ELIZABETH
ENGLAND’S SLANDERED QUEEN
About the Author
Arlene Okerlund is Professor of English at San José State University in California. She first encountered Elizabeth Wydeville, the mother of the two princes murdered in the Tower of London, in Shakespeare’s Richard III. When she discovered that this queen’s notoriety as a low-born, calculating, greedy and arrogant woman originated in slander spread by enemies, Professor Okerlund determined to expose the lies and to restore this Queen’s reputation.
England’s Forgotten Queens
edited by ALISON WEIR
Series Editor
Alison Weir has published eleven books: Britain’s Royal Families, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Princes in the Tower, Children of England, Elizabeth the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry VIII: King & Court, Mary Queen of Scots & the Murder of Lord Darnley, Lancaster & York: The War of the Roses, Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey and Isabella, She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. She is at present researching for a book on Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. Alison Weir’s chief areas of specialism are the Tudor and medieval monarchies. She has researched every English queen from Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, to Elizabeth I, and is committed to promoting the studies of these important women, many of whom have been unjustly sidelined by historians.
Published
Arlene Okerlund, Elizabeth: England’s Slandered Queen
Michael Hicks, Anne Neville: Queen of Richard III
Commissioned
Patricia Dark, Matilda, England’s Warrior Queen
Further titles are in preparation
ELIZABETH
ENGLAND'S SLANDERED QUEEN
ARLENE OKERLUND
This book is dedicated to
Cynthia P. Soyster, the student and friend who first provoked my passion for Elizabeth Wydeville.
Elizabeth Van Beek, a teacher who inspires students to study and love history.
Linda Okerlund, my daughter whose wit and achievements keep me humble.
Cover illustration:
Elizabeth Wydeville, by permission of the President and Fellows of Queens’ College, Cambridge.
This edition first published in 2006 by Tempus Publishing
Reprinted in 2009 by
The History Press
The Mill, Brimscombe Port
Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG
www.thehistorypress.co.uk
This ebook edition first published in 2014
All rights reserved
© Arlene Okerlund, 2009, 2014
The right of Arlene Okerlund to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5984 1
Original typesetting by The History Press
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
1The Widow and the King
2Edward’s Decision to Marry Lady Elizabeth
3The Truth About the Wydevilles
4The Cousins’ Wars
5Consternation and Coronation
6Setting Up Housekeeping
7Marriages Made in Court
8The Queen’s Churching
9Fun, Games and Politics at Court
10Enemies Within
11War Within the Family
12Elizabeth in Sanctuary
13York Restored
14Problems in Paradise
15Life at Ludlow
16War and Peace
17George, Duke of Clarence: Perpetual Malcontent
18Anthony Wydeville: Courtier Par Excellence
19The Queen’s Happy Years, 1475–1482
201483 Begins
22The Mother v. The Protector
22A Woman Alone
23Queen Dowager Elizabeth
24Legacy
Genealogical tables
1The Wydevilles
2The House of York
3Lancaster, York and Tudor Connections
4The York-Neville Connection
5The Lancaster, Beaufort and Tudor Connections
6Elizabeth Wydeville Descendants
Charts
Timeline: Edward IV and the Wydevilles
The Wydeville Family
Wydeville Marriages
The Cousins’ Wars: Battles and Events
Children of Elizabeth Wydeville
Abbreviations
Notes and Citations
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Any student of historical biography stands shakily on the shoulders of preceding scribes and scholars. When writing about the fifteenth century, one discovers that truth is particularly tenuous. Most of the original documents are partisan in nature, reflecting both the bias of the writer and the opinions and prejudices of the informants. A modern biographer must piece together conflicting versions of the same event, provide coherence where information is missing, and develop a perspective guided by a sense of historical and psychological plausibility.
All authors are dependent on other scholars who have spent long, dusty hours deciphering the faded squiggles of documents handwritten centuries ago in idiosyncratic styles. Only after these source materials have been edited and published do they become available for analysis and synthesis by others. Thus, every scholar listed in the bibliography contributed to this work, but I must offer special gratitude to Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs for their meticulously researched articles about Elizabeth Wydeville. Since much of their research was published by the Richard III Society, the members of that organisation deserve special appreciation for promoting ‘in every possible way’ research and scholarship about the fifteenth century.
Above all, this book could not have been written without the assistance of librarians. Most especially, I am indebted to the interlibrary loan staff at San José State University, who produced fifteenth-century texts and facsimiles otherwise unavailable in this future-focused Valley of Silicon: Cathy Perez, Kara Fox, Shirley Miguel and Elena Seto. Special thanks also go to Stephen Groth and Judy Strebel in Special Collections; Judy Reynolds, English and Foreign Languages Librarian; and Florie Berger, Adjunct Librarian.
Librarians at the Huntington Library in San Marino also offered ready and efficient assistance: Susi Krasnoo, Mary Robertson, Steve Tabor and Mona Shulman.
