Category Archives: British Royals

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England and one of the principal players in the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English crown between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.  She was born on March 23, 1430, at Pont-à-Mousson, Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, that was ruled by a cadet branch of the French kings, the House of Valois-Anjou.  Margaret was the fifth of the ten children of René, Duke of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine in her own right.  Margaret’s paternal aunt Marie of Anjou was married to King Charles VII of France.

Margaret’s nine siblings were:

France and England had been in a series of conflicts with each other since 1337 called the Hundred Years’ War.  King Henry V of England, a warrior king, the victor against the French at the Battle of Agincourt, determined to conquer France once and for all, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, on August 31, 1422, at the age of 35, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne, King Henry VI. Two years before his death, Henry V had married Catherine of Valois, the daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria.

On October 21, 1422, Henry VI became titular King of France upon his grandfather Charles VI’s death in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes. Henry was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, England on November 6, 1429. Two years later, on December 16, 1431, he was crowned King of France at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Before Henry came of age, English rule in France had begun a steady decline with Joan of Arc‘s campaign in support of Dauphin of France, later King Charles VII of France. By 1453, only Calais remained of Henry V’s French conquests.

Henry, who was more interested in religion and learning than military matters, was not a successful king. He was shy, peaceful, and pious, hated bloodshed and deceit, and was not a warrior like his father. Instead of wearing the fashions of the day, Henry dressed in the clothing of a farmer or merchant. He lacked any kind of administrative skills which left him open to the machinations of his advisers. When it was time for him to marry, his advisers persuaded Henry that the way to achieve peace with France was to marry Margaret of Anjou, the niece of King Charles VII of France. The couple was married at Titchfield Abbey in England on April 23, 1445. Margaret was crowned Queen Consort of England on May 30, 1445, at Westminster Abbey. She was to prove as strong as Henry was weak.

The marriage of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret and Henry had one child, born eight years after their marriage:

Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly before his son was born, Henry had some kind of mental breakdown. He was unable to recognize or respond to people for over a year. These attacks may have been hereditary. Henry’s maternal grandfather King Charles VI suffered from similar attacks, even thinking he was made of glass. Sometimes Henry also had hallucinations which makes some modern medical experts think he may have had a form of schizophrenia. Porphyria, which may have afflicted King George III, has also been suggested as a cause. During Henry’s incapacity, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, the next in line to the throne after Henry’s son, governed as Lord Protector.

Even before the birth of Henry’s son, factions were forming and the seeds of the Wars of the Roses were being planted. Margaret was an intelligent, energetic woman and realized that she would have to take on most of her husband’s duties.  She aligned herself with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Margaret believed her husband was threatened with being deposed by Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York who thought he had a better claim to the throne and would be a better king than Henry. After Henry’s recovery in 1455, the Duke of York was dismissed, and Margaret and the Duke of Somerset became all-powerful. Eventually, things came to a head between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, and war broke out.

At the First Battle of St. Albans on May 22, 1455, the Duke of Somerset was killed. Afterward, there was a peace of sorts, but hostilities started again four years later. On July 10, 1460, Henry was captured at the Battle of Northampton and forced to recognize the Duke of York as his heir instead of his own son. Margaret rallied the Lancastrian forces and was victorious at the Battle of Wakefield on December 29, 1460. The Duke of York and his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland were both killed in the battle.

The leader of the Yorkists was now the late Duke of York’s eldest son Edward, Earl of March, the future King Edward IV of England. During the Second Battle of St. Albans on February 17, 1461, Henry’s freedom was secured and it is alleged that he laughed and sang insanely throughout the battle. The Yorkists regained the upper hand at the Battle of Towton on March 29, 1461, when Edward, Earl of March defeated the Lancastrian forces in a snowstorm. Henry fled to Scotland, and England had a new king, as Edward, Earl of March became King Edward IV from the House of York.

Henry returned from Scotland in 1464 and took part in an ineffective uprising. In 1465, Henry was captured and taken to the Tower of London. Margaret, exiled in France, wanted to restore the throne to her husband. Coincidentally, King Edward IV had a falling out with his major supporters, his brother George, Duke of Clarence and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker. Margaret, Clarence, and Warwick formed an alliance at the urging of King Louis XI of France. Edward IV was forced into exile, and Henry VI was restored to the throne on October 30, 1470. However, once again, Edward IV got the upper hand. Edward IV returned to England in early 1471 and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. The final decisive Yorkist victory was at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where Margaret led the Lancastrian forces and her son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was killed. Henry VI was returned to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from Edward IV.

Margaret was imprisoned at Wallingford Castle in England with Alice de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk (born Alice Chaucer, granddaughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer), her former lady-in-waiting, acting as her custodian. Margaret’s father René, Duke of Anjou worked tirelessly to arrange his daughter’s release. In 1475, King Louis XI agreed to pay Margaret’s ransom provided that her father would cede to France his territories of Anjou, Bar, Lorraine, and Provence.

Margaret was released from her imprisonment in November 1475 and arrived back in France in January 1476. She was allowed to join her father at his country home La Maison de Reculée near Angers. René, Duke of Anjou died in 1480. Two years later, Margaret died on August 25, 1482, at the age of 53. She was buried with her parents at Saint Maurice Cathedral in Angers. Her tomb survived until the French Revolution when it was destroyed in 1794 and her remains were scattered.

Drawing (ca. 1820) of the tomb of René d’Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine before its destruction in 1794; Credit – Wikipedia

England: House of Lancaster Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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King Henry V of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

The last great warrior king of the Middle Ages, King Henry V of England, was the eldest son of King Henry IV of England, known as Henry Bolingbroke before he became king, and his first wife Mary de Bohun, who died before her husband became king. He was born at Monmouth Castle in Wales on September 16, 1386. The powerful John of Gaunt, third surviving son of King Edward III of England, was his paternal grandfather. The king at the time of his birth was King Richard II, his father’s first cousin, the only child of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) who had predeceased his father King Edward III.

Henry had five younger siblings:

The year after Henry’s birth, his father participated in the rebellion of the Lords Appellant, a group of nobles who wanted to restrain some of King Richard II’s favorites from the power they held. The Lords Appellant were successful for a time until John of Gaunt’s support enabled Richard to regain power. In 1394, when Henry was nearly eight years old, his mother died giving birth to his sister Philippa. In 1398, Henry’s father quarreled with Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, who accused him of treason. The two men planned to duel, but instead, King Richard II banished them from England. During the time his father was in exile, Richard II took charge of the 12-year-old Henry. When Richard made a trip to Ireland, Henry accompanied him.

