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:

• Joan of York (born and died 1438)
• Anne of York (1439 – 1476), married (1) Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, had issue; married (2) Sir Thomas St. Leger, had issue
• Henry of York (born and died 1441)
• Edmund, Earl of Rutland (1443 – 1460), killed at the Battle of Wakefield
• Elizabeth of York (1444 – circa 1503), married John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, had issue
• Margaret of York (1446 – 1503), married Charles I, Duke of Burgundy, no issue
• William of York (born and died 1447)
• John of York (born and died 1448)
• George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449 – 1478), married Isabella Neville, had issue; executed for treason
• Thomas of York (born and died 1451)
• King Richard III of England (1452 – 1485), married Anne Neville, had one son that died in childhood
• Ursula of York (born and died 1455)

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:

• Elizabeth of York (1466 – 1503), married King Henry VII of England, had seven children including Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, King Henry VIII of England and Mary Tudor, Queen of France
• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried
• Cecily of York (1469 – 1507); married (1) Ralph Scrope of Upsall, no children, marriage annulled; (2) John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, had two daughters who died young; (3) Sir Thomas Kyme, possible children
• King Edward V of England (1470 – c. 1483); briefly succeeded his father, as King Edward V of England, was the elder of the Princes in the Tower
• Margaret of York (born and died 1472)
• Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (1473 – c. 1483), was the younger of the Princes in the Tower
• Anne of York (1475 – 1511); married Thomas Howard (later 3rd Duke of Norfolk and uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s beheaded wives), had four children who died in childhood
• George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (1477 – 1479)
• Catherine of York (1479 – 1527); married William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, had three children
• Bridget of York (1480 – 1517); became a nun

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, he may 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

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of York Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of York Index
• British Royal Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Other Important Events
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Norman and Plantagenet Weddings
• House of York Burial Sites

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.

• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Elizabeth II and Lt. Philip Mountbatten
• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Philip’s Family 
• Unofficial Royalty: First Cousins: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

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:

• Catherine of York, Countess of Devon (her maternal great-aunt and a daughter of King Edward IV)
• Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
• Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk

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.

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.

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.

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

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Tudor Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Tudor Index
• British Royal Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Other Important Events
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• First Cousins of Queen Mary I
• History and Traditions: Tudor Weddings
• House of Tudor Burial Sites
• House of Tudor Christenings

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

• Mary I, Queen of England (1516 – 1558), married King Philip II of Spain, no issue
• Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1533 – 1603), unmarried

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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by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine Parr was the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England.  She is the “survived” in the saying about Henry’s wives, “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” although she survived for only a year, and Anne of Cleves, Henry’s fourth wife, was the last of his wives to die (in 1557). Catherine was probably born in 1512 at her family’s townhouse in Blackfriars, London, England. She was the eldest child of Sir Thomas Parr and Maud Green.  Sir Thomas was a descendant of King Edward III of England through Edward’s son John of Gaunt.

Catherine had two surviving siblings:

• William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton (circa 1513 – 1571), married (1) Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier, no issue; (2) Elizabeth Brooke, no issue; (3) Helena Snakenborg, no issue
• Anne Parr, Countess of Pembroke (circa 1515 – 1552), married William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, had issue

William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton; Credit – Wikipedia

Thought to be Anne Parr; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine’s father, Sir Thomas Parr was a courtier and served as Master of the Wards, Master of the Guards, and Comptroller of the Household of King Henry VIII. He also was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire and then High Sheriff of Lincolnshire.  Catherine’s mother was a lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine of Aragon, and it is thought that she named her daughter after the queen. Catherine’s father died in 1517 of sweating sickness, leaving a 25-year-old widow with three children under the age of five. Maud Parr did not marry again, fearing that the large inheritance from her deceased first husband would go to a second husband instead of her children. She carefully supervised her children’s education and just as carefully arranged their marriages.

