Elizabeth Woodville

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Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville (also Wydeville * around 1437 in Grafton Regis ; † June 8, 1492 in Bermondsey ) was the wife of Edward IV from 1464 to 1483 Queen of England , the first since the Norman conquest in 1066, who was born in the country itself.

As the eldest daughter of Sir Richard Woodville , later 1st Earl Rivers , and his wife Jacquetta von Luxemburg, she came from a rather insignificant family. This, and the fact that she was widowed, made her secret marriage to the king a scandal. Elizabeth Woodville played an important role in the English Wars of the Roses and is one of the most colorful female characters in English history.

Her 12 children include the Princes in the Tower and Elizabeth of York , who married Henry VII , the first Tudor king . Through this daughter she became the grandmother of King Henry VIII and the great-grandmother of the monarch Edward VI. , Maria I. and Elisabeth I. Via her great-great-granddaughter, Maria Stuart , she is also the ancestor of the Stuart kings who followed the Tudors and ultimately of today's royal family of Windsor .

First marriage to John Gray of Groby

Elizabeth was born in Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England around 1437. Her parents were Jacquetta von Luxemburg and Sir Richard Woodville . Accordingly, the young girl belonged to the knight class. Elizabeth was one of the ladies of honor of Henry VI's wife, Margaret of Anjou . She was first married since about 1452 to Sir John Gray of Groby , a supporter of the Lancaster King Henry VI. Gray fell in 1461 in the Second Battle of St. Albans . This connection had two sons, Thomas Gray, 1st Marquess of Dorset , and Richard Gray .

Queen Elizabeth's coat of arms

Secret second marriage to Edward IV.

King Edward IV of the House of York , who had been dissolute in love matters and had ruled since 1461, glanced at the beautiful widow from the enemy camp and secretly married her on May 1, 1464 in Grafton Regis against the advice of his confidants such as Richard Neville, 16. Earl of Warwick , who was negotiating a French marriage for the king. In addition to the purely physical aspect, which Eduard seemed to follow here, the marriage also had a political component, as the marriage to a widow of a Lancaster supporter gave the York king at least temporary peace, whereas the marriage to a member of the lower nobility was a scandal.

Political role as queen and marriage policy

Elizabeth subsequently knew how to have key positions in politics quickly and effectively assigned to her relatives. Her brother Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers , became one of Edward IV's closest confidants. The Queen also proved adept at marriage policy. Her younger sister Katherine was married to Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , making the Woodvilles related by marriage to one of the most powerful families in England. However, this marriage turned out to be unfortunate. The marriage of her young brother John to Katherine Neville , who was three times widowed and at almost 70 years of age more than three times her age, was downright ridiculous , but the old lady had power and money, which the Woodvilles knew how to skillfully use.

When the Lancaster side briefly gained the upper hand in 1470 and Henry VI. For a few months back on the throne, Elizabeth, heavily pregnant with the later heir to the throne Eduard, did not go into exile with her husband, but instead took refuge in church asylum.

Struggle for power and death of their sons

When Edward IV suddenly died after a brief illness on April 9, 1483, Elizabeth defied her husband's last will. He had not put the reign of his 12-year-old son and heir Edward V in the hands of the Woodville family, but rather his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. , including guardianship for the young king and his younger brother Richard. The Queen's Dowager took possession of the state treasure and the insignia of the throne and was heir to the throne through her brother, Earl Rivers. Richard brought his followers Buckingham and William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings , after a brief struggle the Thronrat behind and caught his young nephew on April 30, 1483, together with the strong, commanded by Earl Rivers bodyguard near Nottingham in Stony Stratford from .

Once again the members of Elizabeth's family had escaped death, but the position of power of the Woodville clan was permanently shaken, and Richard increasingly took control of the kingdom. In June, Hastings, pushed aside by Buckingham, sought contact with the royal widow's family, but the relationship was uncovered on June 13, 1483 and Hastings was immediately executed. As a result, Rivers and Richard Gray, Elizabeth's younger son from his first marriage, were also executed because of this emerging conspiracy. To what extent this took place at least from the direction of Hastings remains unclear to this day. Elisabeth, however, had once again fled to church asylum in Westminster Abbey with her daughters .

