Elizabeth Woodville

The Unfortunate Countess: Margaret Pole

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At Farleigh Castle on the 14th of August 1473, a daughter was born to the Duke and Duchess of Clarence. They called her Margaret, most likely after the Duke's sister's Margaret of Burgundy. Margaret was born during the brutal and bloody time of the Wars of the Rose - a powerful family divided by the House of York and House of Lancaster, and each believed the throne of England belonged to them. Margaret Plantagenet was born in the middle of this English chaos. At the time of [More]

Elizabeth of York: Life of a Tudor Queen (Guest Post)

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Guest article by Lindsey Wolf The day was February 11, 1503. The bells of Saint Paul’s Cathedral tolled while London’s wearied masses collected in assured astonishment of the news. The Queen was dead. Queen Elizabeth of York had been introduced to the realm 37 years to the day of her death in an England much different from the one she left. She was the first child of King Edward IV and her namesake, Elizabeth Woodville. Born amidst the turmoil of the dynastic wars; h [More]

Most Influential Tudor Women: Margaret Beaufort

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On my Facebook page called, Tudors Dynasty, I asked my followers who they believed to be the most influential women of the Tudor era. It is because of this poll that I decided to turn this into a series of episodes about some amazing Tudor women. Before I start, let's understand what influential truly means. The Definition of Influential is: having great influence on someone or something. Now that we know the definition of the word, does that change our ideas about [More]

The Enigmatic Elizabeth Woodville (Guest Post)

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The Enigmatic Elizabeth Woodville By Samantha Wilcoxson for Tudors Dynasty What did Elizabeth know? We love to use the actions of Elizabeth Woodville to support any argument regarding the events of 1483, assuming that she had greater knowledge than we possess and that her actions would be the same as ours in light of it. She went into sanctuary because she knew Richard was a ruthless killer....she left because she knew he was not. She betrothed her daughter to Henry Tudor [More]

Portraits of a Queen: Elizabeth of York

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Portraits of a Queen: Elizabeth of York Elizabeth Plantagenet was the oldest child and daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville (Wydville). She was considered very beautiful and had been promised in marriage a few times before her mother and Margaret Beaufort arranged her marriage with Henry Tudor. The marriage would inevitably end the Wars of the Roses and bring together the House of York and Lancaster. As queen consort, Elizabeth brought forth one of the most [More]

The Life and Love of the Pretender

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During the reign of King Henry VII, the "Pretender," Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the second son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. At the time it was very significant for Warbeck to come forward as the Duke of York because there were still many Yorkist supporters -- Henry VII had only reigned for a short time and some noblemen and subjects alike had hoped for a York resurrection. If he were indeed the son of the late King Edward IV the throne of [More]

Queens: The Three Elizabeths

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From 1461 to 1603 there were three Elizabeths with the title of Queen - granted two were Queen consorts and one was Queen regnant, but regardless, for the sake of this post they were all queens. Queen Elizabeth Woodville (c. 1437 - 1492) - the consort of King Edward IV Queen Elizabeth of York (1466 - 1503) - the consort of King Henry VII Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) - Queen regnant of England The first Elizabeth, Elizabeth Woodville, was a commone [More]

3rd Duke of Buckingham: Victim of Hearsay

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Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was born 3 February 1478, at Brecon Castle in Wales to Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Lady Katherine Woodville. Katherine Woodville was sister to Elizabeth Woodville who became Queen of England after secretly marrying Edward IV.   Edward Stafford had a viable claim to the throne through his paternal grandfather, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who was the son of Anne of Gloucester, daught [More]

Henry VII and the Princes in the Tower

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In 1483 Edward V and Richard, Duke of York disappeared from the Tower of London. They were the sons of the late Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Edward V was born 2 November 1470 in Westminster Abbey where his mother had taken sanctuary from the Lancastrians who had deposed his father during the Wars of the Roses. His brother, Richard was born 17 August 1473 in Shrewsbury, England when Edward IV ruled over England once again. Shortly before his sudden dea [More]

The Legacy of the House of York

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Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was the great-grandson of Edward III. He was next in line to the throne of Henry VI and often stepped in and ruled when Henry VI was incapacitated. Things would not turn out well for Richard, Duke of York and his son Edmund, Earl of Rutland - they were killed in the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. With the welfare of Henry VI still an issue, Richard's eldest son Edward, Earl of March, who had inherited the title Duke of York after h [More]

Never Before Seen Portrait of Elizabeth Woodville

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Elizabeth Woodville is my favorite queen. I'll be honest, I didn't know anything about her until I read Philippa Gregory's book, The White Queen. There is a lot we don't know about Elizabeth and Edward's relationship but I like to think of it as a fairy tale amongst a nightmare of a warring country. Elizabeth was always described as a beautiful woman, as was her daughter, Elizabeth of York. The first image below is one that I found through the National Portrait Gallery and [More]