At the age of 17, Catherine married Sir Edward Burgh, who was about four years older than his bride. Edward was the eldest son of Thomas Burgh, 1st Baron Burgh, but he was in poor health and predeceased his father, dying just four years after a childless marriage to Catherine.

In 1534, Catherine became the third wife to 41-year-old John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, who was her father’s second cousin and a first cousin of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, an important player during the Wars of the Roses. 22-year-old Catherine became stepmother to his two children from his first marriage, 14-year-old John Neville, the future 4th Baron Latimer, and 9-year-old Margaret Neville. Lord Latimer was a supporter of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1536 he was implicated in the Pilgrimage of Grace, an uprising in Yorkshire, England in 1536 against King Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Catholic Church, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the policies of Henry’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell.  Although no charges were brought against him, Lord Latimer’s reputation was tarnished. Catherine’s strong reaction against the uprising strengthened her belief in the reformed Church of England. Lord Latimer’s health began to go quickly downhill in 1542 and Catherine served as a good nurse to her ailing husband. He died in 1543 after a nine-year childless marriage to Catherine.

Catherine used her friendship with the late Catherine of Aragon to renew her friendship with Catherine’s daughter Mary (later Queen Mary I), and obtained a place in Mary’s household. A widow for the second time, 31-year-old Catherine fell in love with Thomas Seymour, brother of Henry VIII’s late third wife Jane Seymour, and the two hoped to marry. However, Henry VIII began to show an interest in Catherine and she felt it was her duty to choose Henry’s proposal of marriage over Thomas Seymour’s. Seymour was appointed an ambassador to the Netherlands to get him out of England.

King Henry VIII in 1542; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine and King Henry VIII were married on July 12, 1543, at Hampton Court Palace. King Henry VIII now required a nurse rather than a wife. He had become obese and needed to be moved around with the help of mechanical devices. He was covered with painful, pus-filled boils and probably suffered from gout. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced from the jousting accident in 1536, in which he suffered a leg wound that never healed. The jousting accident is believed to have caused Henry’s mood swings, which may have had a dramatic effect on his personality and temperament. Catherine proved to be a good nurse to Henry and a kind stepmother to his three children. She was influential in Henry’s passing of the Third Succession Act in 1543 which restored both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession to the throne.

Catherine’s religious views were reform Protestant, in the sense of the definition of the word Protestant today. Her religious views incited a pro-Catholic/anti-Reform Protestant faction led by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Thomas Wriothesley, Lord Chancellor, to bring a charge of heresy against her in 1546. Catherine found out about this and eloquently pleaded her case successfully to Henry.

After Henry’s death in 1547, Catherine finally married Thomas Seymour, the uncle of King Edward VI. Catherine invited Elizabeth, King Henry VIII’s younger daughter, and her cousin Lady Jane Grey, to stay in the couple’s household at Sudeley Castle, located in the Cotswolds near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. In early 1548, Catherine became pregnant, which was quite a surprise because she had failed to become pregnant during her first two marriages. During this time, Seymour began to take an interest in Elizabeth. Seymour had reportedly plotted to marry Elizabeth before marrying Catherine, and it was reported later that Catherine discovered the two in an embrace. Kat Ashley, Elizabeth’s governess later testified that not only did Catherine not mind the episodes of horseplay but that she actually assisted her husband. Whatever actually happened, Elizabeth was sent away from Sudeley Castle in May 1548 and never saw her beloved stepmother again.

Thomas Seymour; Credit – Wikipedia

In August 1548, Catherine and Seymour had a daughter, but tragically Catherine died on September 5, 1548, of puerperal fever (childbed fever). Her daughter Mary Seymour appears to have died young. Six months after Catherine’s death, Thomas Seymour was beheaded for treason. Catherine was buried in the chapel at Sudeley Castle. Lady Jane Grey, who lived with Catherine until her death, was the chief mourner at her funeral. Catherine’s grave was discovered in 1728 after the castle and the chapel had been left in ruins by the English Civil War. She was later re-interred by the Rector of Sudeley in 1817 and an elaborate tomb was built in her honor.

