Elizabeth of York, The First Tudor Queen

  Elizabeth of York, The first Tudor Queen

Elizabeth was born into a turbulent period of history, the Wars of the Roses, she was the eldest daughter of Queen Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Elizabeth was the daughter, niece, sister, wife, mother and grandmother of monarchs, she has one hell of a lineage.

Elizabeth was born at the Palace of Westminster in 1469, this was one of the preferred lodgings of Edward IV. She was christened at Westminster Abbey; her grandmothers, Jacquetta Rivers and Cecily Neville, were her sponsors. Elizabeth was surrounded by some of the most dominant women of their time, which might have influenced her.

In 1475, Edward IV made an advantageous marriage proposal for Elizabeth to Louis XI's son, Charles. This was a very good match but one that the French would end up abandoning in 1482, Elizabeth was publicly jilted, which was humiliating. 

Not much is known about the early years of Elizabeth's life, she was brought up like a princess, she was taught how to manage a household and she had a comfortable life. When her father died suddenly in 1483, Elizabeth's life was turned upside down. and so was the rest of the country.  

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was the youngest brother to Edward IV and when Edward suddenly died, Richard was appointed regent and protector of his nephews. Richard moved in fast when he heard his brother had died, the Woodvilles were not a popular family so they would not be sadly missed. Richard intercepted his young nephew Edward V in Ludlow, Edward was living there as Prince of Wales learning how to be king. Edward was initially escorted to London by his half-brother,  Richard Grey, Elizabeth Woodville's son from her first marriage, and her brother Anthony Rivers. Richard had them both arrested and sent to Pontefract Castle.

When Elizabeth Woodville heard of what had happened in Ludlow, she fled into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey with her younger son Richard and daughters. Richard insisted that the brothers should be reunited, as it was not fair to keep them apart. After a lot of pressure, Elizabeth handed over her youngest son to Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Elizabeth Woodville would never see her sons again.

During these months, a date was set for Edward V's coronation, but the closer the coronation got, no preparations seemed to be actually going ahead, it was all at a standstill. On the 22nd of June 1483, Edward IV's and Elizabeth Woodville's marriage was declared invalid, meaning any children they had are illegitimate, meaning the current King of England was illegitimate. This now stated Richard, Duke of Gloucester was now the rightful king. Richard was crowned King of England on the 6th of July 1483 with his wife Anne Neville. The princes in the tower were slowly seen less and less over the summer of 1483, and then one day they completely vanished, the princes would never be seen again becoming one of England's most intriguing mysteries.

Now known as Richard III, his accession was not popular, even the Yorkist faction was not happy with what had happened to the princes and they started to cast their eye on another contender, Henry Tudor. Henry Tudor was the only son of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry had fled into exile as a teenager as he was a Lancastrian rival to Edward IV. Henry started to assemble a fleet to invade England, his rule would be accepted if he married Elizabeth of York, now the oldest heir of Edward IV, this union could unite the warring houses, something everybody wanted.

In 1484, Elizabeth and her sisters left Westminster Abbey and returned to the court of Richard III, by all looks of it, Elizabeth Woodville reconciled herself with Richard and his reign. A woman who might have believed he murdered her sons would not have willingly given her daughters to him. Elizabeth's time at court had been rife with rumours, Richard's only heir died, and now his wife and consort, Anne Neville was also dying, possibly of tuberculosis. Anne would die in early 1485.

When Anne was dying, rumours circled the court that Richard III wanted to marry his niece Elizabeth, this rumour did not help Richard's image at all, he sent Elizabeth away to Sheriff Hutton, he then began to open marriage negotiations for himself and Elizabeth with Portugal, these marriage negotiations would never go through.

Whilst Richard was king, Henry Tudor was building his army, and a battle was afoot. Henry Tudor landed with his army on the 7th of August. On the 22nd of August, the battle of Bosworth was fought and the last Yorkist King was dead. Henry Tudor was now King and Elizabeth's life was about to change forever.

In the months that followed Henry's victory, he was in no rush to marry Elizabeth, but he did see the necessity of marrying her, his claim was not accepted if he did not marry her. Henry has made it clear that he was King in his own right and not by the blood of his future wife, Elizabeth would never share his power nor would she have a voice in politics.

Henry had Elizabeth and her siblings legitimised so any future children would not be baseborn. Henry sent for a dispensation from the pope as he and Elizabeth were cousins of the fourth degree, as they were both descended from the line of John of Gaunt, John was the third surviving son of Edward III.

Henry and Elizabeth were finally married on the 18th of January 1486, and their first child, Arthur was born on the 20th of September 1486, 8 months after their marriage...

Elizabeth and Henry's marriage was very much a political arrangement, they fell very much in love and had a very happy marriage, which was very uncommon in the medieval period.  Henry had been away from the English Court for over 10 years, he would need the guidance of his wife and mother, Margaret Beaufort. 

After such upheaval during the Wars of the Roses, Henry saw it politic to marry the brood of Elizabeth's Yorkist sisters to Lancastrian supporters. 

A lot of documentation of Elizabeth's tenure as Queen is lost but she is known as being very pious and staunch in her faith. She was also very fond of gambling, and Henry often had to help Elizabeth repay her debts. Elizabeth often donated to churches, nunneries and monks, she often gave alms to the poor. She had a love for books and was even a patron of the English printer William Caxton, but she had an enjoyment for music and dancing also.

Elizabeth was deeply involved in the upbringing and education of her children, it has been theorised that Elizabeth could have taught the future Henry VIII to write as their handwriting is eerily similar, but this is purely a theory.

Elizabeth was not as politically involved, but she did have involvement in the arrangement of Arthur's marriage to the Infanta Catherine of Aragon, she had direct correspondence with Isabella of Castille, Catherine's mother.  

Arthur and Catherine married in November 1501, a hugely successful political union and hopefully a fruitful alliance. However, this would not be the case, Arthur died 6 months after marrying Catherine, and the news would send the couple into grief and they took turns comforting each other.

A few months after Arthur's death, Elizabeth was once more pregnant, and the couple would be hoping it was another son just in case something happened to Henry. Elizabeth took her confinement in the Tower of London, and sadly it was a devastating outcome. Elizabeth died not long after giving birth to a baby girl, Catherine, in honour of Catherine of Aragon.

Elizabeth died on what would have been her 37th birthday, and she left her family heartbroken at her death. Henry VII would never be the same again, he truly suffered with the loss of his wife.

Elizabeth was the co-founder of one of the most infamous dynasties known in history, and she is too often overlooked. She was brave, knew when to bide her time and was generous to everyone. 

Until next time,

                   Unholytudor 🌹