anne Boleyn I totally disagree with what I’ve heard from Bernard but I am yet to read his book. Whilst I don’t believe it will sway my own opinions I definitely intend to read and review the book in the future as I think it’s important to hear all sides of an historical debate, however flimsy or sensational you believe the arguments to be! Continue reading →