When Edward IV died in April 1483, he was survived by two sons and five daughters. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, would become Henry VII’s queen, his sons would disappear during Richard III’s reign, his daughters Cecily, Anne, and Katherine would marry, and his youngest daughter, Bridget, would become a nun. But what of the often-forgotten […]
The Children Who Predeceased Edward IV Read More »
I’ve been busy this week working on my nonfiction book about the Woodville family (perhaps you might have noticed a Woodville tinge to my posts here and on Facebook lately?). Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy seeing some images (available on Wikicommons) from the Romance of Alexander, Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 264. The book is a life
A Woodville Goes Book Shopping: The Romance of Alexander Read More »
Nearly every biography of Elizabeth Woodville gives her birth date as being some time in 1437, the same year her parents, Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford and her husband Sir Richard Woodville, were pardoned for their secret marriage. But where does the 1437 birthdate come from? From only one source–this portrait. The portrait in question is
When Was Elizabeth Woodville Born? Read More »
Yes, Cosmopolitan did publish during the Wars of the Roses!
The Cosmo Woodville Girl Read More »
It’s stated as fact in the Wikipedia article on Margaret of Anjou, and elsewhere, that Elizabeth Woodville served as a lady-in-waiting to Margaret of Anjou. Fact or fiction? Unfortunately, the answer is uncertain. The assertion that Elizabeth was one of Margaret’s ladies comes from Tudor sources. Sir Thomas More in his History of King Richard
Was Elizabeth Woodville one of Margaret of Anjou’s Ladies? Read More »
A very silly nonfiction book featuring Lady Jane Grey (among other things, it has her waltzing, playing the pianoforte, and being made to wear “hunting outfits . . . similar to those of jockeys”) put me in mind of this equally silly “journal” of Elizabeth Woodville. This is not my invention, but was presented in
Elizabeth Woodville’s Purported "Journal." Read More »
Last night as I was going to bed, it occurred to me that I have never done a blog post about the last will of Elizabeth Woodville. So here it is! Elizabeth died at Bermondsey Abbey on June 8, 1492, aged about 55. By this time, all of her eleven brothers and sisters were dead
The Will of Elizabeth Woodville Read More »
Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, brother of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was executed on orders of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, soon to be Richard III, at Pontefract Castle on June 25, 1483, having made his will at Sheriff Hutton Castle on June 23, 1483. The will is printed in Excerpta Historica, or, Illustrations of English History (Samuel
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While updating my website this morning, I added the myth that Elizabeth Woodville concealed Edward IV’s death from Richard, Duke of Gloucester to the Myths About Elizabeth Woodville page. It’s a revised version of a blog post I did some time ago, but as some new readers have come to my blog since then (and
Another Woodville Myth Read More »
Of all the stories that have circulated about the Woodville family, surely one of the most damning, and one of the most beloved by the Woodvilles’ modern-day detractors, is the story that Elizabeth Woodville, her son Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and her brother Edward helped themselves to the royal treasury after Edward IV died.
Did the Woodvilles Raid the Treasury? Read More »
