by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The five eldest surviving daughters of King Edward IV, left to right: Elizabeth, Cecily, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. This stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral was made by order of King Edward IV; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on August 14, 1479, at Eltham Palace in Greenwich, England, Catherine of York, Countess of Devon was the ninth of the ten children and the sixth of the seven daughters of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. Anne’s paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

Catherine’s father King Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine’s father King 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, and so 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.

Catherine’s mother Elizabeth Woodville; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine had nine siblings:

• Elizabeth of York (1466 – 1503), married King Henry VII of England, had seven children including King Henry VIII of England, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France
• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried, died in her teens
• Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles (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 – circa 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 – circa 1483), was the younger of the Princes in the Tower
• Anne of York, Lady Howard (1475 – circa 1511 – 1513), married Lord Thomas Howard, the future 3rd Duke of Norfolk, had four children but none survived childhood
• George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (1477 – 1479), died in childhood probably from the bubonic plague
• Bridget of York (1480 – 1517), became a nun

Catherine had two half-brothers from her mother’s first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby:

• 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)

Being the daughter of the King of England, Catherine was a desirable royal bride. Before she was even one month old, a preliminary marriage agreement was arranged. Catherine was to marry Juan of Aragon, Prince of Asturias, the eldest son and heir of both Ferdinand II, King of Aragon, King of Castile and León and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. However, when Catherine’s father suddenly died, the marriage negotiations were terminated.

A late-16th/early 17th-century image of Catherine’s brother King Edward V of England, one of the missing Princes in the Tower; Credit – Wikipedia

When Catherine was not quite four-years-old, her father King Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, a few weeks before his 41st birthday. Anne’s twelve-year-old brother succeeded their father as King Edward V, and King 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, Duke of Gloucester, and were arrested, and taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were later executed without trial. Richard, Duke of Gloucester 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 were never seen again. They are the famous Princes in the Tower.

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, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who claimed a legal pre-contract of marriage to Eleanor Butler, had invalidated King Edward IV’s later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The citizens of London presented Richard, Duke of Gloucester with a petition urging him to assume the throne, and he was proclaimed king on June 26, 1483. King Richard III and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey on July 6, 1483, and their son Edward of Middleham was created Prince of Wales. In January 1484, Parliament issued the Titulus Regius, a statute proclaiming Richard the rightful king.

Catherine’s brother-in-law King Henry VII of England; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 22, 1485, Henry Tudor from the House of Lancaster defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. On January 18, 1486, Henry VII married Catherine’s eldest sister Elizabeth of York uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York into the new House of Tudor. Henry VII had Parliament repeal the Titulus Regius, the act that declared King Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thereby legitimizing his wife.

Catherine’s sister Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII and mother of King Henry VIII; Credit – Wikipedia

King Henry VII wanted to establish peace with the Kingdom of Scotland, the northern neighbor of the Kingdom of England. A preliminary marriage agreement was reached in November 1487 with James III, King of Scots. Catherine’s elder sister Cecily was to marry James III’s eldest son, James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the heir to the throne of Scotland, the future James IV, King of Scots. Catherine was to marry James III’s second son James Stewart, Duke of Ross. However, when James III, King of Scots was killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn in June 1488, the marriage negotiations were interrupted and were never resumed.

Catherine’s mother Queen Dowager Elizabeth Woodville died at Bermondsey Abbey in London, England on June 8, 1492, at the age of 55. With the exception of her daughter Queen 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.

When Catherine reached a marriageable age, her sister Queen Elizabeth searched for a husband for her among the British nobility. In October 1495, sixteen-year-old Catherine married twenty-year-old William Courtenay, son and heir of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, a strong supporter of King Henry VII.