On February 3, 1399, Henry’s grandfather John of Gaunt died and Richard confiscated the estates of his uncle and stipulated that Henry Bolingbroke would have to ask him to restore the estates. Henry Bolingbroke returned to England while his cousin Richard was on a military campaign in Ireland and began a military campaign of his own, confiscating land of those who had opposed him. King Richard II eventually was abandoned by his supporters and was forced by Parliament on September 29, 1399, to abdicate the crown to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. King Henry IV was crowned in Westminster Abbey in London, England, on October 13, 1399. Richard was imprisoned at Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, England where he died on or around February 14, 1400. The exact cause of his death, thought to have been starvation, is unknown.

Henry was now the heir to the English throne. At his father’s coronation on October 13, 1399, Henry was created Prince of Wales. A month later, he was created Duke of Lancaster. His other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and Duke of Aquitaine. During 1399, Henry had spent time at The Queen’s College, Oxford, under the supervision of his uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and the Chancellor of Oxford University.

In 1403, at the age of 16, Henry got his first taste of battle. Owain Glyndŵr‘s fight for Welsh independence had started in 1400 and continued until 1415. Henry was in command of part of the English forces—he led his own army into Wales against Owain Glyndŵr. In other conflicts, the Percy family, led by Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur), and their supporters made three attempts to overthrow King Henry IV. At the Battle of Shrewsbury fought on July 21, 1403, which pitted an army led by King Henry IV against a rebel army led by Sir Henry Percy, Henry was hit in the face with an arrow during the fighting, sustaining a terrible wound. He later recovered due to the skilled treatment of court surgeon John Bradmore using honey, alcohol, and a specially designed surgical instrument. Henry was left with a permanent scar, evidence of his battle experience.

In 1410, King Henry IV’s poor health obliged Henry to take a share in running the government along with his uncles Cardinal Henry Beaufort and Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter. However, Henry’s policies differed from King Henry IV’s and when the king recovered somewhat, he dismissed his son from the council.

Henry, while Prince of Wales, presenting Thomas Hoccleve’s, Regement of Princes to the Duke of Norfolk, British Library, 1411–13; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 20, 1413, while in prayer at the shrine of Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, King Henry IV suffered a fatal attack, possibly a stroke. He was carried to the Jerusalem Chamber, a room in the house of the Abbey’s abbot, where he died at age 45. King Henry V’s coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on April 9, 1413, in a snowstorm.

In the first years of his reign, King Henry V benefited from a royal treasury that, for the first time in a long time, had more money than it spent. England’s longtime enemy France was ravaged by civil war, so it temporarily became less of a threat. Henry V began a reconciliation policy. King Richard II was rehabilitated as a former king and buried in Westminster Abbey. The noble families of York, Mortimer, Percy, and Holland, who had rebelled repeatedly against King Henry IV, had their titles and lands restored.

As things began to settle down domestically, Henry V devoted more time to foreign affairs. A renewal of the war of France also had a domestic benefit and it would divert the attention of the great nobles. King Charles VI of France suffered from some kind of mental illness (he thought he was made of glass) and his son was not a great prospect as king, and so the old dynastic claim to the throne of France, first pursued by Edward III of England, was renewed. Henry V demanded the complete restoration of the Angevin Empire, including Normandy, to England.

In the summer of 1415, the negotiations with France failed due to Henry’s demands. In August of the same year, an English invading army composed of approximately 12,000 soldiers landed on the Normandy coast. Diseases, minor skirmishes, and long marches in rainy weather weakened the English army. Nevertheless, because of defensive tactics and the use of the English longbow, the English won a decisive victory over a numerically much superior French opponent at the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415. The battle is the centerpiece of the play Henry V by William Shakespeare in which the character of Henry V gives the rousing St. Crispin’s Day speech before the battle. The historical Henry V did give a brief speech to the English army before the Battle of Agincourt emphasizing the right of his claim to the French throne and recalling the previous victories the English had over the French. According to Burgundian sources, he concluded the speech by telling the English longbowmen that the French had boasted that they would cut off two fingers from the right hand of every archer, so they could never draw a string again.

Battle of Agincourt, early 15th century; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1419, Henry V lay siege to Rouen, the capital of Normandy, where he herded 12,000 people into the moat surrounding the city and left them there to die of starvation and exposure. By August 1419, the English army had reached the walls of Paris. Negotiations for peace resulted in the Treaty of Troyes, an agreement that King Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. The treaty also arranged for the marriage of Charles VI’s daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry V and the disinheritance of the Dauphin of France (the future King Charles VII of France) from the French succession. On June 2, 1420, King Henry V married Catherine of Valois in Troyes, France.

Catherine went to England with Henry and was crowned queen in Westminster Abbey on February 23, 1421. In June 1421, Henry returned to France to continue his military campaigns. Catherine was already several months pregnant and gave birth to a son:

King Henry V never saw their child.  The warrior king, the victor against the French at the Battle of Agincourt, determined to conquer France once and for all, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, on August 31, 1422, at the age of 35, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne. King Charles VI of France died a couple of months after Henry V, making the young Henry VI king of England and king of France. Henry VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey on November 6, 1429. Two years later, on December 16, 1431, he was crowned King of France at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Before Henry VI came of age, English rule in France had begun a steady decline with Joan of Arc‘s campaign in support of Dauphin of France, later King Charles VII of France. By 1453, only Calais remained of Henry V’s French conquests.

Modern head on Henry V's tomb WEstminster Abbey.

Restored head on Henry V’s effigy; Photo Credit – http://westminster-abbey.org/

King Henry V’s body was dismembered, boiled, and then brought back to England for burial in Westminster Abbey. His tomb was damaged during the Reformation and at some time the head of the effigy disappeared, but it was restored in 1971.

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England: House of Lancaster Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Mary de Bohun, Countess of Northampton, Countess of Derby

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Abigail, from The Psalter of Mary de Bohun and Henry Bolingbroke, England, London or Pleshey Castle, Essex,.1380-1385, illustrated with the story of David; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary de Bohun was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V of England, but she died before her husband became king. Mary was born around 1368 and was the second of the two children of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, and Joan FitzAlan.  Mary’s father, a descendant of King Edward I through his daughter Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, had become 7th Earl of Hereford after the death of his childless uncle Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford, and he became one of the most powerful noblemen in England. Mary’s mother Joan FitzAlan was the daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and 8th Earl of Surrey who was one of England’s wealthiest nobles. He was a military leader, an admiral, and a loyal supporter of King Edward III of England.