Tomb of Catherine Parr; Credit – Wikipedia

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by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine Howard was the fifth of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England and the second of his two beheaded wives. She was born around 1523, the fifth of the six children of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpepper.  Catherine’s father, Lord Edmund Howard, was the third son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.  Edmund’s eldest brother was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, a prominent Tudor politician, and one of his younger sisters was Elizabeth Howard, mother of King Henry VIII’s other beheaded wife, Anne Boleyn.  Therefore, Catherine and Anne were first cousins.

Catherine had five half-siblings from her mother’s first marriage to Ralph Leigh:

• Isabel Leigh, (c. 1495 – 1573) married (1) Sir Edward Baynton, had issue (2) James Stumpe, (3) Thomas Stafford
• Margaret Leigh (born after 1496), married a husband surnamed Rice
• Joyce Leigh, (born after 1496) married John Stanney
• Sir John Leigh (born after 1496, died 1566), married Margaret Saunders
• Ralph Leigh (born after 1496, died before 1563), married Margaret Ireland, had issue

Catherine had five full siblings:

• Margaret Howard (circa 1515 – 1572), married Sir Thomas Arundell of Wardour Castle, had issue
• Henry Howard
• Mary Howard, who married Edmund Trafford
• Sir George Howard (circa 1525 – 1580)
• Sir Charles Howard

Catherine’s mother died when she was a young child, and she was sent off with some siblings to be raised by her step-grandmother Agnes Howard (née Tilney), Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. It was common for aristocratic children to be raised in other aristocratic households, but it appears that the supervision in the Dowager Duchess’ household was quite lax. Catherine and the Dowager Duchess’ other wards were often left to their own devices and the care of servants. Apparently, young Catherine had an affair with the music master Henry Manox and then with Francis Dereham, a secretary of the Dowager Duchess. The Dowager Duchess eventually found out about Catherine and Dereham. Dereham was sent away to Ireland but it is possible that they had intentions to marry upon his return from Ireland, agreeing to a pre-contract of marriage.

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine’s uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, also the uncle of Anne Boleyn and as Lord High Steward, had presided at Anne’s trial, found a position for Catherine at court. Through the influence of Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s chief minister, Henry had married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.  Henry immediately disliked Anne of Cleves and the marriage was never consummated. Catherine became one of Anne’s maids-of-honor, and immediately caught Henry’s attention. Catherine was well aware of Henry’s interest in her and aided by his extreme distaste for Anne, set out to captivate the king. Catherine’s uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, saw this as an opportunity to regain the influence they had before the disastrous fall of Anne Boleyn. Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled on July 9, 1540. Thomas Cromwell, the scapegoat for the failed marriage to Anne of Cleves, was arrested on June 10, 1540, under a bill of attainder and executed for treason and heresy on Tower Hill on July 28, 1540. Henry secretly married Catherine Howard that same day at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, England.

King Henry VIII in the early 1540s; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry called his teenage bride his “rose without a thorn.” He was delighted with her and gave her the lands of the executed Cromwell and showered her with jewelry. Catherine adopted the motto  Non autre volonte que la sienne (No other will but his), which would soon prove quite ironic.

In 1540, Thomas Culpeper, a Gentleman to the King’s Privy Chamber, caught Catherine’s attention.  By 1541, they were spending time together, often alone and late at night, aided and abetted by Catherine’s lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, the widow of George Boleyn, who had been accused, convicted, and executed for adultery with his sister Anne Boleyn. The affair would cause the downfall of all involved.

Catherine also employed her previous lover Francis Dereham, first as her Private Secretary and then as a Gentleman Usher of the Queen’s Chamber. Dereham’s bragging about being Catherine’s former lover was brought to the attention of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who brought evidence of Catherine’s previous affair with Dereham to the king’s attention. Though Henry originally refused to believe the allegations, Dereham confessed. It took another meeting of the council, however, before Henry believed the accusations against Dereham and went into a rage, blaming the council before consoling himself in hunting. When questioned, Catherine could have admitted a prior contract to marry Dereham, which would have made her subsequent marriage to Henry invalid, but she instead claimed that Dereham had forced her to enter into an adulterous relationship. Dereham, meanwhile, exposed Catherine’s relationship with Thomas Culpeper.

