by Licence, Amy
7. St Mary’s church, Calais. L’église Notre-Dame, one of the few remaining landmarks in Calais that Anne would recognise from her childhood. Begun in the thirteenth century, building work continued throughout the English occupation of the Hundred Years’ War, with its tower completed around 1500. (Matthew Reames)
8. Inner Court, Warwick Castle. The interior of Warwick, showing the extent of the inner courtyard. In Anne’s day, this would have been bustling with activity. The crenelated wing, which overlooks the river, was designed by the Beauchamps as a symbol of strength and status. Retaining its original defensive features, steps had been made to make the living quarters more comfortable by the time of the earl’s residence. (Matthew Wells)
9. Falcon and fetterlock. The House of York is best known for its device of the sun in splendour but the falcon and fetterlock was also among its early heraldic devices, featured here on a tower at Fotheringhay Castle. It may have come from the Mortimer family, of which Richard, Duke of York’s mother had been a member. (Simon Leach)
10. St Albans. ‘French Row’, in St Albans, Hertfordshire; a narrow street just off the medieval marketplace and cross. With its origins in the thirteenth century, this, and other narrow lanes in the town, must have seen the worst of the hand-to-hand fighting in the battles of 1455 and 1461. (Steve Cadman)
11. St Albans Abbey, now Cathedral. From here, Abbot Whethamstede witnessed the battle of 1455, amid fears that the abbey would be sacked. After the death of Somerset, some of the Lancastrian lords sought refuge from Warwick’s victorious troops, hiding their armour and disguising themselves as monks. (Steve Cadman)
12. Sandwich. The gateway from the town to the dock. One of the original Cinque Ports, the Kentish town was used as the main foothold into the kingdom by Warwick. Earl Rivers had amassed a fleet here with the intention of raiding Calais, but a pre-emptive strike in 1460 resulted in his humiliating capture and that of his parents as they lay in bed in the town. Now the port is silted up and only a narrow river flows past this gate. (Jane Ring)
13. Micklegate Bar, York. After Richard, Duke of York and his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, their heads were displayed on the gate for all to see. York’s was dressed in a paper crown, as an allusion to the claim he had made to the throne that autumn. His youngest son, named after him, was eight at the time. (Mark Smith)
14. Angers Cathedral. It was here, in July 1470, that Anne Neville and Edward of Westminster were formally betrothed, in the presence of her parents and his mother, Margaret of Anjou. Their oaths were reputedly sworn upon a fragment of the true cross but the marriage wasn’t solemnised until six months later. (Tjeerd Huisman)
15. Chateau d’Amboise. The imposing and beautiful chateau, favourite of the French monarchy, set on a bend of the River Loire. Anne and her mother arrived in July, along with Edward and her mother-in-law Margaret of Anjou, as guests of Louis XI. Together they awaited news of Warwick’s attempt to restore Henry VI to the English throne. (Tjeerd Huisman)
16. View, Chateau d’Amboise. During the summer of 1470, Anne and her fiancé Edward passed the days at Amboise by walking in the surrounding gardens and watching the road for messengers. Here, the two young people got to know each other. With its breathtaking view across the river, the chateau must have seemed an idyllic place to start their lives together. (Tjeerd Huisman)
17. Margaret of Anjou and Prince Edward. Statue in the Jardin de Luxembourg, Paris, of Margaret of Anjou and her son, Edward of Westminster. The inscription on the base reads, translated, ‘If you do not respect a proscribed queen, respect an unhappy mother.’ Margaret and Edward appear to have been close and united in their ambitions; his loss was a devastating blow to her. (Deborah Esrick)
