A Royal Marriage
Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
Henry VII
• Defeated Richard III August 22, 1485• Claim to throne– Conquest– Maternity
• Coronation October 30– Repeal of Titulus regulus November 7– Marriage: January 18, 1486
Elizabeth of YorkPaternal Ancestry
Edward III
Edmund Langley Duke of York
RichardEarl of Cambridge
RichardDuke of York
Edward IV
Life of Elizabeth of York
Parents: Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville (1437-92), secretly married in 1464
Elizabeth WydevilleQueens College, Cambridge
Elizabeth of York (1466-1503)
• Siblings– Mary of York (1467-92)– Cecily of York (1469-1507)– Edward V (1470-1483?)– Richard, Duke of York (1473-1483?)– Anne of York (1475-1511)– Catherine of York (1479-1527)
Elizabeth of York Homes
1466 Birth, Palace of Westminster1470 Sanctuary, Westminster AbbeyRoyal palaces to death of Edward IV1483-84 Sanctuary, Westminster Abbey1484 Court of Richard III1484-85 Sheriff Hutton
Sheriff Hutton Castle, North Yorkshire Shaunconway, Wikipedia
Elizabeth of York Betrothals
1470 George Neville1474 Charles, Dauphin of France (b. 1470)
Louis XI proposes Charles m. Mary of Burgundy1482 Dauphin . Margaret, d. of Emperor Maximilian
1484 Speculation and denial of Richard III1484 Parliament passes Titulus Regius
Elizabeth of York - author
My heart is set upon a lusty pin ;I pray to Venus of good continuance,For I rejoice the case that I am in,Deliver’d from sorrow, annex’d to pleasance,Of all comfort having abundance ;This joy and I, I trust, shall never twinMy heart is set upon a lusty pin.
Elizabeth of York - author
I pray to Venus of good continuanceSince she hath set me in the way of ease ;My hearty service with my attendanceSo to continue it ever I may please ;Thus voiding from all pensful disease,Now stand I whole far from all grievance-I pray to Venus of good continuance
Henry VII Paternal Ancestry
Owen Tudorm. widow of Henry V
Edmund Tudorm. Margaret Beaufort
Henry VII Maternal Ancestry
“My Lady the King’s Mother”
John of Gaunt
John Beaufort
John Beaufort
Margaret Beaufort
William Atkynson, translation of Thomas à Kempis (1504)
Henry VII (Richmond) Marriage Considerations
1483 Betrothal to Elizabeth or Cecily of York arranged by Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth WydevilleConsiders Maud, d. of Earl of Pembroke
She marries Henry PercyConsiders one of Maud’s sisters
Henry and Elizabeth
1484 Papal dispensation because degree of consanguinityJan. 16, 1486 Dispensation by papal legateJan. 18, 1486 MarriageMarch 2, 1486 Papal dispensation for affinity by marriageMarch 27 Papal recognition of rights of heirs
MarriagePrinted Papal Dispensation
English Translation
First Born
Prince Arthur(b. 1486)
Second Born
Margaretb. 1489
Third Born
Prince Henry(b. 1491)
Fourth Born
Mary Tudor
b. 1496
Life of a Royal FamilyEltham Palace
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace model
Comments of Spanish Ambassadors
• The queen is “beloved because she is powerless. They love (Arthur) as much as themselves [because he is grandson of Edward IV]. . . The King is much influenced by his mother and his followers . . . The Queen, as is generally the case, does not like it.”
• The Queen was not reluctant to dispute over possession of letters from Spain.
The Queen in 1501
[Thought to be pregnant]. It is not so, she has much plumpness and large breasts.
Portuguese ambassador
Queen’s Charity, etc.
• Gifts to ascetics• Alms to poor; Payments to children for diet,
clothes, ‘learning,’ books and psalters.• Tips to court personnel• Support for relatives• Gold and silk to make the King’s mantle of the
GarterPrivy purse accounts 1502-3
Other expenses
• Silks, gowns, bonnets, • Gambling – tables (backgammon), dice and
cards• Last year of her life– Expenses £3,411 5s 9d– Receipts from manors, farms, etc. which were her
dower £3,585 19s 10½d (including a loan on plate)
Turges When Stormy WindsA prayer for Prince Arthur, 1501
Entertainment
• Minstrels paid by the King and hired from others– Payments of £12 and £30 to a dancinng maiden
and young damsel that danseth– Instruments – bagpipes, organs, pipes, sackbuts,
tabors, trumpets, fiddles, harps, recorders, horns• Tumblers, jugglers, leapers, wrestlers,
disguisers
Midsummer’s Night
• Bonfires and bonfire leaping• Lord of Misrule
King’s Fools
• “Patch”• Dego the Spaniard”• “Duke of Lancaster”• “Scot,’ “Thomas Blakall,” “Dick”
Other expenses
• £120,000 for jewels (1492-1507)• £10 to John Cabot for his explorations and
discoveries• £100 for a tower at the Tower of London• £13 6s 8d for a leopard
From Henry to the Queen
• Communion cloth• Plate• Services of a physician and surgeon• Loans (two way)
Crown of Henry VII from Myrtens Charles I
Crown of State
Videos – Gender and AgeProf. Wrightson http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-251
Gender • Feme sole and Feme covert • DowerYouth• Servants; Apprentices• Gerontocratic society – the old should rule
Mendelson, Sara H, and Patricia Crawford. Women in Early Modern England, 1550-1720. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998
Video: The Household
Family – Johnson’s Dictionary 1755
Family
• Wrightson “huswifery”Huswifrie frugalitasBaret Alvearie, 1580
Priority: Survival of the Household
• Subsistence (80%): market (20%) of agriculture• Risk of bad harvests• Disease• Life expectancy from birth = 33
Priority: Future of the Household
• Work positions for families with many children; acquiring workers for those with few children
• Learning skills through apprenticeships• Arranging marriages
Raising the Children
• Prince Arthur - own household• Other children at Eltham Palace
Arthur (1486-1502)
• 1488 Dame Elizabeth Darcy, governess• 1489 Knight of Bath; 1491 Knight of the Garter• 1490 Warden of the Scottish Marches• 1492 Keeper of England; King's Lieutenant• 1501 Sent to Wales
Education of Elizabeth of York
• Literate in French– Historical romances
• Dancing, musical instruments• Hunting• Table games• Sewing, needlework
Raising the Children
• Prince Arthur - own household• Other children at Eltham Palace
Arthur (1486-1502)
• 1488 Dame Elizabeth Darcy, governess• 1489 Knight of Bath; 1491 Knight of the Garter• 1490 Warden of the Scottish Marches• 1492 Keeper of England; King's Lieutenant• 1501 Sent to Wales
Education of Elizabeth of York
• Literate in French– Historical romances
• Dancing, musical instruments• Hunting• Table games• Sewing, needlework
Education of a Prince (Arthur)
• Tutor: poet, John Skelton• Humanist exposure – Erasmus• Languages, science • Hunting and military training
Marriage of Arthur
1501
Marriage of Arthur
• Discussed as early as 1487• Treaty of Medina del Campo (12/1490)• Proxy marriage (1497)
Catherine of Aragon?
Juan
de
Flan
des
c. 1
500
Michel Sitt
ow c. 1505
16th Century Thought on Women
Biblical– Genesis 1 So God created mankind in his own
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
– Genesis 2 . . . while he [Adam] was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs . . . Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Italian Views
• Inferiority does not justify abuse• Hierarchy in state and household
English Views
• We will see specific arguments addressed to actual cases as they arise in the last half of the 16th century (Mary, Jane, Elizabeth)