Richard's next blow came in June: The Bishop of Bath and Wells , Robert Stilington , had claimed that Elizabeth's children with Edward IV were illegitimate, since Edward was engaged to Eleonore Butler at his wedding . It is not clear whether Richard was behind this rumor or whether he just had to act now that England was threatened with an illegitimate king. On June 23, Buckingham represented Richard's claim to the throne, which was granted by Parliament on June 25. As a result of the document " Titulus Regius " created in the wake of the events, Elizabeth lost her title as the widow of the king and became Dame Elizabeth Gray again. Her children were denied inheritance rights, and their sons Eduard and Richard were detained in the Tower. For the following events and legends that surround these two children, see also the princes in the tower .

End of the Plantagenets and the rise of the Tudors

Elizabeth remained in sanctuary with her daughters and secretly contacted Heinrich Tudor, who later became Henry VII . It was here that the first plans arose to marry Heinrich as the pretender to the throne of the Lancaster family with the eldest daughter of the king's widow, Elizabeth of York . On the other hand, she seemed to be on the same page as Richard III. by allowing her eldest son Thomas Gray to return and even fulfilling the king's request that their daughters be handed over to him. Since according to the sources of the Tudor period, their sons at the behest of Richard III. were killed, these acts of Elisabeth are a possible evidence that her sons were either still alive or that Elisabeth considered her brother-in-law to be innocent.

After Heinrich Tudor Richard III. had fought at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and had become king, he married Henry VII Edward and Elizabeth's eldest daughter, a marriage that formed the Tudor family and united the Houses of Lancaster and York. Previously, Elizabeth's marriage to Eduard had been valid again and the children had been declared legitimate.

In 1487 Elizabeth retired to Bermondsey Abbey , where she was on 7/8 Died June 1492.

rating

Elizabeth Woodville stands in the long tradition of English queens who actively influenced the government and at times more or less openly took over government responsibility. Representative here are Emma of Normandy , Mathilde of Flanders , Mathilda of Boulogne and her opponent, the former German Empress Matilda , Eleanor of Aquitaine , Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou . Elizabeth perfectly understood how to steer the king to give her family power and influence. She also understood perfectly how to save her life and that of a few relatives in the breakdown and at the same time forge an alliance for the future. Obsessed with power and looking for the advantage of her own side, she was an excellent politician and dangerous opponent who not only survived the Wars of the Roses, but also became the ancestral mother of all subsequent kings of England through her son-in-law Henry VII .

progeny

From Sir John Gray
From King Edward IV.

Pedigree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Richard de Wydeville
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. John Wydeville
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Sir Richard Wydeville of Grafton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Isabel Gobion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. John Bittlesgate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Thomas Bittlesgate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Joan Bittlesgate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Sir John de Beauchamp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Joan de Beauchamp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Joan de Bridport
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Elizabeth Woodville
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Guido (Ligny and St. Pol)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. John II (Brienne)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Mathilde de Châtillon, Countess of Saint-Pol
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Peter I (St. Pol and Brienne)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Ludwig I of Enghien
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Marguerite d'Enghien, Countess of Brienne and Conversano
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Giovanna di Sanseverino
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Jacquetta of Luxembourg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Bertrand III del Balzo, Count of Andria and Squillace
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Francesco del Balzo, 1st Duke of Andria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Marguerite d'Aulnay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Margherita del Balzo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Nicola Orsini, Count of Nola
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Sueva Orsini
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Jeanne de Sabran
 
 
 
 
 
 


Movie and TV

Elizabeth's role in the Wars of the Roses is an integral part of The White Queen TV series .

literature

  • Michael Hicks: Elizabeth Woodville (c.1437-1492) In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004; Online edition September 2011.

Web links

Commons : Elizabeth Woodville  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Grafton Regis: Elizabeth Woodville. Retrieved April 2, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Michael Hicks: Elizabeth Woodville (c.1437–1492) In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004; Online edition September 2011.
predecessor Office successor
Margaret of Anjou Queen Consort of England
1464–1470 		Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou Queen Consort of England
1471–1483 		Anne Neville
personal data
SURNAME Woodville, Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Elizabeth Wydeville
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English royal wife of the Middle Ages
DATE OF BIRTH 1437
PLACE OF BIRTH Grafton Regis
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1492 or June 8, 1492
Place of death Bermondsey (London)