On November 1, 1541, Catherine was imprisoned at Syon House.  She had been brought there from Hampton Court Palace after running through the palace, shrieking denials of her guilt, unsuccessfully trying to get to Henry as he was at prayer in the Chapel Royal. The gallery through which she ran through is known as the Haunted Gallery and her ghost is reputedly said to haunt it.

On December 1, 1541, Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpeper were executed at Tyburn, the principal place of execution of London criminals and convicted traitors. Both men were to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.  However, Henry VIII had mercy on his Gentleman to the King’s Privy Chamber and commuted Thomas Culpeper’s execution to a beheading. Francis Dereham was not as lucky and was hanged, drawn, and quartered. Both their heads were placed on spikes on top of London Bridge.

Site of the scaffold on Tower Green; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine was brought to the Tower of London on February 10, 1542, by barge, passing under London Bridge where Dereham and Culpepper’s heads were displayed and remained displayed until 1546. Her execution by beheading was to take place on February 13, 1542, at 7:00 AM. The night before her execution, Catherine is believed to have practiced how to lay her head upon the block, which had been brought to her at her request. Catherine was beheaded with one stroke on Tower Green within the Tower of London.   Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, was executed immediately afterward. Catherine Howard was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London.

Catherine Howard’s memorial on the floor of the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula; Credit – findagrave.com

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by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Anne of Cleves was the fourth of King Henry VIII of England‘s six wives and is often considered the most fortunate of Henry’s wives. Born on September 22, 1515, in Düsseldorf in the Duchy of Berg, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, she was the second of the four children of Johann, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark and Maria of Jülich-Berg, daughter of Duke William IV of Jülich-Berg, who became heiress to her father’s estates Jülich, Berg and Ravensberg.

Anne had three siblings:

• Sybille of Cleves (1512 – 1554), married Johann Friedrich, Elector of Saxony, had issue
• William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1516 – 1592), married Maria, Archduchess of Austria, had issue
• Amalia of Cleves (1517 – 1586), unmarried

Anne grew up in Schloss Burg in Solingen, Duchy of Berg, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and received a very limited education that focused on embroidery and sewing, and not on learning foreign languages (she could read and write only in German), singing, or playing a musical instrument. At the age of ten, Anne was betrothed to Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, but the betrothal was later canceled.

Schloss Burg, Anne’s childhood home; Credit – Wikipedia

Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII of England, had died in 1537 due to childbirth complications, after giving birth to Henry’s long-awaited son, the future King Edward VI. The search for a fourth wife began shortly thereafter, with Henry’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, taking the lead. Cromwell wanted an alliance with a European royal house, so all English ambassadors were instructed to look for possible brides.

In 1538, it was suggested that Henry marry a daughter of Johann, Duke of Cleves, who was a powerful supporter of the Protestant Reformation. Henry requested a portrait of Anne, the elder of the two unmarried daughters and so Hans Holbein, Henry’s court painted was dispatched to Cleves. Holbein used his artistic license and painted what he saw as an artist: a delicate girl in her twenties, quiet and content wearing the unflattering headdress fashionable in Cleves. He did not show her strong frame or her pock-marked skin. Henry was delighted with the portrait and Anne’s brother William, who had succeeded his father in 1539, sent an emissary to England to negotiate the marriage contract.

Anne arrived in Deal, England on December 27, 1539, and then she proceeded to Rochester on New Year’s Day. Henry was so eager to see Anne, that he went to Rochester incognito. Henry was terribly disappointed by his new bride. He found Anne humorless and boring. She looked unimpressive in her German costume, acted shy, and did not speak English. Henry postponed the wedding for two days and regretted that he could not withdraw from the marriage contract. Reluctantly, Henry married Anne on January 6, 1540, at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, England.