18. Tewkesbury Abbey. The armies of Lancaster and York met outside the abbey at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire on 4 May 1471. As Anne and Margaret waited, the battle turned decisively against them. It was the first campaign of both Anne’s husbands, Richard of Gloucester and Edward of Westminster. The young Prince of Wales was killed, either during the fighting or shortly afterwards. Some of the Lancastrian lords sheltering inside the cathedral were later extracted and beheaded, forcing the building to be reconsecrated. It is also the final resting place of Isabel Neville. (Simon Jenkins)
19. Cerne Abbey. It was to the beautiful abbey at Cerne, in Dorset, that Margaret of Anjou fled with Anne and Edward in April 1471. They had arrived in England expecting to be welcomed as its newly reinstated royal family, only to receive news of Warwick’s death. Inside the peaceful walls of Cerne, they planned their next move. (Danny McL @ Flickr)
20. The Wakefield Tower. Built by Henry III, this part of the Tower of London was used to imprison Yorkists after the 1460 Battle of Wakefield, possibly giving rise to its name. The hapless Henry VI was incarcerated here and met his mysterious death within its walls, reputedly while at prayer. (Christopher Hall)
21. Warwick the Kingmaker. (David Baldwin)
22. Anne Neville (centre), her first husband Prince Edward of Lancaster (left), and her second husband Richard III (right). (Jonathan Reeve JR1731b90fp109C 14001500)
23. Richard III and Anne Neville. (Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the Lady Anne by Edwin Austin Abbey. Yale University Art Gallery, Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Collection)
24. Arms of Anne and Richard. A cigarette card dating from 1906, featuring the arms of Anne Neville surmounting those of Richard with its tusked boars. (Keith)
25. Middleham Castle. Exterior of the castle that was home to the Warwick family on their return from Calais in 1461. The thirteen-year-old Richard came to join them here in around 1465 to be trained as a ‘henxman’ in the martial and noble arts essential to his future role. Anne and Richard’s friendship may have developed from this time. (Mark Wheaver, englishtowns.net)
26. The Great Hall, Middleham Castle. The Great Hall at Middleham, which was built over the cellars, for which the central pillars remain. This would have been the centre of castle life, where feasting and entertaining took place, business was conducted and the duke presided over a local court. After their marriage in 1472, Richard and Anne made it their home. (Mark Wheaver, englishtowns.net)
27. Inner Chambers, Middleham Castle. A statue of Richard III now stands on the ground floor where the kitchen was once located. Above it, on the second storey, were the Gloucesters’ private rooms, the Great Chamber and Inner Chamber. (Mark Wheaver, englishtowns.net)
28. South Wing, Middleham Castle. The horse mill, centre, and oven, left, were installed in the sixteenth century. Before that, the first floor of the range contained four rooms known as the ‘privy’ (private), or lady, chamber. (Mark Wheaver, englishtowns.net)
29. St Mary’s and Alkelda’s church, Middleham. This was the local parish church for the Gloucesters, where Richard intended to found a collegiate college. He obtained the necessary grant from Parliament in 1478 but the plans were ended with his death. The stalls were named after the couple’s favoured saints. (Karen Beal)
30. The Shambles, York. Anne would have been familiar with the winding medieval streets of York, where she could have purchased luxury items, which arrived in the markets from ships on the River Ouse. The central Shambles would have been at the heart of the city’s trade since its first incarnation in the Domesday Book. Historically a street of butchers, the present fifteenth-century buildings recently earned it the title of ‘most picturesque street in England’. (Steve Cadman)
31. York Minster. Anne and Richard’s arrival at Middleham in the summer of 1472 came soon after the building had finally been completed. Dedicated to St Peter, it was the seat of Anne’s uncle, George Neville, who had been enthroned as archbishop in 1465. The role it would later play in their reigns indicates the affection in which they held it. (Neil Melville-Kenney)
32. The white rose. A modern carving in the City of York evokes the long association of the city with Richard’s family. The white rose was used by Edward IV, along with
