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Born 1437, died 1492
Consort to Edward IV 1464-83
The daughter of Sir Richard Woodville was maid of honour to Margaret of Anjou, queen of the Lancastrian Henry VI. In about 1452, she married Sir John Grey, who died in Henry's service at the Battle of St Albans nine years later. So Elizabeth, now a widow with two young sons, was a signed-up Lancastrian when she met the Yorkist king Edward IV, five years her junior, when she petitioned him about a problem with her late husband's estate.
Edward was a notorious womaniser, but Elizabeth held out for marriage (just as Anne Boleyn would some 60 years later). They wed in secret in 1464. When the news got out, Edward's greatest supporter, the earl of Warwick, was furious – he had been negotiating a marriage alliance with France. He rebelled against the king and briefly brought Henry VI back to the throne. However, Warwick was killed at the Battle of Barnet, Henry was murdered and Edward returned to power, bringing his queen with him.
He was also landed with her extensive family. Under pressure from Elizabeth, they were given wealth and position far beyond their worth (in the eyes of many). She also arranged some bizarre if lucrative marriages – for example, her 20-year-old brother John Woodville married the 80-year-old (and extremely wealthy) Katherine Neville, dowager duchess of Norfolk. The result of these machinations was that the rest of the nobility thoroughly detested Elizabeth and the rest of the Woodville clan.
When Edward died suddenly in 1483, everything changed. With almost obscene haste, Edward's remaining brother captured the dead king's heir, forced Elizabeth to give up her other son and had her marriage to Edward declared invalid (because he had already been betrothed to someone else) and their children illegitimate. As the only heir left, he had himself crowned Richard III – and the two princes simply ... disappeared.
Elizabeth had assumed that she would be queen mother – now she was known as 'the Dame Elizabeth Grey'. She remained in sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, fearing for her life and the lives of her remaining children.
Then, in the late summer of 1483, she received a secret proposal from Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor: that Elizabeth's eldest daughter – known as Elizabeth of York – marry Margaret's son and all unite against Richard III. That Elizabeth accepted this scheme confirms that she was already convinced that her sons were dead.
Henry Tudor returned from exile in France in August 1485, defeating Richard to become crowned as Henry VII. He duly married Elizabeth of York, joining the houses of York and Lancaster. Elizabeth Woodville (whose marriage to Edward had been retrospectively legitimised by Henry) stood as godmother to their firstborn son Arthur.
But in February 1487 she was stripped of her lands and sent to a nunnery, effectively banished from court on the trumped-up charge that she had been involved in the campaign of the false Yorkist claimant Lambert Simnel. In fact, she was the victim of Margaret Beaufort's jealousy.
She died at Bermondsey Abbey in June 1492 and was buried near her husband Edward in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Queen of the Woodpile, Waif in the Woodshed: The dramatic history of the first Queen Elizabeth
www.r3.org/fiction/roses/woodville.html
Fascinating article by Laura Blanchard in which she suggests that the terrible reputation that has attached to Elizabeth Woodville for centuries is as mistaken as the one that Richard III has suffered.
The Popinjays: A history of the Woodville family in the 15th and 16th centuries by Geoffrey Richardson (Basildon Books, 2000)
Concise and readable account that deals with the Woodville family and most famously with Elizabeth Grey, née Woodville, Edward IV's queen.
Get this book
Westminster Abbey
London SW1P 3PA
Tel: 020 7654 4900
Fax: 020 7654 4894
E-mail: info@westminster-abbey.org
Website: www.westminster-abbey.org
In 1483, Elizabeth Woodville and her children took sanctuary in the abbot's house in Westminster Abbey. A considerable amount of it remains today, including: the abbot's parlour, now known as the Jerusalem Chamber; the hall, now used for the Westminster King's Scholars; and the kitchen and butteries beyond. All this is now behind the present-day bookshop. It is not open to the public.
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