Thomas Cromwell hoped that the wedding night would bring the couple closer together, but the marriage was never consummated, and it was said that the couple spent the night playing cards. Henry told Cromwell, “I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse.” Anne told Eleanor Manners, Countess of Rutland, one of her ladies-in-waiting, “When he comes to bed he kisseth me, and he taketh me by the hand, and biddeth me ‘Good night, sweetheart’; and in the morning kisseth me and biddeth ‘Farewell, darling.'” Lady Rutland responded, “Madam, there must be more than this, or it will be long ere we have a duke of York, which all this realm most desireth.” Meanwhile, Henry was showing an interest in one of Anne’s maids-of-honor, Catherine Howard, who would become his fifth wife.

On June 24, 1540, Anne was sent to Richmond Palace for “her health, open air and pleasure” and on July 6, 1540, she was informed that Henry wanted to end the marriage and Anne agreed to an annulment which was finalized on July 9, 1540, on the grounds of non-consummation and Anne’s pre-contract to Francis of Lorraine. Thomas Cromwell, the scapegoat for the failed marriage, was arrested on June 10, 1540, under a bill of attainder and executed for treason and heresy on Tower Hill on July 28, 1540. Henry married Catherine Howard that same day and later regretted having Cromwell executed.

Although Anne’s mother and brother wanted her to return home, she remained in England. Henry gave her a generous settlement and the use of Richmond Palace and Hever Castle. Anne was frequently at court, had a cordial relationship with Henry and his children, and was referred to as “the King’s Beloved Sister.” Anne of Cleves survived Henry and all his wives. Her last public appearance was at the coronation of her stepdaughter Queen Mary I. As the third lady in the land, she rode behind the new queen beside Mary’s sister Elizabeth.

In the spring of 1557, Anne became ill and died at the age of 41 on July 16, 1557, at Chelsea Manor, probably from cancer. Anne was buried with pomp and ceremony at Westminster Abbey on the south side of the altar. Her plain marble tomb has since been used for regalia and plate display at coronations and royal weddings.

Tomb of Anne of Cleves; Credit – Westminster Abbey

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by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Anne Boleyn was the second of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and one of Henry VIII’s two beheaded wives.  The date and place of Anne’s birth are uncertain. She was born sometime between 1501 – 1507 at either Blicking Hall in Norfolk or Hever Castle in Kent. Anne’s father was Thomas Boleyn (later 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford), a diplomat for King Henry VII and King Henry VIII. He was descended from Eustace II, Count of Boulogne who fought for William the Conqueror during the Battle of Hastings. “Boulogne” eventually was anglicized to “Boleyn.” Anne’s mother was Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.  Elizabeth’s eldest brother was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, a prominent Tudor politician, and one of her other brothers was Lord Edmund Howard, the father of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s fifth wife, his other beheaded wife. Through her mother, Anne was a descendant of King Edward I of England.

Anne had two siblings who survived childhood:

• Mary Boleyn (c. 1499 – 1543), mistress of King Henry VIII of England, married (1) William Carey, issue may be Carey’s or Henry VIII’s;   (2) Sir William Stafford, possible issue
• George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 1536), married Jane Parker, no issue; George was executed as one of Anne’s supposed lovers and his wife Jane was executed with Catherine Howard

Mary Boleyn; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1512, Anne’s father was appointed an ambassador to the court of Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands in Brussels, and he was accompanied by his three children. While in Brussels, Anne served as a maid of honor to Margaret of Austria. She then joined her sister Mary at the French court as a maid of honor to Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, who had married King Louis XII of France. When Mary Tudor returned to England after King Louis XII died, Anne stayed on at the French court, serving as a maid of honor to Queen Claude, the daughter of King Louis XII and the wife of his successor King François I. Anne returned to England in 1522 and was appointed a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII’s first wife.