Catherine and William’s son Henry Courtenay, 2nd from left, wearing a mantle displaying his arms, detail from a procession of Garter Knights in the Black Book of the Garter, c.1535, Royal Collection, Windsor; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine and William had three children:

• Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter (circa 1496 – 1539, executed) married (1) Elizabeth Grey, 5th Baroness Lisle, 3rd Viscountess Lisle (in her own right), no children (2) Gertrude Blount, had two sons, only Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon survived childhood
• Edward Courtenay (1497 – 1502), died in childhood
• Lady Margaret Courtenay (circa 1499 – circa 1519) married Henry Somerset, Baron Herbert (later, after Margaret’s death, 2nd Earl of Worcester), no children

Since none of Catherine’s brothers survived childhood and her sisters, except for Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII, did not leave surviving descendants recognized by the English crown, Catherine’s children became the only grandchildren of King Edward IV who inherited the dangerous claims to the English throne from the House of York. In 1538, there was a supposed attempt to overthrow King Henry VIII and replace him with Catherine’s son Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister and Courtenay’s political rival, convinced Henry VIII that Courtenay was a part of the supposed plot. It is very likely that Cromwell exaggerated the conspiracy for political purposes. There is no evidence to suggest that Courtenay had the means to or intended to rebel against King Henry VIII. The charges brought against him were based on the correspondence he had with Cardinal Reginald Pole, a Yorkist claimant to the English throne, and the testimony of Reginald’s brother Geoffrey Pole, who was then pardoned of all wrong-doing. Henry Courtenay and his son Edward Courtenay were both arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry was found guilty, was executed, and his titles and lands were forfeited. His son Edward remained imprisoned for fifteen years until the accession of Queen Mary I when she ordered his release.

After her marriage, Catherine remained close to her eldest sister Queen Elizabeth, wife of King Henry VII. She attended the wedding of her eldest nephew Arthur, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon in November 1501, and the betrothal of her eldest niece Margaret Tudor to James IV, King of Scots in January 1502.

In 1502, Edmund de la Pole, the son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth of York, the second surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville and therefore Catherine’s paternal aunt, assumed his former title of Duke of Suffolk and called himself the “White Rose”, a nickname for the pretender to the throne from the House of York. After being a prisoner in the Tower of London for seven years, Edmund de la Pole was beheaded. Catherine’s husband William Courtenay was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London for his supposed but unproven participation in Edmund de la Pole’s conspiracy. William was attainted – deprived of his property and rights to inherit the titles and possessions of his father, as well as the right to transfer them to his children. Catherine’s sister Queen Elizabeth financially supported her and allocated funds for the upbringing and education of Catherine’s children.

On February 2, 1503, Catherine’s eldest sister Queen Elizabeth gave birth to her seventh child, a daughter Katherine. Shortly after giving birth, Elizabeth became ill with puerperal fever (childbed fever) and died on February 11, 1503, her 37th birthday. Little Katherine died on February 18, 1503. Elizabeth’s death was a great loss to Catherine, not only as a sister but as a provider of funds that she and her children needed. Catherine turned to her father-in-law, Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, who provided an allowance for his grandchildren but provided no funds for Catherine. Although there is no documentation, it is thought that Catherine’s nephew, the future King Henry VIII, who had become Prince of Wales and heir to the throne in 1503 upon the death of his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, provided financial assistance to his aunt Catherine.

Catherine’s nephew King Henry VIII in 1509; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1509, Catherine’s brother-in-law King Henry VII died and was succeeded by his son and Catherine’s nephew King Henry VIII. On May 9, 1511, Catherine’s husband William Courtenay was released from the Tower of London by King Henry VIII, the title of Earl of Devon was recreated for him, and the Act of Parliament that prohibited the succession of titles to his children was repealed. King Henry VIII restored some possessions to his aunt and uncle with the right to transfer them by inheritance. William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon enjoyed his restored honors and possessions only for a month. He died at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England on June 9, 1511, aged 36, from pleurisy, and was buried by royal warrant at Blackfriars Church in London, England with honors befitting the rank of an earl.