the sunburst image, as his personal devices. His daughter, Elizabeth, would have them embroidered on her clothing. This forms part of the design of a bridge spanning the River Ouse. (Mark Smith)
33. Sheriff Hutton. The remains of Sheriff Hutton Castle, Yorkshire, which Richard received in 1471, following Warwick’s death. It was here that he based his ‘King’s Household in the North’ and where his council regularly met. The castle was home to his nephews, Edward of Warwick and John de la Pole, from 1484 and it was here that he sent his niece Elizabeth of York, in the wake of rumours of his amorous intentions towards her in 1485. (Tom Blackwell, www.tjblackwell.co.uk)
34. Fotheringhay Castle ruins. Ruins are all that now remain of the northern stronghold of the York family, birthplace of Richard III in 1452. Thirty years later, he would be present when a treaty was signed with the Duke of Albany for an invasion of Scotland. Anne would have been familiar with the castle as a guest of her mother-in-law and great-aunt, Cecily Neville. (Amanda Miller @ Amanda’s Arcadia)
35. St Mary and All Saints church, Fotheringhay. Close to the York family seat of Fotheringhay Castle is this early fifteenth-century church. In 1476, Edward IV ordered the reinterment of his father and brother, Richard, Duke of York and Edmund, Earl of Rutland, following their deaths at Wakefield. Cecily Neville was also buried there on her death in 1495. (Amanda Miller @ Amanda’s Arcadia)
36. Richmond Castle. The seat of the Tudors in Yorkshire, this twelfth-century castle made from the local honeystone had been confiscated and bestowed on George, Duke of Clarence. On his death in 1478, it was given to Richard and Anne. (Alan Taylor)
37. Window, Fotheringhay church. A modern memorial window at Fotheringhay, featuring the royal arms of York, including the falcon and fetterlock, sunburst and boar. (Simon Leach)
38. Penrith Castle. Once in the hands of the Neville family and set in a prestigious location near the Scottish border, Richard obtained it in 1471 and added a banqueting hall to its layout. (Stephen Woodcock)
39. Crosby Hall. By 1483, Richard had acquired this Bishopsgate town house from the original owner’s widow; it was here that Anne stayed with him during the turbulent events of June 1483. Shakespeare mentions it at the time of Henry VI’s funeral but it was not in Gloucester’s possession at that time. In 1910, it was removed, brick by brick, to its present site in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. (Jos)
40. Ludlow Castle. Edward, Prince of Wales, had been raised in his own household at Ludlow, on the Welsh borders, under the tutelage of his uncle, Earl Rivers. News of his father’s death reached here on 14 April 1483. (Les D.)
41. Arms of Edward V. The arms of the twelve-year-old Edward V, who reigned from 9 April to 26 June 1483. (Keith)
42. Princes in the Tower. The young Edward V was conducted to the Tower of London to await his Coronation, and soon his brother, Richard of York, joined him. They were seen for the last time playing in the grounds in June 1483. This cigarette card dates from around 1924. (Keith)
43. The White Boar. A modern version of Richard’s motif located at Bosworth Field, surrounded by his motto ‘loyaultie me lie’ or ‘loyalty binds me’. Thousands of boar badges were made and distributed in York to coincide with the investiture of Edward as Prince of Wales of September 1483. (Mike Cox)
44. Staircase, White Tower. The flight of steps leading to the chapel in the White Tower, Tower of London. Renovations in 1674 unearthed a box of bones which had been buried deep in the well under the steps, which were placed within an urn now in Westminster Abbey. The discovery of Richard III’s remains has reopened debate about whether the bones in the urn will now be subject to forensic study. (Ann Longmore-Etheridge)
45. Lincoln. Richard was visiting the city in October 1483 when news reached him that Buckingham had joined the rebellion sweeping the South. It may have come as a surprise to Richard, as only four months earlier Buckingham had helped put him on the throne and given every appearance of loyalty. (Snapper)