Mary had one elder sister:

When Mary’s father died in January 1373, his estates should have passed to his cousin Gilbert de Bohun because he had no sons. However, due to the influence of King Edward III, the estates of the 7th Earl of Hereford were divided between his two daughters. In 1376, Mary’s elder sister Eleanor married King Edward III’s youngest son Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Gloucester. The couple lived in Pleshey Castle in Essex and the young Mary lived there under Eleanor and Thomas’ care. She was instructed in religious doctrine in the hope that she would become a nun, which would cause her share of the de Bohun inheritance to go to Eleanor and Thomas.

However, John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of King Edward III and Thomas’ older brother, had other ideas. He arranged for Mary’s aunt to take her from Pleshey Castle to Arundel Castle, the home of her mother’s family. There, on July 27, 1380, Mary married John of Gaunt’s eldest son, 13-year-old Henry Bolingbroke, the future King Henry IV.  Mary was 11 – 12 years old, and John of Gaunt had planned for the marriage to remain unconsummated until Mary was 16 years old. Mary and Henry disobeyed, resulting in Mary becoming pregnant at 14, but the infant lived only a few days.

Mary and Henry had six children:

Mary, age 25-26, died in 1394 at Peterborough Castle, giving birth to her last child, a daughter Philippa. There is much confusion about the date of Mary’s death and the place of her burial. Many sources say she was buried at St Mary de Castro in Leicester. Several years ago, I emailed Virginia Wright, the Historical and Heritage Adviser at St Mary de Castro, and here is what she said:

“Mary de Bohun was buried at St Mary of the Annunciation in The Newarke, not at St Mary de Castro.  St Mary of the Annunciation was a Collegiate church, built as part of the religious enclave of The Newarke by the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster and was destroyed in the mid-16th century under the Dissolution of the Chantries Act of Edward VI. Parish registers were not compulsory until the late 16th century and no ‘day books’ or similar survive.  St Mary de Castro was built as the chapel for Leicester Castle and later a parish church was added as a south aisle; today it is one combined church. There is a lot of confusion about the two churches. There is also a lot of confusion about what happened to the tomb of Mary de Bohun.”

I asked writer Susan Higginbotham, who has written historical fiction and non-fiction about medieval England, to check a source, and here is what she said: “According to Ian Mortimer in “The Fears of Henry IV,” the death date is disputed. He thinks that June 4 is more probable than July 4, given the evidence that Mary was buried on July 6. He concludes that all that is certain is that she died in June or very early July 1394.”

Mary’s husband survived her for nineteen years, dying in 1413. In 1399, he usurped the throne from his first cousin King Richard II of England, and became the first Lancaster king. King Henry IV made a second, childless marriage to Joan of Navarre in 1403. Mary and Henry IV’s eldest son reigned as King Henry V from 1413 – 1422.

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Anne Neville, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Anne Neville, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (son of King Henry VI) and the wife of King Richard III, Lady Anne Neville was born on June 11, 1456, at Warwick Castle in Warwickshire, England. She was the younger of the two daughters of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Beauchamp.  Anne’s father, known as “the Kingmaker,” was one of the major players in the Wars of the Roses, originally on the Yorkist side but later switching to the Lancastrian side.  Both Anne’s parents were descendants of King Edward III of England.

Anne had one elder sister:

Following the death of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460, his younger sons, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, came into the care of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and they both lived at Middleham Castle with Warwick’s family. The two sisters became acquainted with the two brothers, who were their first cousins, and who would become their husbands. After the Duke of York’s death, with Warwick’s help, his eldest son became King Edward IV in March 1461. Edward IV initially ruled with Warwick’s support, but the two later had a falling-out over foreign policy and Edward’s choice of Elizabeth Woodville as his wife. After a failed plot to crown Edward’s brother, George, Duke of Clarence, Warwick instead restored the Lancastrian Henry VI to the throne. To cement the alliance with the Lancastrians, Warwick betrothed his daughter Anne to Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, who was King Henry VI’s heir. The couple married in Angers Cathedral in France on December 13, 1470, and Anne became the Princess of Wales.

Henry VI’s return to power was short-lived. On April 14, 1471, the Lancastrians were defeated at the Battle of Barnet and the Earl of Warwick, Anne’s father, was killed in battle. Edward IV was once again king. On May 4, 1471, the forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under King Edward IV in the Battle of Tewkesbury.  Among the Lancastrians killed in the battle was Anne’s husband, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Henry VI, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London, died on May 21, 1471, probably from murder.

The widowed Anne now became the focus of a struggle between the brothers George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. With Warwick dead, his two daughters now stood to share his estate. George, already married to Anne’s elder sister, wanted to secure the entire estate and so he treated Anne as his ward and opposed her getting married, which would strengthen her position to claim a share. Richard who had wanted to marry Anne before her first marriage still wanted to marry her. There is a story that George hid Anne from Richard in a London cookshop and that Richard eventually tracked Anne down. To marry Anne, Richard had to agree to renounce most of the property Anne would have received after her father’s death. Anne and Richard were married on July 12, 1472, at the Chapel of St. Stephen in the Palace of Westminster. They lived in the familiar Middleham Castle in Yorkshire, England where they had both grown up.

Anne and Richard had one child:

Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 9, 1483, King Edward IV died, several weeks before his 41st birthday, and his eldest son Edward became king with his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester as his Lord Protector. Richard feared that the Woodvilles would attempt to take control of the young king. Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, the young king’s maternal uncle, and Sir Richard Grey, the young king’s half-brother, were arrested and executed. The Duke of Gloucester had his nephew brought to the Tower of London on May 19, 1483, to await his coronation, which never happened. The widowed Elizabeth Woodville and her children once again sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, fearing the Duke of Gloucester’s further actions. Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury persuaded Elizabeth to let her second son, Richard, Duke of York, leave sanctuary and join his brother, who was lonely, at the Tower of London. Richard joined his brother on June 16, 1483. The two boys were seen less and less until the end of the summer of 1483 when they disappeared from public view altogether. Their fate is unknown.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester was informed by an unknown clergyman, probably Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, that Edward IV’s marriage was invalid because he had previously contracted to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, who was living when the marriage to Elizabeth took place. This made Edward IV and Elizabeth’s children illegitimate and upheld Richard’s claim to the throne. The citizens of London drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne, which he agreed to on June 26, 1483. On July 6, 1483, Richard and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey. The Titulus Regius, enacted by Parliament in 1484, officially declared Edward IV’s children illegitimate.