Tiverton Castle, one of Catherine’s residences and the place where she died; Credit – By Jack1956 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=100201369

Left a widow at the age of thirty-one, Catherine ensured a future life free from marriage by taking a vow of celibacy on July 13, 1511, in the presence of Richard FitzJames, Bishop of London. Her nephew King Henry VIII granted her the right to use for life all the possessions of her late husband in the Earldom of Devon. After the death of her husband, Catherine was rarely at court, preferring to live in Tiverton Castle or Colcombe Castle in Devon, England. One of her few appearances at court was in 1516 for the christening of her great-niece, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, the future Queen Mary I of England, at which Catherine was the godmother.

Catherine of York, Countess of Devon died on November 15, 1527, at Tiverton Castle in Tiverton, Devon, England, aged 48. She was buried in St. Peter’s Church, the local church in Tiverton, England. Catherine’s son had a tomb with an effigy built for his mother but it was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536 – 1541), a  set of administrative and legal processes ironically ordered by her nephew King Henry VIII.  A memorial to Catherine (below) is displayed at St. Peter’s Church.

Memorial to Catherine at St. Peter’s Church in Tiverton, England; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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.

Works Cited

• Catherine of York (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_York (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Куртене, Уильям, 1-й граф девон (2022) Wikipedia (Russian – William Courtenay). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%83%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5,_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC,_1-%D0%B9_%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84_%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BD (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Екатерина Йоркская (2022) Wikipedia (Russian – Catherine of York). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%99%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elizabeth-of-york-queen-of-england/ (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2019) First Cousins: King Henry VIII of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/first-cousins-king-henry-viii-of-england/ (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) King Edward IV of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/ (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Jones, Dan. (2012) The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
• Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
• William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Courtenay,_1st_Earl_of_Devon (Accessed: February 4, 2023).
• Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The five eldest surviving daughters of King Edward IV, left to right: Elizabeth, Cecily, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. This stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral was made by order of King Edward IV; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on November 2, 1475, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England, Anne of York, Lady Howard was the fifth of the seven daughters and the seventh of the ten children of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. Anne’s paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

Anne’s father KIng Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne’s father King 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, and so 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.

Anne’s mother Elizabeth Woodville; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne had nine siblings:

• Elizabeth of York (1466 – 1503), married King Henry VII of England, had seven children including King Henry VIII of England, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France
• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried, died in her teens
• Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles (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 – circa 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 – circa 1483), was the younger of the Princes in the Tower
• George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (1477 – 1479), died in childhood probably from the bubonic plague
• Catherine of York (1479 – 1527), married William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, had two sons and one daughter
• Bridget of York (1480 – 1517), became a nun

Anne had two half-brothers from her mother’s first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby:

• 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 1479, King Edward IV began negotiations with Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, later Holy Roman Emperor, for his daughter Anne to marry Maximilian’s son Philip of Habsburg. Maximilian was married to Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, a very wealthy heiress with vast lands which Philip would inherit. There was also a York family connection: King Edward IV’s sister and Anne’s aunt, Margaret of York, was the stepmother of Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. On August 5, 1480, the marriage negotiations were completed. However, after the unexpected death of King Edward IV, the marriage contract between Anne and Philip of Habsburg was rejected by Philip’s father.

A late-16th/early 17th-century image of Anne’s brother King Edward V of England, one of the missing Princes in the Tower; Credit – Wikipedia

When Anne was seven-years-old, her father King Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, a few weeks before his 41st birthday. Anne’s twelve-year-old brother succeeded their father as King Edward V, and King 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, Duke of Gloucester, and were arrested, and taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were later executed without trial. Richard, Duke of Gloucester 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 were never seen again. They are the famous Princes in the Tower.