Anne was lively and vivacious and soon attracted admirers at the English court including King Henry VIII. Henry’s only surviving child with his wife Catherine of Aragon was a daughter. Henry was desperate for a male heir and thought that Anne could give him one. Anne refused to become Henry’s mistress as her sister Mary had. However, she continued to flirt with him and entered into an amorous correspondence with him. Meanwhile, Henry set into action the machinations that would annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When Henry secretly married Anne on January 25, 1533, at the Palace of Westminster, she was already pregnant with her first child. On May 25, 1533, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury declared Henry and Catherine’s marriage null and void and five days later, he declared Henry and Anne’s marriage valid.

There was a rush for Anne to be crowned as she was pregnant and there was some question about whether the child had been conceived before or after the marriage ceremony. Anne was quite unpopular and Henry VIII wanted to cement her status. Anne was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 1, 1533.

Anne was pregnant three times, but only gave birth to one live child:

• Elizabeth I, Queen of England (September 7, 1533 – March 24, 1603), unmarried, no issue
• Stillborn son (August/September 1534)
• Miscarried son (January 29, 1536)

When Anne gave birth to her first child, a daughter Elizabeth, Henry was greatly disappointed and did not even attend Elizabeth’s christening. Anne soon found herself supplanted as she had done to Catherine of Aragon. Jane Seymour, one of her maids of honor, and eventually Henry’s third wife, attracted Henry’s attention starting in 1534. By late 1535, Anne was pregnant again. However, during a tournament in January 1536, Henry fell from his horse and was unconscious for hours. The stress resulted in premature labor, and Anne miscarried a son.

The loss of this son sealed Anne’s fate. Henry was determined to be rid of her, and her fall and execution were engineered by Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s chief minister. Many historians believe that the case charging Anne with adultery with her brother George Boleyn and four other men (Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton, and Mark Smeaton) was completely fabricated. Anne was arrested on May 2, 1536, and taken to the Tower of London. On May 14, 1536, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury declared her marriage to Henry was null and void. Her trial, presided over by her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, occurred at the Tower on May 15, 1536, and she was found guilty of adultery, incest, and high treason. On May 18, 1536, Anne’s brother and the four other men were executed. Anne’s execution was scheduled for May 19, 1536, on Tower Green. Henry arranged for an expert swordsman from Calais, France who used a sword rather than an ax. Before her execution, Anne made a speech to the crowd:

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

After saying goodbye to her ladies, Anne knelt down and a blindfold was tied over her eyes. Anne remained in an upright kneeling position and kept repeating, “Jesu receive my soul; O Lord God have pity on my soul.” With one stroke of the executioner’s sword, Anne was dead. Her body was placed in an oak chest and she was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula at the Tower of London. In 1876, Anne’s remains were identified during renovation work and her grave is now marked by a plaque on the chapel floor.

Plaque marking Anne Boleyn’s grave; Credit – Wikipedia

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by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth of York holds a unique position in British royal history. She was the daughter of King Edward IV, the sister of King Edward V, the niece of King Richard III, the wife of King Henry VII, the mother of King Henry VIII, and the grandmother of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. Her great-granddaughter was Mary, Queen of Scots whose son, King James VI of Scotland, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I as King James I of England. Through this line, the British royal family and other European royal families can trace their descent from Elizabeth of York.

Born on February 11, 1466, at the Palace of Westminster, Elizabeth of York was the eldest child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Edward IV was the eldest surviving son of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York who had a strong claim to the English throne. The social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years’ War, combined with the mental disability and weak rule of the Lancastrian King Henry VI had revived interest in the claim of Richard, 3rd Duke of York. Hence, the Wars of the Roses were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the House of Lancaster and the House of York between 1455 and 1487. Richard, 3rd Duke of York was killed on December 30, 1460, at the Battle of Wakefield and his son Edward was then the leader of the House of York. After winning a decisive victory on March 2, 1461, at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, 19-year-old Edward proclaimed himself king. In 1464, King Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville and their first child, Elizabeth, was born two years later.