King Richard III and Queen Anne; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne and Richard’s son Edward of Middleham, now Prince of Wales, died on April 9, 1484, at the age of ten at his birthplace, Middleham Castle. Anne survived her son by less than a year, probably dying of tuberculosis, on March 16, 1485, at the Palace of Westminster. She was buried in Westminster Abbey in an unmarked grave to the right of the High Altar, next to the door to Edward the Confessor’s Chapel. Her husband Richard survived her by only five months, losing his crown and his life on August 22, 1485, in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

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King Edward V of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

by Unknown artist, oil on panel, 1590-1610

King Edward V by unknown artist, oil on panel, 1597-1618, NPG 4980(11) © National Portrait Gallery, London (Note: Not a contemporary portrait)

Immortalized as one of the “Princes in the Tower,” King Edward V of England, along with disputed monarchs Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey, and King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936, is one of the four British monarchs since the Norman Conquest who were never crowned. Edward V was the third child, but the eldest son of the Yorkist King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. From October 1470 – April 1471, when the Lancastrian King Henry VI regained power and King Edward IV and his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) fled to Burgundy where they knew they would be welcomed by their sister Margaret, who was the wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Elizabeth Woodville and her children sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth’s first son, the future, but short-lived, King Edward V, was born there on November 2, 1470.

Edward had nine siblings:

Edward had two half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby:

In 1471, after his father was restored to the throne, Edward was created Prince of Wales. A household was established for him at Ludlow Castle near the Welsh border and King Edward IV created the Council of Wales and the Marches to counsel and act on behalf of his young son. Young Edward’s maternal uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers was appointed Governor of the Prince of Wales’ household. King Edward IV set up a regime for educating the Prince of Wales, including how the household should be run and how the household staff should behave. An agreement had been made in 1480 with Francis II, Duke of Brittany for Edward to marry Anne of Brittany, who would become the Sovereign Duchess of Brittany upon her father’s death.

On April 9, 1483, King Edward IV died, several weeks before his 41st birthday. 12-year-old Edward received the news of his father’s death at Ludlow Castle on April 14, 1483. King Edward IV had named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester as Edward’s Lord Protector. The new king, King Edward V, set off for London with a party that included his uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and his half-brother from his mother’s first marriage, Sir Richard Grey.  King Edward V and his party were intercepted by his paternal uncle and Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was coming from York. Richard feared that the Woodvilles would attempt to take control of the young king. Anthony Woodville and Richard Grey were arrested and executed. The Duke of Gloucester had his nephew brought to the Tower of London on May 19, 1483, to await his coronation, which never happened. The widowed Elizabeth Woodville and her children once again sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, fearing the Duke of Gloucester’s further actions. Cardinal Thomas Bouchier persuaded Elizabeth to let her second son Richard, Duke of York leave sanctuary and join his brother, who was lonely, at the Tower of London. Richard joined his brother on June 16, 1483.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester was informed by an unknown clergyman, probably Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, that Edward IV’s marriage was invalid because he had previously contracted to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, who was living when the marriage to Elizabeth took place. This made Edward IV and Elizabeth’s children illegitimate and upheld Richard’s claim to the throne. The citizens of London drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne, which he agreed to on June 26, 1483. On July 6, 1483, Richard and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey. The Titulus Regius, enacted by Parliament in 1484 officially declared Edward IV’s children illegitimate.

Edward and his brother Richard were seen less and less until the end of the summer of 1483 when they disappeared from public view altogether. Their fate is unknown and remains one of history’s greatest mysteries. There are a number of theories, and the most plausible lay blame on King Richard III (the former Duke of Gloucester), Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, or King Henry VII.

On August 22, 1485, Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. Elizabeth of York and Henry VII married on January 18, 1486, at the Palace of Westminster. Henry VII had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the act that declared King Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thereby legitimizing his wife. The Tudor Rose, a combination of the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York, symbolized the new House of Tudor.

Workers doing some remodeling in the Tower of London in 1674 dug up a wooden box containing two small human skeletons. The bones were found buried 10 feet under the staircase leading to the chapel in the White Tower. Presuming the remains were those of King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, King Charles II ordered the remains placed in an urn in Westminster Abbey. In 1933, the remains were removed from the urn and examined. The conclusion was that the bones belonged to two children around the correct ages for the princes. This examination has been criticized with one of the issues being no attempt was made to determine if the remains were male or female. There has been no further examination and the remains are still in the urn in Westminster Abbey.

The urn in Westminster Abbey containing the supposed remains of King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1789, workers doing repairs in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Adjoining that vault was another vault, which contained the coffins of two children, and was inscribed with the names of two of Edward IV’s children who had predeceased him, George, 1st Duke of Bedford, who had died at age two and Mary of York who had died at age 14. However, during the 1810 – 1813 construction of the Royal Tomb House in St. George’s Chapel, two other coffins clearly labeled as George Plantagenet and Mary Plantagenet were discovered and moved into Edward IV’s adjoining vault. Especially after the excavation and positive identification of King Richard III’s remains, this leads us to question exactly whose remains are in those four coffins, but the royal approval required for any testing of an interred royal has not been granted.

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England: House of York Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of King Edward IV of England, Elizabeth Woodville was born around 1437 at the family home in Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England. She was the eldest of the 13 children of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Peter I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Conversano and Brienne.  Jacquetta was the widow of John, 1st Duke of Bedford, son of King Henry IV of England.

Elizabeth had 13 siblings:

As a young girl, Elizabeth was a maid of honor to Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI of England.  Elizabeth married Sir John Grey of Groby, a Lancastrian knight around 1452. In 1461, Sir John was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans.

Elizabeth and Sir John had two sons:

The widow Dame Elizabeth Grey first came to the attention of King Edward IV when she petitioned him for the restoration of her husband’s forfeited land. Traditionally, the wedding is said to have taken place at Elizabeth’s family home in Northamptonshire on May 1, 1464. Elizabeth was crowned queen in Westminster Abbey on May 26, 1465.

Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, from the illuminated manuscript Anciennes Chroniques d’Angleterre by Jean de Wavrin; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV had ten children:

King Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The favors that were given to the Woodville family and the excellent marriages arranged for Elizabeth’s siblings caused much resentment at court. In particular, the king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) had great resentment and showed his dislike for Elizabeth at every opportunity. From October 1470 – April 1471, when the Lancastrian King Henry VI regained power, Elizabeth and her children sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth’s son, the future, but short-lived, King Edward V, was born there.