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, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who claimed a legal pre-contract of marriage to Eleanor Butler, had invalidated King Edward IV’s later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The citizens of London presented Richard, Duke of Gloucester with a petition urging him to assume the throne, and he was proclaimed king on June 26, 1483. King Richard III and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey on July 6, 1483, and their son Edward of Middleham was created Prince of Wales. In January 1484, Parliament issued the Titulus Regius, a statute proclaiming Richard the rightful king.

Anne’s brother-in-law King Henry VII of England; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 22, 1485, Henry Tudor from the House of Lancaster defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. On January 18, 1486, Henry VII married Anne’s eldest sister Elizabeth of York uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York into the new House of Tudor. Henry VII had Parliament repeal the Titulus Regius, the act that declared King Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thereby legitimizing his wife.

Anne’s sister Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII and mother of King Henry VIII; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne was ten years old when her eldest sister Elizabeth married King Henry VII and along with her other sisters, she came under the supervision of her eldest sister, now Queen Consort of England. Anne participated in court ceremonies including Easter, Pentecost, Christmas celebrations, and other court events. In 1486, she participated in the christening of her nephew Arthur, Prince of Wales by carrying the baptismal veil which covered the head of the prince after the christening. Anne performed the same role at the christening of her niece Margaret Tudor in 1489.

Anne’s mother Queen Dowager Elizabeth Woodville died at Bermondsey Abbey in London, England on June 8, 1492, at the age of 55. With the exception of her daughter Queen 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.

A later portrait of Anne’s husband, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein, circa 1539, depicting Howard as Earl Marshal of England, wearing the Order of the Garter with the St George pendant

When Anne reached a marriageable age, her sister Queen Elizabeth searched for a husband for Anne among the British nobility. King Richard III had planned to marry his niece Anne to Lord Thomas Howard, the eldest son and heir of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Surrey (later 2nd Duke of Norfolk), and so Queen Elizabeth decided upon Thomas Howard. Anne was well acquainted with her future husband since childhood because his father served her father in his private chambers. 19-year-old Anne and 21-year-old Lord Thomas Howard were married at Greenwich Palace on February 4, 1495.

Anne and Thomas had four children but none survived childhood:

• Thomas Howard (circa 1496 – 1508 or 1509)
• Son (died before baptism)
• Daughter (died before baptism)
• Daughter (died before baptism)

On February 2, 1503, Anne’s eldest sister Queen Elizabeth gave birth to her seventh child, a daughter Katherine. Shortly after giving birth, Elizabeth became ill with puerperal fever (childbed fever) and died on February 11, 1503, her 37th birthday. Little Katherine died on February 18, 1503. Anne’s grief at the loss of her sister was so great that she could not bear to attend the entire funeral at Westminster Abbey. Her brother-in-law King Henry VII was so shaken by his wife’s death that he went into seclusion and would only see his mother.

In 1509, Anne’s brother-in-law King Henry VII died and was succeeded by his son and Anne’s nephew King Henry VIII. Anne died after November 22 or 23, 1511, but before 1513, aged 36 – 38. She was originally buried at Thetford Priory in Thetford, Norfolk, England.

In 1513, Anne’s widower Thomas Howard married Lady Elizabeth Stafford, daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Lady Eleanor Percy, daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Thomas and Eleanor had five children. In 1514, Thomas was created Earl of Surrey and when his father died in 1524, Thomas became the 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536 – 1541), when the Catholic abbeys, monasteries, priories, and convents were disbanded (many were destroyed) and their property and assets were confiscated, Anne’s widower Thomas Howard petitioned King Henry VIII to convert Thetford Priory into a parish church because Howard family members including Anne and King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset who had married Lady Mary Howard, a daughter of Thomas Howard by his second wife, were interred there. Other nobles made similar petitions but King Henry VIII refused them all. However, he did allow the Dissolution of the Monasteries to be suspended for a while so that those nobles who wished to rebury the remains of their relatives could do so. Thomas Howard moved the remains of the Howard family members from Thetford Priory to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, England. He ordered an ornate tomb for Anne at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel with the figures of the twelve apostles around the four sides.