Elizabeth was christened at Westminster Abbey in a solemn ceremony. Her godparents were:

• Jacquetta of Luxembourg, her maternal grandmother
• Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, her paternal grandmother
• Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, her father’s first cousin

Elizabeth had nine siblings:

• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried
• Cecily of York (1469 – 1507); married (1) Ralph Scrope of Upsall, no issue, marriage annulled; (2) John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, had issue, died young; (3) Sir Thomas Kyme, possible issue
• King Edward V of England (1470 – c. 1483); briefly succeeded his father, as King Edward V of England, was the elder of the Princes in the Tower
• Margaret of York (born and died 1472)
• Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (1473 – c. 1483), was the younger of the Princes in the Tower
• Anne of York (1475 – 1511); married Thomas Howard (later 3rd Duke of Norfolk and uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s beheaded wives), had no surviving issue
• George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (1477 – 1479)
• Catherine of York (1479 – 1527); married William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, had issue
• Bridget of York (1480 – 1517); became a nun

Elizabeth had two half-brothers from her mother’s first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby who was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans:

• Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1455 – 1501), married (1) Anne Holland, no children; (2) Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington and 2nd Baroness Bonville, had 14 children; Thomas and Cecily are the great-grandparents of Lady Jane Grey
• Sir Richard Grey (1457 – 1483), unmarried, executed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (future King Richard III)

In October 1470, thanks to Elizabeth’s godfather Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick switching from the Yorkist faction to the Lancastrian faction, Henry VI was restored to the throne. Edward IV and his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) fled to Flanders, part of Burgundy, where their sister Margaret of York lived with her husband Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.  Four-year-old Elizabeth went into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey with her pregnant mother and her younger sisters Mary and Cecily. While in sanctuary, Elizabeth’s brother Edward (the future Edward V) was born. By April 1471, Elizabeth’s father was back on the throne, and a month later King Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London.

By the time of the early death in 1483 of King Edward IV at the age of 40, Elizabeth had been promised in marriage to George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford and the future King Charles VIII of France, but nothing came of either promise. When King Edward IV died and his twelve-year-old son succeeded him as King Edward V, Edward IV’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was named Lord Protector of his young nephew and moved to keep the Woodvilles, the family of Edward IV’s widow Elizabeth Woodville, from exercising power. The widowed queen sought to gain political power for her family by appointing family members to key positions and rushing the coronation of her young son. The new king was being accompanied to London by his maternal uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and his half-brother Sir Richard Grey. Rivers and Grey were accused of planning to assassinate Richard, were arrested, and taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were later executed without trial. Richard then proceeded with the new king to London where Edward V was presented to the Lord Mayor of London. For their safety, King Edward V and his nine-year-old brother Richard, Duke of York were sent to the Tower of London and never seen again.

On June 22, 1483, a sermon was preached at St. Paul’s Cross in London declaring Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville invalid and his children illegitimate. This information apparently came from Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who claimed a legal pre-contract of marriage to Eleanor Butler, invalidated the king’s later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The citizens of London presented Richard a petition urging him to assume the throne, and he was proclaimed king on June 26, 1483. King Richard III and his wife Anne were crowned in Westminster Abbey on July 6, 1483, and their son was created Prince of Wales. In January of 1484, Parliament issued the Titulus Regius, a statute proclaiming Richard the rightful king. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth’s mother and Margaret Beaufort, the mother of the Lancastrian leader Henry Tudor still in exile in Brittany, made a secret agreement that their children should marry.

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 married on January 18, 1486, at the Palace of Westminster. Henry 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.