46. Richard, Duke of York (d.1460), Richard III’s father. Drawing of a statue formerly on the Welsh bridge at Shrewsbury. (Jonathan Reeve JR1577b4p548 14501500)
47. A hunchbacked portrayal of Richard III. (Jonathan Reeve JR1559folio5 14501500)
48. Nottingham Castle. It was while staying here that Richard and Anne received the terrible news about their son’s death, in April 1484. They left at once for Middleham. It is rumoured that Richard referred to it afterwards as his ‘castle of care’. (Tom Bastin)
49. Statue of Richard III. Richard is commemorated in a modern statue in Leicester Park. He stayed at the Blue Boar Inn on the night before the battle and rode out from the city to Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. (James Nicholls)
50. Westminster Abbey. Anne died on 16 March 1485 amid an eclipse of the sun. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Westminster Abbey; if Richard had intended to erect a tomb to her, his own demise prevented it. In 1960, the Richard III Society put up a bronze plaque in her honour. (Steve Cadman)
51. St Margaret’s church, Stoke Golding. Local legend suggests that the grooves made in this window-sill were caused by soldiers sharpening their swords before the Battle of Bosworth, fought nearby in 1485. (Lee Hutchinson)
52. Bosworth Field. On the night of 21 August 1485, Richard was supposedly plagued by bad dreams in which, according to Shakespeare, Anne appeared to accuse him of her murder. In the morning, though, he rallied his troops on the high ground, believing that God would vindicate his rule through a decisive victory. (Lee Hutchinson)
53. Bosworth Field Memorial. A modern-day memorial to those who fell in battle at Bosworth, or Ambion Hill, on 22 August 1485. (Mike Cox)
54. Bow Bridge, Leicester. This memorial plaque relates that a soothsayer predicted Richard’s demise where his ‘spur struck’. Tradition has it that he did just this, on the ride over the bridge out to battle on 22 August, and that as his corpse was carried back, his head also struck the bridge. (Snapper)
55. Henry VI. The king depicted on a screen in Ludham church in Norfolk. (Jonathan Reeve JR1721f14 14001500)
56. Margaret Beaufort, Christ’s College, Cambridge. Henry Tudor was her only son, whom she bore at the age of thirteen. (Elizabeth Norton)
57. Henry VII by Holbein. (Elizabeth Norton)
58. Tudor-era stained glass depiction of Elizabeth of York. (Author’s collection)
59. Corner of a Leicestershire car park. One unkempt corner of the Leicester car park before the university dig began in late August 2012. The exact location of the Greyfriars church was unknown, but the discovery of stones under the tarmac soon established its perimeters. (Snapper)
60. Medieval tile. This tile, with its heraldic motif, was found at the Leicester dig site in 2012, still located in the well-preserved floor of the Greyfriars church. (Snapper)
61. Greyfriars church, Leicester. In this section of the dig, the diamond-shaped indentations of the floor tiles are still visible within the church choir. (Snapper)
62. Greyfriars trench. The public were allowed in to view the long, thin trench in September 2012, which shows just how little space the archaeologists had to work with when seeking to locate the grave. (Snapper)
63. Burial site of Richard III. The location within the Greyfriars choir from which the bones of Richard III were exhumed in September 2012. (Jim Crowdell)
64. Skeleton of Richard III. The skeleton, minus feet, of Richard III, unveiled at the press conference of 4 February 2013. (University of Leicester)
65. Skull of Richard III. Image released before the press conference on 4 February 2013. (University of Leicester)
66. Spine of Richard III. Richard’s spine, excavated in September 2012, shows signs of idiopathic adolescent onset scoliosis, forming the distinctive ‘S’ shape, which would have caused some discomfort. (University of Leicester)
Epilogue
Lord Jesus Christ, deign to free me, your servant King Richard, from every tribulation, sorrow and trouble in which I am placed … hear me, in the name of all your goodness, for which I g
ive thanks, and for all the gifts granted to me, because you made me from nothing and redeemed me out of your bounteous love and pity from eternal damnation to promising eternal life.1