I particularly thank everyone in the United Kingdom who warmly welcomed my research efforts and provided a sense of local history. Once again, my list of indebtedness begins with librarians and curators: Christine Reynolds, Assistant Keeper of the Muniments, Westminster Abbey; Christina Mackwell and Clare Brown, Lambeth Palace Library; C. Salles, Library Assistant, Stony Stratford Library; all superintendants and assistants – too many to list – in the Manuscript and Reading Rooms of the British Library.
A special place in my heart is reserved for all history-loving Brits – found in every cranny of the UK, but especially: the Duke of Grafton for permission to publish ‘The Queen’s Oak’; Lord Charles FitzRoy, who facilitated the acquisition of photographs from Grafton Regis; Sue Blake, local historian, and Peter Blake, keykeeper of St Mary the Virgin’s Church at Grafton Regis, for inviting me into their living room to discuss history over tea; David and Rosemary Mar
ks of Potterspury, who drew a map and provided directions to Queen’s Oak Farm and the famous tree under which Elizabeth Wydeville changed history; Jill Waldram and Alison Coates, heritage wardens at Groby, who opened their homes and their books about the Greys of Groby; Juliet and Michael Wilson, churchwardens at Fotheringhay, and their two dogs (one an overnight guest), who led me up into the tower above the bells of St Mary and All Saints and down into the vault below the church floor, all the while narrating the history of Fotheringhay; Robin Walker, assistant bursar, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, who guided me through the Old Court that Elizabeth Wydeville visited; and Peter Monk, curator, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum, whose boundless enthusiasm for the history of the Hastings family is infectious.
Back at home, colleagues helped translate medieval texts: Sebastian Cassarino (Italian); Marianina Olcott (Latin); Danielle Trudeau (French); and Bonita Cox (Latin and French). Jean Shiota in Academic Technology provided essential computer assistance when my own technological expertise faltered. Other colleagues read the first inchoate manuscript and provided invaluable suggestions for improvements: Cynthia Soyster, Helen Kuhn, Judy Reynolds, Susan Shillinglaw, and Bonita Cox.
Without publishers, of course, history would never be transmitted from one generation to the next. Tempus Publishing and Jonathan Reeve assure that British history continues to thrive with twenty-first-century vigour. In selecting Alison Weir as general editor of their series of books about medieval queens, Tempus Publishing is adding a significant new dimension to historical research. Had I been offered my choice of historians to evaluate my manuscript, I would have chosen Alison Weir, whose books I have read and admired for years. I have benefited greatly from her graciousness in encouraging other authors, her acuity in correcting errors, and her generosity in providing dates and facts that augmented my own research.
Historical knowledge depends on the collective efforts of those who treasure the past as a way of comprehending the present. A great tradition of scribes, scholars, curators, librarians, writers, editors and publishers has made this biography possible.
Foreword
Elizabeth Wydeville is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures in English history. She became the wife of Edward IV, and was the first English Queen whose marriage was made for love – or possibly lust – rather than for reasons of state, a circumstance that caused great scandal. She was also the grandmother of Henry VIII, and – more poignantly – the mother of the two princes in the Tower, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, who were imprisoned in that fortress by their uncle, Richard III, and were never seen again.
Elizabeth Wydeville was one of the great beauties of her age, and by the clever use of her charms she ensnared its greatest womaniser, Edward IV. She lived through one of the most turbulent periods in English history. Yet her character is an enigma. Was she the scheming adventuress portrayed by contemporary writers, or is the truth rather different? It is possible that she has been grossly maligned by chroniclers and historians alike.
In this comprehensive and brilliantly detailed new biography, Arlene Okerlund presents a fresh and thought-provoking assessment of Elizabeth Wydeville. Her findings may prove controversial, but they will not fail to stimulate and engross the reader, nor to engage the emotions. For, as the author points out, Elizabeth’s story is constantly marked by tragedy and loss. Arlene Okerlund unfurls this sad pageant with vivid clarity, re-evaluating every aspect of Elizabeth Wydeville’s life and triumphantly crafting a three-dimensional portrait of a remarkable and much-misunderstood woman.
Alison Weir
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation; that away,
Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.
William Shakespeare, Richard II (1.1.177-79)
CHAPTER ONE
The Widow and the King
The newly widowed Lady Elizabeth Grey, née Wydeville, watched Edward IV, King of England, ride through the woods in the midst of his courtiers. Tall, handsome and already a bit hedonistic at the age of nineteen, Edward IV was celebrating his victories during the bloody and brutal Wars of the Roses. Loving the hunt, he had come to Whittlewood Forest in Northamptonshire for a holiday after his decisive victory at the battle of Towton. The royal hunting preserve near Stony Stratford lay close by the Grafton manor of Elizabeth’s father, Richard Wydeville, Lord Rivers.
Recent battles had been particularly bloody in these wars between cousins. The Lancastrian troops of King Henry VI and his wife Margaret of Anjou had killed Edward’s father, Richard, Duke of York on 30 December 1460, and spiked his head on a pole above Micklegate Bar in York to warn other rebels of the fate of traitors. The paper crown placed atop the Duke’s head to taunt his royal aspirations did little to deter his eldest son, Edward, Earl of March from taking up his father’s cause, commanding the Yorkist banner, and continuing the fight against the House of Lancaster.