The Tudor Rose; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Children of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York:

• Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486 – 1502), married Catherine of Aragon, no issue
• Margaret Tudor (1489 – 1541), married (1) James IV, King of Scots, had issue including King James V of Scotland; (2) Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, had issue; (3) Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven, no surviving issue; Margaret was the grandmother of both Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the parents of King James I of England
• Henry VIII, King of England (1491 – 1547), married (1) Catherine of Aragon, had daughter Queen Mary I of England; (2) Anne Boleyn, had daughter Queen Elizabeth I of England; (3) Jane Seymour, had son King Edward VI of England; (4) Anne of Cleves, no issue; (5) Catherine Howard, no issue; (6) Catherine Parr, no issue
• Elizabeth Tudor (1492 – 1495)
• Mary Tudor (1496 – 1533), married (1) Louis XII, King of France, no issue; (2) Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, had issue, grandparents of Lady Jane Grey
• Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset (1499 – 1500)
• Katherine Tudor (born and died February 1503) her mother, Elizabeth of York, died as a result of Katherine’s birth

Henry VII’s family: At left, Henry VII, with Arthur, Prince of Wales behind him, then Henry (later Henry VIII), and Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Margaret, then Elizabeth who didn’t survive childhood, Mary, and Katherine, who died shortly after her birth; Credit – Wikipedia

Unlike her mother Elizabeth Woodville and her mother-in-law Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth had no political ambitions and played her role as wife and mother. Many historians believe that Elizabeth was overshadowed by her dominant mother-in-law (who outlived both her son and daughter-in-law). Nevertheless, Elizabeth was a very popular queen, and having numerous children with whom she secured the new Tudor dynasty made her even more popular.

Her firstborn son was born in Winchester, then identified as the site of Camelot, and named Arthur after the legendary king. In 1501, Arthur married Catherine of Aragon, the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Five months later, 15-year-old Arthur was dead, probably of sweating sickness, and his parents were devastated. Elizabeth comforted her husband who was not only in mourning for his son, but also in fear for his dynasty by saying, “Your mother never had more children than you, but God in His grace, always sheltered you and brought to where you are now. God has left you a handsome prince and two beautiful princesses. We both are still young and can have more children.”

Arthur, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly after Arthur’s death, Elizabeth became pregnant again and hoped for a son. She spent that year preparing her daughter Margaret, who was to marry King James IV of Scotland, for her role as Queen of Scotland. In early 1503, Elizabeth spent her confinement at the Tower of London. On February 2, 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine. Shortly after giving birth, Elizabeth became ill with puerperal fever (childbed fever) and died on February 11, 1503, her 37th birthday. Henry VII was so shaken by her death that he went into seclusion and would only see his mother. Little Katherine died on February 18, 1503.

In 2012, an illuminated manuscript (see below) that was once the property of Henry VII was discovered in the National Library of Wales. King Henry VII is shown in mourning clothes, receiving the book containing the manuscript. In the background, behind their father, are his daughters, Mary and Margaret, in black veils. On the top left, an 11-year-old future King Henry VIII is shown weeping into the sheets of his mother’s empty bed.

Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth received a dignified state funeral in Westminster Abbey in the presence of her sisters. On her coffin was a wooden effigy, modeled on Elizabeth, wearing the insignia of the queen. The funeral procession was led by her sister Catherine of York. All of London mourned the popular queen. In the Cheapside section of London, groups of 37 young women, representing the 37 years of Elizabeth’s life, with green wreaths in their hair and candles in their hands paraded through the streets. Candles lit in Elizabeth’s memory were burning in all the churches. Thomas More, who was a 25-year-old lawyer at the time and would later be beheaded during the reign of Elizabeth’s son Henry VIII, wrote an elegy in honor of the late Queen, “A Rueful Lamentation.”  Each February 11, King Henry VII decreed that a requiem mass be sung, bells be tolled, and 100 candles be lit in honor of Elizabeth of York.

Elizabeth’s painted wood funeral effigy, 1503 in Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

King Henry VII died at Richmond Palace on April 21, 1509, at the age of 52. He lies buried with his wife Elizabeth in a tomb created by Italian artist Pietro Torrigiano in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

Tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York; Credit – englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com

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