On April 9, 1483, King Edward IV died, several weeks before his 41st birthday, and his eldest son Edward became king with his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester as his Lord Protector. Richard feared that the Woodvilles would attempt to take control of the young king. Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, the young king’s maternal uncle, and Sir Richard Grey, the young king’s half-brother, were arrested and executed.

The Duke of Gloucester had his nephew brought to the Tower of London on May 19, 1483, to await his coronation, which never happened. Elizabeth and her children once again sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, fearing the Duke of Gloucester’s further actions. Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury persuaded Elizabeth to let her second son, Richard, Duke of York, leave sanctuary and join his brother, who was lonely, at the Tower of London. Richard joined his brother on June 16, 1483. The two boys were seen less and less until the end of the summer of 1483 when they disappeared from public view altogether. Their fate is unknown.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester was informed by an unknown clergyman, probably Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, that Edward IV’s marriage was invalid because he had previously contracted to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, who was living when the marriage to Elizabeth took place. This made Edward IV and Elizabeth’s children illegitimate and upheld Richard’s claim to the throne. The citizens of London drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne, which he agreed to on June 26, 1483. On July 6, 1483, Richard and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey. The Titulus Regius, enacted by Parliament in 1484, officially declared Edward IV’s children illegitimate.

The Lancastrian heir, Henry Tudor had been in exile for 13 years. Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor’s mother, despite being married to a Yorkist, Thomas Stanley, was actively promoting her son as an alternative to King Richard III. Elizabeth Woodville and Henry’s mother made a secret agreement that their children should marry. On Christmas Day in 1483, still in exile in France, Henry Tudor pledged to marry King Edward IV’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, who was also Edward IV’s heir since the presumed deaths of her brothers, King Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. In 1485, having gained the support of the Woodvilles, the in-laws of the late King Edward IV, Henry Tudor sailed to Wales with a small French and Scottish force. On August 7, 1485, they landed in Mill Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales, close to Henry’s birthplace. Henry Tudor then marched towards England accompanied by his uncle Jasper Tudor and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford.

On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, 32-year-old King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first monarch of the House of Tudor. One of his first acts was to have the Titulus Regius repealed. King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York and reinstated his mother-in-law as Queen Dowager.

Double Portrait of Elizabeth of York and Henry VII; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1487, Elizabeth Woodville retired to Bermondsey Abbey in London, England where she lived for the rest of her life. She was present at the birth of her granddaughter Margaret Tudor at Westminster Palace in November 1489 and at the birth of her grandson, the future Henry VIII, King of England, at Greenwich Palace in June 1491. Elizabeth died at Bermondsey Abbey on June 8, 1492, at the age of 55. With the exception of her daughter Elizabeth, who was awaiting the birth of her fourth child, and her daughter Cecily, her other daughters, Anne, Catherine, and Bridget attended her funeral at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where Elizabeth Woodville was buried with her husband King Edward IV of England.

Tomb of King Edward IV and his wife Elizabeth Woodville

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King Edward IV of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The first Yorkist King of England, King Edward IV of England, was born on April 28, 1442, in Rouen, Normandy (now in France). He was the fourth of the thirteen children, but the first surviving son of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England.

King Edward IV’s siblings:

Edward’s father was the Yorkist leader during the Wars of the Roses until his death in battle. In 1399, Henry of Bolingbroke, the eldest son of John of Gaunt who was the third surviving son of King Edward III, overthrew his cousin King Richard II and assumed the throne as King Henry IV. Henry IV’s reigning house was the House of Lancaster as his father was Duke of Lancaster and Henry had assumed the title upon his father’s death. Henry IV’s eldest son King Henry V retained the throne, but he died when his only child, King Henry VI, was just nine months old. Henry VI’s right to the crown was challenged by Richard, 3rd Duke of York, who could claim descent from Edward III’s second and fourth surviving sons, Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence and Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York.

During the early reign of King Henry VI, Richard, 3rd Duke of York held several important offices and quarreled with the Lancastrians at court. In 1448, he assumed the surname Plantagenet and then assumed the leadership of the Yorkist faction in 1450. The first battle in the long dynastic struggle called the Wars of the Roses was the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455. As soon as Edward, known then as the Earl of March, and his next youngest brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland were old enough, they joined their father, fighting for the Yorkist cause. Richard, 3rd Duke of York was killed on December 30, 1460, at the Battle of Wakefield along with his son Edmund who was only 17 years old.

Edward was now the leader of the Yorkist faction. On February 3, 1461, Edward defeated the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. Edward then took a bold step and declared himself king on March 4, 1461. His decisive victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton on March 29, 1461, cemented his status as King of England. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 29, 1461. However, the former king, Henry VI, still lived and fled to Scotland.

In 1464, King Edward IV married the widowed Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth’s father Sir Richard Woodville, was only a knight at the time of her birth. Her mother was Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Peter I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Conversano and Brienne, and widow of John, 1st Duke of Bedford, the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England and the brother of King Henry V of England. Traditionally, the wedding is said to have taken place at Elizabeth’s family home in Northamptonshire, England on May 1, 1464. Elizabeth was the widow of Sir John Grey of Groby, who was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461, fighting for the Lancastrians. There were two sons from this marriage including Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, who was the great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey.

Elizabeth Woodville, Edward’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had ten children:

Henry VI returned from Scotland in 1464 and participated in an ineffective uprising. In 1465, Henry was captured and taken to the Tower of London. His wife Margaret of Anjou, exiled in France, wanted to restore the throne to her husband. Coincidentally, King Edward IV had a falling out with his major supporters, his brother George, Duke of Clarence and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker. Margaret, Clarence, and Warwick formed an alliance at the urging of King Louis XI of France. Edward IV was forced into exile, and Henry VI was restored to the throne on October 30, 1470.

Edward and his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) fled to Burgundy where they knew they would be welcomed by their sister Margaret, the wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The Duke of Burgundy provided funds and troops to Edward to enable him to launch an invasion of England in 1471. Edward returned to England in early 1471 and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet.  The final decisive Yorkist victory was at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where Henry VI’s son Edward, Prince of Wales was killed.

Battle of Tewkesbury from a Ghent manuscript; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry VI was returned to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from Edward IV. Edward’s brother George, Duke of Clarence was eventually found guilty of plotting against Edward, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and privately executed on February 18, 1478. Tradition says he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. King Edward IV did not face any other Lancastrian rebellions. His only rival was Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII, who was living in exile, would eventually return to England and defeat Edward’s brother King Richard III, the last Yorkist king, at the Battle of Bosworth Field and to become the first Tudor king.