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk holds the distinction of being the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s two beheaded wives. Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Thomas’s sister Lady Elizabeth Howard who married Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. Catherine Howard was the daughter of Thomas’s brother Lord Edmund Howard and his first wife Joyce Culpeper. As Lord High Steward, Thomas Howard, 3d Duke of Norfolk presided at the trial that condemned to death his niece Anne Boleyn.

Tomb of Anne of York and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk; Credit – www.findagrave.com

When Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk died on August 25, 1554, aged 81, he was buried with his first wife Anne of York at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, England. However, since Anne was of royal lineage, Thomas was buried to her left instead of on her right as was customary.

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.

Works Cited

• Anne of York (daughter of Edward IV) (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_York_(daughter_of_Edward_IV) (Accessed: January 30, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elizabeth-of-york-queen-of-england/ (Accessed: January 30, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) King Edward IV of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/ (Accessed: January 30, 2023).
• Jones, Dan. (2012) The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
• St. Michael the Archangel’s Church, Framlingham (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael_the_Archangel’s_Church,_Framlingham (Accessed: January 30, 2023).
• Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Howard,_3rd_Duke_of_Norfolk (Accessed: January 30, 2023).
• Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
• Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Stained-glass depiction of Richard, Duke of York in the Royal Window of Canterbury Cathedral, Credit – Wikipedia

Sometimes called Richard of Shrewsbury after his place of birth, Richard, Duke of York has been immortalized as one of the two “Princes in the Tower” who mysteriously disappeared. He was born on August 17, 1473, at the Dominican Friary in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Richard was the sixth of the ten children and the second of the three sons of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. His paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. His maternal grandparents were Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

Richard had nine siblings:

• Elizabeth of York, Queen of England (1466 – 1503), married King Henry VII of England, had seven children
• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried
• Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles (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 – circa 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)
• 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), no surviving children
• 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

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

• 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)

A 19th-century painting portraying the marriage of Richard, Duke of York and Anne Mowbray. In reality, Anne was older than Richard; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 15, 1478, at St. Stephen’s Chapel in the old Palace of Westminster in London, England, four-year-old Richard, Duke of York married a wealthy heiress, five-year-old Anne Mowbray. Anne was the only child of John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk and Lady Elizabeth Talbot. When Anne was three-years-old, her father died, leaving Anne as the last of the Mowbray family. Anne inherited all her father’s estates and became the 8th Countess of Norfolk, 11th Baroness Mowbray, and 12th Baroness Segrave in her own right. She was one of the most eligible potential brides in England. King Edward IV arranged the marriage so he could control the vast possessions of the Mowbray family. However, eight-year-old Anne died circa November 19, 1481, at Greenwich Palace in London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Anna was the last of the Mowbray family, and Richard inherited her possessions but did not survive her for long.

On April 9, 1483, Richard’s father King Edward IV died, several weeks before his 41st birthday. Richard’s twelve-year-old brother became King Edward V of England and nine-year-old Richard was now the heir presumptive to the English throne. 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 group that included his maternal 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. The Duke of Gloucester 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 King Edward V brought to the Tower of London on May 19, 1483, to await his coronation, which never happened. Richard’s widowed mother Elizabeth Woodville and her other children, including nine-year-old Richard, sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, fearing the Duke of Gloucester’s further actions after the executions of her brother and son. Cardinal Thomas Bouchier persuaded Elizabeth to let her second son Richard, Duke of York leave sanctuary and join his lonely older brother at the Tower of London. Richard joined his brother on June 16, 1483.

19th-century painting of King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York at the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche, 1830. Credit – Wikipedia

Richard, Duke of Gloucester was persuaded by an unknown clergyman, probably Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, that King Edward IV’s marriage was invalid because he had previously contracted to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, who was living when the marriage to Elizabeth Woodville took place. If true, this would have 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, Duke of Gloucester to assume the throne, which he agreed to on June 26, 1483, as King Richard III. On July 6, 1483, King Richard III 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.

