The main characters of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. Mothers of Kings: Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville during her coronation. Still from the mini-series “The White Queen” (2013), based on the novel “The White Queen” (2009) by Philippa Gregory
“...the beauty of a wife makes her face happy
and most desirable for a husband.” Book of Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach, 36:24
and most desirable for a husband.” Book of Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach, 36:24
History in faces. Today our story will be about the third woman in the history of the Wars of the Roses - Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England and wife of King Edward IV of York.
Elizabeth's mother was a member of the middle English aristocracy: father Richard Woodville, 1st Earl of Rivers, and mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford (by her first marriage). In early childhood and adolescence, her fate was unremarkable, except perhaps that she was early married to John Gray, a supporter of the Lancastrians. John died during the Second Battle of St. Albans in 1461, but before that he managed to reward his wife with two sons.
And then it happened that Elizabeth met with King Edward IV on April 13, 1464 (history has even preserved this date for us). According to legend, she was waiting for Edward in the forest under an oak tree to ask for the return of the estates to her children, which had previously been confiscated by Edward as belonging to a Lancastrian supporter.
Who knows, maybe he really met her in the forest, and after seeing and listening to her, he fell madly in love. Edward was generally partial to the female sex, which was noted by all chroniclers. However, in this case, he desired Elizabeth so much that... he decided to marry her, contrary to all the written and unwritten royal traditions, which command them to marry only out of sober calculation, but not out of love!
Elizabeth Woodville (1437–1492). Portrait by an unknown artist, 1471. King's College, Cambridge
True, all sources emphasize that she was very beautiful (she was even spoken of as the most beautiful woman in Britain!) and, apparently, Edward was captivated by her beauty and subsequently did not regret his choice at all. The people also liked the marriage he made, which was also an important circumstance. After all, he did not marry a foreigner, but his own subject. Moreover, it was Elizabeth who became the first king's wife in England to be crowned queen in Westminster Abbey.
Well, after the marriage, everything went in the best traditions of its time: the king not only forgave all her relatives who had once supported the Lancasters, but also gave land to her brothers, sisters and children. True, at first he married Elizabeth in secret, in the presence of only her mother, two maids and a priest, which was later blamed on both the king and her.
But, having finally gained a foothold on the throne, Edward nevertheless confirmed it and made his wife queen.
"Meeting in the forest." A still from the mini-series “The White Queen” (2013), based on the novel “The White Queen” (2009) by Philippa Gregory. It should be noted that the costumes that this film demonstrates are very good from a historical point of view.
Meanwhile, according to the plan of his cousin and ally Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who received the nickname “kingmaker,” the young king was supposed to marry Princess Bona of Savoy, who had been raised in France from a young age and, in fact, was already a French princess. It is clear that the Earl of Warwick, who was busy with this marriage, was very offended by the king’s marriage to Elizabeth, who came from the family of a small knight on her father’s side, and also a supporter of the Lancastrians.
As a result, he quarreled with Edward, and he simply hated his wife. But the king's marriage was also poorly received by the Privy Council, which frankly informed Edward that "he should know that she was not the wife of a prince like him."
And then the new queen began to strengthen her family ties and became related to many noble families of England. Elizabeth's three sisters were given in marriage to the sons of the earls of Kent, Essex and Pembroke; another sister, Catherine, was married to... Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, only 11 years old. An equally funny and, so to speak, “typical medieval marriage” was concluded between Elizabeth’s brother John and Catherine Neville, Duchess of Norfolk, who was more than 40 years older than her husband. Moreover, she had already been widowed three times, and still outlived even John!
Marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Miniature from the Old English Chronicles by Jean de Wavrin. 1470–1480 National Library of France, Paris
In Russia we have one wonderful saying that “the night cuckoo will bite everyone,” which is usually used with a hint of a married woman influencing a man’s behavior in a certain way. Here, it must be said, Elizabeth was clearly beyond competition.
However, although Edward was inferior to his wife in everything, when it came to benefiting her numerous relatives, he was by no means henpecked and quite soberly separated the throne from the bed.
On the other hand, Elizabeth, especially being in a burden, and she was in a burden almost constantly with such a loving husband, usually turned a blind eye to his... communication with other court women. Which, by the way, was in the order of things in those days and did not at all imply royal dignity, rather the opposite.
It is known, for example, about his love affairs with the court beauty Jane Shore. However, this did not lead to a conflict with Elizabeth, apparently because Edward saw only Elizabeth as the Queen of England, despite the fact that his first children from her were three girls, so he could well be afraid that he would not have a son at all heir.
However, God still sent him a son, who was born fourth, and then another, born... sixth. And in total from 1466 to 1480, that is, over 14 years of marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to Edward 10 children, of which, however, two children died in infancy.