Had King Edward IV lived longer, perhaps he would have become one of England’s most powerful kings. He died on April 9, 1483, a few weeks before his 41st birthday. His cause of death is not known for certain. King Edward IV was buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle close by his rival King Henry VI. King Edward IV was briefly succeeded by his 12-year-old son as King Edward V, one of the Princes in the Tower, whose fate is unknown.

Tomb of King Edward IV and his wife Elizabeth Woodville

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Prince Philip’s 95th Birthday

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June 10, 2016 is the 95th birthday of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born a Prince of Greece, husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He is the oldest living descendant of Queen Victoria (through her daughter Princess Alice). Here is a selection of articles about Prince Philip here, at Unofficial Royalty, in honor of this milestone.

Queen Mary I of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Queen Mary I of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Excluding the disputed reigns of Empress Matilda in the 12th century and Lady Jane Grey, Mary’s predecessor, Queen Mary I was the first queen regnant of England. Mary was born on February 18, 1516, at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich Palace), the only child of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. Mary had two much younger half-siblings from two of her father’s other marriages: Queen Elizabeth I of England and King Edward VI of England.

On February 21, 1516, Mary was christened at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich, London. Her godparents were:

Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury was appointed Mary’s governess in 1520 and played an important role in Mary’s upbringing. Margaret Pole was one of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses. Her father was George, Duke of Clarence, third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York who was the York claimant during the Wars of Roses until his death at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. Margaret’s paternal uncles were the Yorkist monarchs King Edward IV and King Richard III. Margaret’s mother was Lady Isabel Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker of the Wars of the Roses) who was also killed at the Battle of Wakefield. Margaret’s maternal aunt was Anne Neville who was married to King Henry VI’s only child, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales until his death at the Battle of Tewkesbury, and then Anne Neville married King Richard III. At the command of King Henry VIII, Margaret Pole was beheaded in a horrific manner when she was 67. Her son Cardinal Reginald Pole was the Archbishop of Canterbury during Mary’s reign.

Mary resembled both her parents, who had blue eyes, fair complexions, and reddish-golden hair. Like her father Henry VIII, Mary’s mother Catherine of Aragon was descended from the House of Plantagenet. Catherine’s great-grandmother Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile and her great-great-grandmother Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal were daughters of John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III of England.

attributed to Lucas Horenbout (or Hornebolte), watercolour on vellum, circa 1525

Queen Mary I, attributed to Lucas Horenbout (or Hornebolte), watercolour on vellum, circa 1525, NPG 6453 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Mary was well educated and studied Greek, Latin, French, Italian, science, and music. Henry VIII was disappointed that Mary was not a male, however in 1525, he sent her for three years to Ludlow Castle on the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and the Marches.  This was the same castle that Catherine of Aragon and her first husband, Arthur, Prince of Wales (Henry VIII’s elder brother) were sent to after their marriage, and it is where Arthur died. Mary received many of the dignities of a Prince of Wales and there is evidence that she was sometimes referred to as Princess of Wales, despite never being invested with the title. During Mary’s childhood, there were some tentative marriage plans to King François I of France and her first cousin, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy) but nothing ever came of these plans.

By the time Catherine of Aragon turned 40 in 1525, it was very unlikely that she would produce the male heir that Henry yearned for. Henry had three options. He could legitimize his illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy. He could marry his daughter Mary and hope for a grandson. He could reject Catherine and marry someone of childbearing age. Henry became convinced that his marriage was cursed because Leviticus 20:21 says, “And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” Around the same time, Henry became enamored of Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting to Catherine, and Henry began pursuing her.

Henry instructed Cardinal Wolsey to start negotiations with the Vatican to have his marriage to Catherine annulled. Catherine put up a valiant fight to save her marriage and was supported by her nephew Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.  After several long years of negotiations, Cardinal Wolsey failed to obtain the annulment incurring the anger of Anne Boleyn, who brought about Wolsey’s dismissal as Chancellor. A far more reaching consequence was Henry’s break with Rome which was to lead to the Reformation in England and the establishment of the Church of England. In 1533, Henry nominated Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury and in May of 1533, Cranmer declared that because Henry and Catherine’s marriage was against the law of God, it was null and void. Catherine had testified that she and Arthur had never had physical relations.

Catherine of Aragon; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine was banished from the court and Henry refused her the right to any title but “Dowager Princess of Wales” in recognition of her position as his brother’s widow. She was forbidden to see her daughter Mary. Catherine suffered these indignities with patience and told her women not to curse the new queen, Anne Boleyn. She spent most of her time doing needlework and praying. Catherine refused to accept the 1533 Act of Succession which made her daughter Mary illegitimate and made Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth Henry’s successor. Mary was sent to Hatfield House to live in her infant half-sister’s household. She seems to have no grudge against Elizabeth and had genuine sisterly feelings. By 1535, with no hope of ever seeing her daughter Mary, who suffered great humiliation at the court of Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon’s health deteriorated and she was taken to Kimbolton Castle, where she died on January 7, 1536, at the age of 50.

After the execution of her father’s second wife Anne Boleyn, Mary was reconciled to her father with the help of his third wife Jane Seymour. However, Mary was forced into acknowledging that her parents’ marriage had been unlawful and that therefore, she was illegitimate. In addition, she was forced into acknowledging, at least outwardly, that her father was the Head of the Church of England. Mary remained true to the Roman Catholic Church. When her half-brother the future King Edward VI was born to Jane Seymour in 1537, Mary was one of his godparents and then acted as the chief mourner at the funeral of Jane Seymour, who died as a result of childbirth complications.

Mary in 1544; Credit – Wikipedia

Through the influence of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife, the family was drawn closer together. Catherine Parr, a kind stepmother to Henry’s three children, was influential in Henry’s passing of the Third Succession Act in 1543 that restored both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth (who had been removed from the succession after the execution of her mother Anne Boleyn), to the line of succession to the throne. King Henry VIII died in 1547 and was succeeded by his 9-year-old son as King Edward VI. Henry’s three children remained on friendly terms despite their great differences in age and religious belief. When the 1549 Act of Uniformity made the use of the new Book of Common Prayer mandatory, Mary refused to comply and continued to have the Roman Catholic Latin Mass said in her household.