Richard and his brother, the former King Edward V 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 (Henry Tudor before he became king).

On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III, who was killed in the battle, and became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. Richard Duke of York’s sister Elizabeth of York and Henry VII were 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. 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 ten feet under the staircase leading to the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the White Tower at the Tower of London. 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.

In 1789, workers doing repairs in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle accidentally broke into the vault where Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville were interred. 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 been not granted.

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.

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elizabeth-of-york-queen-of-england/ (Accessed: January 18, 2023).
• Flantzer, S. (2016) King Edward IV of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/ (Accessed: January 18, 2023).
• Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
• Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles, Credit – Wikipedia

Born on March 20, 1469, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England, Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles was the third of the ten children and the third of the seven daughters of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. The birth of Cecily, the third daughter in a row, was a great disappointment to King Edward IV. For the first time, he suggested that he may not have sons and that the crown could pass to his eldest daughter Elizabeth. Cecily’s paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and her namesake Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

Cecily’s father King Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Cecily’s father King 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, and so 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.

Cecily’s mother Elizabeth Woodville; Credit – Wikipedia

Cecily had nine siblings:

• Elizabeth of York (1466 – 1503), married King Henry VII of England, had seven children including King Henry VIII of England, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France
• Mary of York (1467 – 1482), unmarried, died in her teens
• King Edward V of England (1470 – circa 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 – circa 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 children
• George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (1477 – 1479), died in childhood probably from the bubonic plague
• Catherine of York (1479 – 1527), married William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, had two sons and one daughter
• Bridget of York (1480 – 1517), became a nun

Cecily had two half-brothers from her mother’s first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby:

• 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 Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as “The Kingmaker,” switching from the Yorkist faction to the Lancastrian faction, King Henry VI from the House of Lancaster was restored to the throne. King 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 was married to Charles I the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Seven-month-old Cecily went into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in London with her pregnant mother along with her older sisters Elizabeth and Mary. While in sanctuary, Cecily’s brother Edward (the future Edward V) was born. By April 1471, Cecily’s father was back on the throne, and a month later King Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London.

Cecily was probably brought up by Lady Margaret Berners (wife of John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, great-grandson of King Edward III), who was the governess of her elder sisters Elizabeth and Mary. On July 30, 1476, Cecily attended the grand reburial of her paternal grandfather Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his second son and Cecily’s paternal uncle Edmund, Earl of Rutland at the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints in Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, England. Her grandfather and uncle had been killed in 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield, during the Wars of the Roses. Their bodies had been displayed and then unceremoniously buried. Cecily attended the wedding of her four-year-old brother Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York and the five-year-old wealthy heiress Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (1472 – 1481) at St. Stephen’s Chapel in the Palace of Westminster in London, England on January 15, 1478. In May 1480, Cecily and her older sister Mary were created Ladies of the Order of the Garter. Their older sister Elizabeth had been named Lady of the Garter in February 1480.

In 1474, King Edward IV and James III, King of Scots negotiated a treaty and a marriage between five-year-old Cecily and the one-year-old heir to the Scottish throne, James, Duke of Rothesay (later James IV, King of Scots). The formal betrothal took place in Edinburgh, Scotland on October 26 or December 26, 1474, with David Lindsay, 5th Earl of Crawford representing James and John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton representing Cecily. The marriage would occur when they both reached marriageable age.