The year 1461 brought more bloodshed, with battles seesawing across the English countryside. Edward’s Yorkist victory at Mortimer’s Cross on the border of Wales on 2 February was followed by a Lancastrian triumph at St Albans, just north of London, on 17 February. But when the Lancastrians failed to take control of London itself, Edward marched into the city where his charismatic vigour and the people’s hatred of Margaret’s marauding army allowed him to declare himself king on 4 March. Then he marched his army north to Towton, where the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil ended in a Yorkist victory on 29 March. As Henry VI and Queen Margaret fled to Scotland, King Edward IV headed to London to celebrate.
How ironic that this newly proclaimed Yorkist King would stop to hunt at his royal preserve near the Wydeville home of Grafton manor. The Wydevilles were staunch Lancastrians, prominent and intimate members of the courts of both Henry V and Henry VI. Lady Elizabeth’s grandfather had been ‘Esquire of the body’ to Henry V, and her father, Richard, had been knighted by Henry VI in 1426. Created Baron and Lord de Rivers in 1448, his service in fighting the Yorkist rebels had contributed significantly to Lancastrian success – until the bloody battle of Towton.
Elizabeth’s mother, Jacquetta, had first married John, Duke of Bedford, and brother of Henry V. After Bedford’s death, Jacquetta married Sir Richard Wydeville, but she retained her title as Duchess of Bedford and her status as the first lady of England until the marriage of Henry VI. When Henry VI contracted to marry Margaret of Anjou, the Wydevilles were sent to France to help escort the fifteen-year-old bride to England. Thus began a long friendship between Jacquetta and Queen Margaret. Jacquetta, the daughter of Luxembourg nobility, and Margaret of Anjou shared continental ties that bound them together in this new and different land of the Angles. No wonder that Jacquetta’s firstborn, a daughter named Elizabeth, entered service with Queen Margaret and married into another prominent and landed Lancastrian family, the Greys of Groby.
On 17 February, however, Elizabeth’s husband, Sir John Grey, was killed at the battle of St Albans, while leading the Lancastrian cavalry as its captain. Elizabeth, at the age of twenty-four, found herself a widow with two small sons, Thomas, aged six, and Richard, five. Even worse, the lands given by her husband as part of their marriage contract were in legal dispute, depriving her of income. She had moved from her husband’s large estate at Groby to return to the warmth of the home where she grew up at Grafton.
Even here, her situation was perilous. Despite the bucolic peace of Grafton manor and the emotional support offered by her large, close-knit family, a word from the new monarch could attaint both the Wydevilles and the Greys. In May 1461, the King had issued a commission to confiscate all the possessions of Richard Wydeville.1 Given the ferocity of the recent fighting, forgiveness seemed unlikely. The widow’s future under the new Yorkist King could not have looked more bleak.
But Elizabeth was not without assets. Her beauty, her charm and her cultured background placed her among the most fortunate of women. Besides, she was smart. When she heard that King Edwa
rd IV was hunting nearby, she devised a meeting where she might, in time-honoured tradition, request a boon of the King, a judgement that would restore her dower lands.
Elizabeth knew well the propensities of the nineteen-year old King, since their families had shared political and military ventures for decades. Her father, Sir Richard Wydeville, and Richard, Duke of York were knighted by Henry VI at the same ceremony in 1426. Sir Richard Wydeville had joined the Duke of York’s French retinue at Pontoise in July 1441, just months before Edward was born at Rouen on 28 April 1442.2 Mary Clive speculates that Jacquetta might even have been in the Duchess of York’s room when Edward IV was born.3
The small world of English nobility placed the two families in close proximity, especially when the Duke of York served as Protector during Henry VI’s bouts of insanity. In February 1454, York brought his twelveyear-old son and heir to the Parliament at Reading to learn about politics first hand. The adolescent Edward, then Earl of March, surely observed more than political ceremony at the various court affairs. Among the Queen’s attendants, the sophisticated Elizabeth, an ‘older woman’ with the savoir faire of a seventeen-year-old beauty, must have ignited Edward with all the passion typical of adolescent boys.
At Grafton, Elizabeth was on home territory. The Wydeville manor lay within a mile of Whittlewood Forest where the King was hunting. Having grown up here, Elizabeth knew the course that the hunters would take, the fields where the deer would be chased for the kill, the grassy spots ideal for picnics. Choosing a large oak tree, she stationed herself and her two small sons beneath it and waited. Hard in pursuit of prey, Edward saw the beautiful young mother with her children, pulled his horse up short, and marvelled at the bucolic tableau.
Thomas More describes the encounter of Edward and Elizabeth:
This poor lady made humble suit unto the King that she might be restored unto such small lands as her late husband had given her in jointure. Whom when the King beheld and heard her speak, as she was both fair and of a good favour, moderate of stature, well made and very wise, he not only pitied her, but also waxed enamoured on her. And taking her afterward secretly aside, began to enter in talking more familiarly.4
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