As 15-year-old King Edward VI lay dying, probably of tuberculosis, in the late spring and early summer of 1553, many feared that the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation.  At that time, the succession to the throne according to the Third Succession Act looked like this:

1) Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
2) Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
3) Duchess of Suffolk (Lady Frances Brandon), daughter of Mary Tudor (daughter of King Henry VII)
4) Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
5) Lady Catherine Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
6) Lady Mary Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
7) Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter of Countess of Cumberland (born Lady Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Mary Tudor)

Earlier in 1553, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and Lord Protector of the Realm had arranged the marriage of his son Guildford and Lady Jane Grey, number four in the line of succession. What exact role the Duke of Northumberland had in what followed is still debated, but surely he played a big part in the unfolding of what happened.   King Edward VI composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and the Duchess of Suffolk (Frances Brandon). Edward meant for the throne to go to the Duchess’ daughters and their male heirs. The Duke and Duchess of Suffolk were outraged at the Duchess’ removal from the succession, but after a meeting with the ailing king, the Duchess renounced her rights in favor of her daughter Jane. Many contemporary legal experts believed the king could not contravene an Act of Parliament without passing a new one that would have established the altered succession. Therefore, many thought that Jane’s claim to the throne was weak. Apparently, Jane did not have any idea of what was occurring.

After great suffering, King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, at Greenwich Palace. On July 9, Lady Jane Grey was told that she was Queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. However, the Privy Council switched their allegiance from Jane to Edward’s sister Mary and proclaimed her Queen on July 19, 1553. Mary arrived triumphantly in London on August 3, 1553, accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. Ultimately, Lady Jane, her husband, her father, and her father-in-law would all lose their heads.

On October 1, 1553, Queen Mary I of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, whom she had released from the Tower of London upon her accession to the throne. Gardiner also was appointed Lord Chancellor and held that position until his death in 1555.

after Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro), oil on panel, 1555

Queen Mary I after Anthonis Mor, oil on panel, 1555, NPG 4174 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Mary was 37, and she needed to marry and produce an heir to supplant her Protestant sister Elizabeth. Edward Courtney, 1st Earl of Devon, a Plantagenet descendant was suggested. However, Mary had her heart set on marrying Prince Philip of Spain (later King Philip II of Spain), the only son of Mary’s first cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Philip was a widower and was eleven years younger than Mary. Parliament, backed by Gardiner, begged her to reconsider fearing the threat a marriage to a foreign royal might have for English independence. When Mary insisted on marrying Philip, a rebellion broke out, led by Thomas Wyatt, to depose Mary in favor of her half-sister Elizabeth. Wyatt marched on London but was defeated and executed.

Mary and Philip were married at Winchester Cathedral on July 25, 1554. Mary insisted that Philip receive the title of King and that all official documents were to be in both their names. The marriage was not successful. Although Mary was in love with Philip, he found her repugnant. In September of 1554, Mary thought she was pregnant and continued to exhibit signs of pregnancy until July 1555, when her abdomen returned to normal. There was no baby.  After 14 months of marriage, Philip returned to Spain in August 1555. Mary was heartbroken and went into a deep depression. Philip did return to England in 1557 and was happily received by Mary. Philip wanted England to join Spain in a war against France. Mary agreed and the result was the loss of Calais, England’s last remaining possession in continental Europe. Philip left England in July 1557, never to return. Mary said of these losses, “When I am dead, you will find the words ‘Philip’ and ‘Calais’ engraved upon my heart.”

Mary and her husband Philip, Bedford Collection, Woburn Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

Throughout her reign, Mary was steadfast in her determination to restore the Roman Catholic religion to England. During the first Parliament of her reign, Edward VI’s religious laws were abolished and Mary’s legitimacy was asserted. During Mary’s reign, nearly 300 Protestants were burned at the stake for heresy.  Included in this number were the famous three Oxford Martyrs: Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury;  Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester; and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London.  They were burned at the stake outside Balliol College in Oxford. There is a marker on the street marking the site of the executions. In addition, their names are on a plaque in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, where they were tried, along with names of both Protestant and Catholic victims of the Reformation who lived in Oxfordshire, taught at the University of Oxford, or were brought to Oxford for execution.

Oxford_July 21 2015 007

Plaque in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

In the latter part of her reign, Mary relied heavily on Cardinal Reginald Pole, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury and the son of her governess Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Pole acted as the Pope’s legate in Mary’s attempted reconciliation of the Church of England with Rome. In November 1558, both Mary and Pole fell ill during an influenza outbreak. Mary had become weak and ill in May 1558, possibly from ovarian cysts or uterine cancer. Both Mary and Cardinal Pole died on November 17, 1558. Mary had wanted to be buried with her mother but was buried in Westminster Abbey in a vault she would eventually share with her Protestant sister Elizabeth. The tomb erected above only has Elizabeth’s effigy, but King James I, Elizabeth’s successor, ordered this to be inscribed upon the tomb in Latin: Regno consortes et urna, Hic obdorminus Elizabetha et Maria sonores in spe resurrectionis – Partners both in throne and grave, here we, Elizabeth and Mary, rest as sisters, in hope of our resurrection.

Tomb of Mary I and Elizabeth I; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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King Edward VI of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2015

Credit – Wikipedia

Twenty-six years into his reign, King Henry VIII of England was still without a male heir. His first two wives were displaced because they did not provide a male heir, but each did provide a daughter (Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I). Catherine of Aragon‘s marriage was annulled and Anne Boleyn was beheaded on trumped-up charges. Henry VIII married his third wife Jane Seymour eleven days after Anne Boleyn’s execution, and Jane was pregnant before her first wedding anniversary, which would prove to be her only wedding anniversary.

Prince Edward (future Edward VI), Henry VIII, Jane Seymour painted in 1545, eight years after Jane’s death; Credit: Wikipedia

The joyous king fulfilled Jane’s every desire and made sure she was attended by the best doctors and midwives. As was tradition, Jane went into confinement a month before the baby’s due date. At 2 AM, on October 12, 1537, the long-awaited male heir was born at Hampton Court Palace. Jane’s labor had been long, two days and three nights.

Edward had two elder half-sisters:

by Catherine of Aragon, his father’s first wife

Three days later, the baby was christened Edward after Edward the Confessor whose feast day is October 13. His half-sisters 21-year-old Mary and four-year-old Elizabeth attended the ceremony along with his mother who was carried on a litter. Henry’s joy soon turned into grief. On October 17, 1537, Jane’s condition deteriorated and she was given the last rites. She died at Hampton Court Palace on October 24, 1537, most likely from puerperal fever or childbed fever, a bacterial infection. The majority of child-bed fever cases were caused by the birth attendants themselves. With no knowledge of germs, it was believed that hand washing was unnecessary.

