Tudor Queens of England by David Loades Page A
Authors: David Loades
Tags: General, Historical, History, Biography & Autobiography, England, British, Biography, Non-Fiction, Europe, Great Britain, Women, European History, Royalty, British History, 15th Century, 16th Century, monarchy, thomas cromwell, Tudor England, Mary I, Jane Seymour, tudor history, Lady Jane Grey, Catherine Parr, Elizabeth Woodville, Mary Stewart, Elizabeth of York
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for all. Something must account for his unprecedented behaviour because he appeared in person in the House of Lords in January 1478, and accused Clarence of Treason. Evidence of criminal misconduct was plentiful and genuine but that of treason was not. However, the King’s word could not be gainsaid in his own Court and the Duke was duly convicted. There then followed a delay of ten days. This was common and was often allowed to the condemned to give them time to make their peace with God but, in this case, because of the peculiar circumstances, it was thought that Edward was struggling with his conscience – and that may well have been the case. The eventual outcome was as unprecedented as the trial because Clarence was neither pardoned nor publicly executed, but privately murdered – allegedly by being drowned in a butt of malmsey wine.
22 This detail is probably a picturesque fabrication, but of the private nature of his execution there can be no doubt. Later historians blamed both the Queen and the Duke of Gloucester for this bizarre outcome and, whereas Richard can certainly be exonerated, similar certainty cannot be deployed in support of Elizabeth. Even her worst enemies did not claim that she was directly responsible and the King himself must take the blame but in the private and unrecorded world of pillow talk the suspicion remains. Elizabeth’s piety appears to have been entirely conventional. She offered dutifully at various shrines and made pious donations of a modest nature. She is alleged to have had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary as mediatrix but the evidence for any such enthusiasm is slight. She was chief Lady of the Garter but that refl ected her status as queen rather than any particular devotion to chivalry. The only exception to this relative anonymity was her generosity to Queens’
College in Cambridge but she never showed very much interest in the work of the 58
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college and was not a particular patron of scholars. Edward took a lively interest in the work of the new printing press established by William Caxton in 1576 but his main expenditure was not on books but on buildings. He virtually refounded the Order of the Garter and built the sumptuous chapel at Windsor as a setting for its ceremonial – but it was on the refurbishment of his own residences that he spent most of his money and time. His patronage of religion has been described as ‘rather sparse’ but did embrace the Carthusian monastery at Sheen, founded by Henry V, of which both Edward and his queen were generous supporters. In 1480 he was visited by his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy and, on her prompting, introduced the rigorous order of reformed, or Observant, Franciscans. Although he was also well known for the lavish equipment of his chapels this was probably his most signifi cant contribution to the religious life of his kingdom. In literature both their tastes seem to have run to chronicles and French romances. Of humanist scholarship in the sense that that was understood in Italy, his Court appears to have been entirely innocent.
During the last six or seven years of his life, Edward’s main diplomatic concern was the advantageous marriage of his own children and, although Elizabeth’s hand in these negotiations must be assumed, it is often hard to trace. Her eldest son by her fi rst marriage had already been provided for. As we have seen, he had been betrothed at fi rst to Anne, daughter of the Duke of Exeter and, when Anne died young, married to Cecily the daughter and heir of Lord Bonville. He had been created Earl of Huntingdon in 1471, and Marquis of Dorset in 1475. By 1480
at the age of 25, he could consider himself well established in life. The diplomatic activity of 1475–81 was about Edward’s own children. In 1476 the 6-year-old Edward was proposed as a match for the Infanta Isabella of Castile, then for a daughter of the Emperor Frederick III, and
22 This detail is probably a picturesque fabrication, but of the private nature of his execution there can be no doubt. Later historians blamed both the Queen and the Duke of Gloucester for this bizarre outcome and, whereas Richard can certainly be exonerated, similar certainty cannot be deployed in support of Elizabeth. Even her worst enemies did not claim that she was directly responsible and the King himself must take the blame but in the private and unrecorded world of pillow talk the suspicion remains. Elizabeth’s piety appears to have been entirely conventional. She offered dutifully at various shrines and made pious donations of a modest nature. She is alleged to have had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary as mediatrix but the evidence for any such enthusiasm is slight. She was chief Lady of the Garter but that refl ected her status as queen rather than any particular devotion to chivalry. The only exception to this relative anonymity was her generosity to Queens’
College in Cambridge but she never showed very much interest in the work of the 58
T U D O R Q U E E N S O F E N G L A N D
college and was not a particular patron of scholars. Edward took a lively interest in the work of the new printing press established by William Caxton in 1576 but his main expenditure was not on books but on buildings. He virtually refounded the Order of the Garter and built the sumptuous chapel at Windsor as a setting for its ceremonial – but it was on the refurbishment of his own residences that he spent most of his money and time. His patronage of religion has been described as ‘rather sparse’ but did embrace the Carthusian monastery at Sheen, founded by Henry V, of which both Edward and his queen were generous supporters. In 1480 he was visited by his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy and, on her prompting, introduced the rigorous order of reformed, or Observant, Franciscans. Although he was also well known for the lavish equipment of his chapels this was probably his most signifi cant contribution to the religious life of his kingdom. In literature both their tastes seem to have run to chronicles and French romances. Of humanist scholarship in the sense that that was understood in Italy, his Court appears to have been entirely innocent.
During the last six or seven years of his life, Edward’s main diplomatic concern was the advantageous marriage of his own children and, although Elizabeth’s hand in these negotiations must be assumed, it is often hard to trace. Her eldest son by her fi rst marriage had already been provided for. As we have seen, he had been betrothed at fi rst to Anne, daughter of the Duke of Exeter and, when Anne died young, married to Cecily the daughter and heir of Lord Bonville. He had been created Earl of Huntingdon in 1471, and Marquis of Dorset in 1475. By 1480
at the age of 25, he could consider himself well established in life. The diplomatic activity of 1475–81 was about Edward’s own children. In 1476 the 6-year-old Edward was proposed as a match for the Infanta Isabella of Castile, then for a daughter of the Emperor Frederick III, and
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