The treaty and the proposed marriage were very unpopular in Scotland, and even though there was a treaty, there were further military conflicts between Edward IV and James III. Edward IV continued to make payments on the generous dowry until 1482 when he broke off the betrothal to James, Duke of Rothesay and betrothed Cecily to Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany. The Duke of Albany was the younger brother of James III and had laid a claim to the Scottish throne. Edward IV supported the Duke of Albany’s claim providing him with an army and his younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future King Richard III). Richard negotiated a treaty with the merchants of Edinburgh, Scotland to repay the dowry. Edward IV accepted the dowry repayment and officially broke Cecily’s engagement to James, Duke of Rothesay. In 1503, James, Duke of Rothesay, then James IV, King of Scots, married Cecily’s niece Margaret Tudor. King Edward IV died in 1483 and the Duke of Albany lost his main source of power, so the marriage with Cecily never occurred.

Cecily’s brother King Edward V of England, one of the missing Princes in the Tower; Credit – Wikipedia

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 were 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, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who claimed a legal pre-contract of marriage to Eleanor Butler, had invalidated King Edward IV’s later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The citizens of London presented Richard with a petition urging him to assume the throne, and he was proclaimed king on June 26, 1483. King Richard III and his wife Anne Neville were crowned in Westminster Abbey on July 6, 1483, and their son Edward of Middleham was created Prince of Wales. In January 1484, Parliament issued the Titulus Regius, a statute proclaiming Richard the rightful king. In 1485, King Richard III arranged for a marriage for Cecily to someone below her in status to rule out her claim to the throne: Ralph Scrope, the son of Thomas Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Masham.

Cecily’s brother-in-law King Henry VII of England; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 22, 1485, Henry Tudor from the House of Lancaster defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. On January 18, 1486, Henry VII married Cecily’s eldest sister Elizabeth of York uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York into the new House of Tudor. Henry VII had Parliament repeal the Titulus Regius, the act that declared King Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thereby legitimizing his wife. Cecily’s marriage to Ralph Scrope was annulled in 1486 because the marriage was not in the interests of the new Tudor dynasty.

Cecily’s sister Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII and mother of King Henry VIII; Credit – Wikipedia

Sometime between November 25, 1487 and January 1, 1488, Cecily married a nobleman loyal to King Henry VII, John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles (circa 1450 – 1498), the younger half-brother of King Henry VII’s mother Lady Margaret Beaufort. John died of pleurisy on February 9, 1498, and was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, England.

Cecily and John had two daughters Elizabeth and Anne who both died in childhood:

• Elizabeth Welles (circa 1489 – 1498
• Anne Welles (circa 1491 – 1499)

After the death of her husband and daughters, Cecily returned to the court seeking comfort and protection from her older sister Queen Elizabeth. Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, also helped Cecily to protect her rights to her deceased husband’s property which was claimed by his half-sisters. On February 2, 1503, Cecily’s sister Elizabeth 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. Cecily was equally shaken. She lost not only her sister but also a close friend and patroness, on whom she could always count.

Sometime between May 13, 1502 and January 1504, Cecily married Sir Thomas Kyme without the permission of King Henry VII. It is probable that Cecily and Thomas had two children, Richard Kyme and Margaret Kyme. Some sources say that Cecily’s third marriage was childless, perhaps because neither her third marriage nor the children born from the marriage were recognized by King Henry VII.

The ruins of old Quarr Abbey were Cecily was probably buried; By Mypix – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64107857

Cecily died on August 24, 1507, aged 38, but her place of death and burial site are uncertain. Most likely, she died on the Isle of Wight, England was buried at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight. Past historians have said that the memorial marking Cecily’s grave was destroyed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of her nephew King Henry VIII and no description of the memorial survived. However, there is evidence from the account books of Lady Margaret Beaufort, who paid part of Cecily’s funeral expenses, that Cecily died in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England after a three-week stay there, and was buried at a local place, possibly King’s Langley Priory in Kings Langley, England.

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.

Works Cited

• Cecily of York (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecily_of_York (Accessed: January 11, 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elizabeth-of-york-queen-of-england/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).
• Flantzer, S. (2016) King Edward IV of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).
• John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Welles,_1st_Viscount_Welles (Accessed: January 11, 2023).
• Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
• Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.