Prince Edward in 1539, by Hans Holbein the Younger; Credit – Wikipedia

The motherless infant was placed under the care of Margaret Bryan, Baroness Bryan, the Lady Governess to all three of Henry VIII’s children. In 1539, Lady Bryan wrote to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister, “My lord Prince is in good health and merry. Would to God the King and your Lordship had seen him last night. The minstrels played, and his Grace danced and played so wantonly that he could not stand still ..”

On July 1, 1543, representatives of England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Greenwich which established peace between the two kingdoms and arranged for the betrothal of Edward and the seven-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots, which would unite both kingdoms. However, the Treaty of Greenwich was ultimately rejected by the Scottish Parliament on December 11, 1543, leading to eight years of conflict between England and Scotland are known as the Rough Wooing.

When Edward was six years, he had his first taste of family life when his stepmother Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth wife, gathered all three of Henry’s children together for Christmas 1543. Catherine Parr’s efforts in reconciling Henry’s family resulted in the 1544 Third Succession Act restoring Mary and Elizabeth, both of whom had been declared illegitimate and disinherited, in the line of succession after Edward. Catherine Parr also played a role in Edward’s education, helping to select his tutors, who were among the greatest scholars in England: Sir John Cheke, Professor of Greek at Cambridge; Richard Cox, a clergyman and Headmaster of Eton; Sir Anthony Cooke, a politician and humanist scholar; and Roger Ascham, Cambridge classical scholar. In addition, Jean Belmain, a French Huguenot scholar, taught Edward French. These tutors not only gave Edward a strong education, but they also imparted to him the tenets of the Protestant Reformation that had swept through Germany and the Netherlands.

Prince Edward in 1546; Credit – Wikipedia

King Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547, at the age of 55 and Henry’s nine-year-old son succeeded him as King Edward VI. Edward’s coronation took place on February 20, 1547, at Westminster Abbey. The coronation was shortened because of the new king’s young age. Henry VIII’s will named sixteen executors, who were to act as Edward’s Council until he reached the age of 18. Henry VIII’s will did not provide for the appointment of a Protector but rather gave the government during his son’s minority to a Regency Council that would rule collectively, by majority decision. However, a few days after Henry’s death, the executors decide to make King Edward VI’s maternal uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, Lord Protector of the Realm, Governor of the King’s Person, and Duke of Somerset. With this new position, Edward Seymour had almost regal power.

King Edward VI with his uncles Edward Seymour and Thomas Seymour and Thomas Cranmer, 1547; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward Seymour’s younger brother Thomas Seymour, who had married Henry VIII’s widow Catherine Parr (who died after childbirth in 1548), was embittered over the power his older brother had and demanded a share of the power. In March of 1549, Thomas was arrested on various charges and beheaded for treason.

Seven months later, Edward Seymour became aware that his rule as Protector was being threatened. Seymour took possession of his nephew, and then went to the safety of the fortified Windsor Castle, where Edward VI wrote, “Me thinks I am in prison.” The Regency Council made it clear that Seymour’s power as Protector and leader of the Council came from them and not Henry VIII’s will. Seymour was arrested on October 11, 1549. The charges against Seymour were stated in King Edward VI’s chronicle: “ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority, etc.” Seymour was sent to the Tower of London and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (later 1st Duke of Northumberland and Lady Jane Grey‘s father-in-law (who would lose his head due to his involvement in Lady Jane’s succession to the throne) became the leader of the Regency Council and Lord Protector. In 1550, Seymour was released from the Tower of London and restored to the Regency Council, however, he was executed for felony in January 1552 after scheming to overthrow Dudley.

During the reign of King Edward VI, the English Protestant Reformation advanced with the approval and encouragement of Edward, who began to exert more personal influence in his role as Supreme Head of the Church of England.  Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was to be burned for heresy under the reign of Queen Mary I) wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the English Church which is still used. Cranmer also revised canon law and prepared a doctrinal statement, the Thirty-Nine Articles, to clarify the practice of the reformed religion

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1553, King Edward became ill with a fever and cough that gradually worsened. It is probable that he had tuberculosis. By May 1553, the royal doctors had no hope that the king would recover and John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and Lord Protector, became to scheme for a succession that would benefit him.  The powerful Duke of Northumberland thought marrying one of his sons to Lady Jane Grey would be a good idea.  On May 25, 1553, three weddings were celebrated at Durham Place, the Duke of Northumberland’s London home. Lord Guildford Dudley, the fifth surviving son of the Duke of Northumberland married Lady Jane Grey, Guildford’s sister Lady Katherine Dudley married Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon’s heir, and Jane’s sister Lady Catherine Grey married Henry Herbert, the heir of the Earl of Pembroke.

As King Edward VI lay dying in the late spring and early summer of 1553, the succession to the throne according to the Third Succession Act looked like this, and note that number four in the succession was the Duke of Northumberland’s daughter-in-law.

1) Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
2) Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
3) Duchess of Suffolk (Lady Frances Brandon), daughter of Mary Tudor
4) Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
5) Lady Catherine Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
6) Lady Mary Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
7) Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter of Countess of Cumberland (born Lady Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Mary Tudor)

King Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation.  Many on Edward’s Council feared this, including the Duke of Northumberland.  What exact role the Duke of Northumberland had in what followed is still debated, but surely he played a big part in the unfolding of what happened.  The king opposed Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because of her illegitimacy and his belief in male succession.  He also opposed the succession of his half-sister for reasons of illegitimacy and belief in male succession.  Both Mary and Elizabeth were still considered to be legally illegitimate.

“My devise for the Succession” by King Edward VI; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and the Duchess of Suffolk (Frances Brandon). Edward meant for the throne to go to the Duchess’ daughters and their male heirs. The Duke and Duchess of Suffolk were outraged at the Duchess’ removal from the succession, but after a meeting with the ailing king, the Duchess renounced her rights in favor of her daughter Jane. Many contemporary legal experts believed the king could not contravene an Act of Parliament without passing a new one that would have established the altered succession. Therefore, many thought that Jane’s claim to the throne was weak. Apparently, Jane did not have any idea of what was occurring.

After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, at Greenwich Palace. On July 9, 1553, Lady Jane Grey was told that she was Queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. However, the Privy Council switched their allegiance from Jane to Edward’s sister Mary and proclaimed her Queen on July 19, 1553. Mary arrived triumphantly into London on August 3, 1553, accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. Ultimately, Lady Jane, her husband, her father, and her father-in-law would all lose their heads.

King Edward VI had a Protestant funeral conducted by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey on August 8, 1553.

Tomb of Edward VI; Credit – findagrave.com

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