And, as was expected according to church canons, Elizabeth and Edward together shared all the difficulties and hardships that befell them, so that their marriage was clearly based on a deep sense of affection and love.
In the mini-series “The White Queen” (2013), based on the novel “The White Queen” (2009) by Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth and Edward are shown as a very beautiful couple...
It is interesting that history has not preserved for us any stories about the quarrels of Edward and Elizabeth, or that at such and such a time they avoided each other’s company. But if something similar had taken place, then there is no doubt that the queen’s enemies would not only have picked up such rumors, but also multiplied them. But what is not there clearly did not exist.
Meanwhile, it was Elizabeth’s influence on the king that became one of the reasons for the transition of the “Kingmaker” Earl of Warwick to the side of the Lancasters, and the king’s younger brother George Clarence also took their side. By the way, one of the reasons for this act was Edward’s refusal to marry Warwick’s daughters Isabella and Anna to his brothers. This would have too much strengthened the position of the “Kingmaker” at court, and the king did not give consent to this marriage.
Then Clarence married Warwick's eldest daughter in Calais, against the will of the king. And then they both landed with their troops in England and declared George’s claims to the English throne, since, they say, Edward IV is a bastard, whom his mother Cecilia Neville gave birth to from a relationship with the English archer Blayburn.
Fortune seemed to be on the side of the rebels: Warwick not only managed to win the Battle of Edgecote Moor, but also captured the king himself, after which he executed Elizabeth’s father and brother, Earl Rivers, and John Woodville without trial. The queen's mother, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, was arrested and accused of witchcraft and bewitching the king.
But the peer court acquitted her, and the unmotivated execution of Earl Rivers alienated their already few supporters from Warwick and Clarence. They did not dare to kill the king, and it all ended with Edward managing to free himself from captivity and solemnly enter London.
And then, again, in the best traditions of the Middle Ages, by Christmas 1469 Edward pardoned both Warwick and Clarence and returned them to court, although, it is clear that he no longer trusted them. They repaid him for this with a new rebellion a year later, and Warwick this time entered into an agreement with Margaret of Anjou, the wife of the deceased King Henry VI. The king, along with his brother Richard of Gloucester, had to flee to Burgundy, and Warwick and Clarence entered the City and proclaimed Henry VI king.
Elizabeth, who was eight months pregnant at the time, took refuge in Westminster Abbey, taking advantage of the right of refuge under the church vaults.
However, even in these difficult circumstances, there were people who provided her with help and support: the Abbot of Westminster, Thomas Milling, gave up his house at the abbey to the queen, the butcher John Gould supplied Elizabeth with half a cow and two sheep a week for free, and a certain London fishmonger supplied her with provisions for Fridays and fasting days.
It was then that the queen gave birth to an heir to the throne, and this news, of course, supported Edward in his struggle for the throne.
Already in the spring of 1471 he appeared in England, and again county after county recognized him as king. Clarence, seeing all this, got scared, abandoned Warwick and hastened to once again make peace with his brother. Well, the half-crazy Henry VI was again overthrown from the throne and returned to the Tower, where he was soon killed.
The priest begs King Edward IV and his soldiers to stop persecuting the enemy Lancastrians who have sought refuge within the walls of the abbey. Richard Burchett (1815–1875). Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Edward's unexpected death in 1483 ended the happy union of the king and queen, and the worst thing about his death was that it occurred before their eldest son Edward V came of age.
Troubles immediately began in the country, Elizabeth's marriage to the king was declared invalid on the grounds that he entered into it while engaged to another woman, and her children were declared bastards.
Moreover, both of her sons, including Edward V, were imprisoned in the Tower, from where they mysteriously disappeared. This was her new pain and tragedy. However, God still sent her, and all of England, consolation: her eldest daughter Elizabeth of York married King Henry VII Tudor.
By the way, Elizabeth agreed on this marriage with Henry’s mother Margaret Beaufort, who well understood that her eldest daughter, after the death of her brothers, became the only heir to the house of York, which is why Henry agreed to this marriage. He united the previously warring Yorks and Lancasters and thereby put an end to the internecine war.
Well, Elizabeth’s high status as the queen’s mother was restored by her son-in-law. She spent the end of her life in Bermondsey Abbey and died surrounded by her three younger daughters. She was buried next to Edward in St. George's Chapel in Windsor, where they continue to rest together today.
Well, the role of Elizabeth herself in the history of England is, without a doubt, exceptionally great.
Through his eldest daughter, he became the maternal grandmother of King Henry VIII and the great-grandmother of King Edward VI, and both queens Mary Bloody and Elizabeth I, as well as the great-great-grandmother of Mary Stuart.
Thus, Elizabeth Woodville is the ancestor of all the kings of England since Henry VIII and the kings of Scotland since James V.
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