Doctor Gunthorpe, an obviously resourceful Dean of the King’s Chapel, produced the Pope’s bull of authority, and the marriage proceeded, conducted by the Bishop of Norwich. That carefully staged exchange quelled any gossip and precluded any future questions about the legitimacy of the royal marriage.
During these happy years, the Queen’s continuing interest in charitable and religious works led her to endow a chapel dedicated to St Erasmus at Westminster Abbey. On 13 January 1479, Abbot John Estney received a royal charter authorising a new chapel to be erected next to the Lady Chapel, and to be funded by permanent conveyance from the Queen of her property rights to two parts of the manors and lordships of Cradley and of Hagley in Worcestershire. The third part of the manors would revert to Westminster convent at the death of Margaret, widow of Fulk Stafford.12
The Queen’s selection of St Erasmus, venerated during the fifteenth century as a martyr, may have derived from that saint’s tenacity when afflicted by adversity. During the reign of Diocletian, Erasmus converted many pagans to the Christian faith and survived the Emperor’s persecutions only by living as a solitary hermit on Mount Lebanon, where he was fed by a raven. Discovered, he was taken to Diocletian, beaten, covered in pitch and set on fire. Miraculously unhurt, he was imprisoned again but rescued by an angel who led him to Illyricum, where he resumed his preaching and teaching. Captured once more, Erasmus was disembowelled in the year 303.
When the plague swept across Europe, St Erasmus became one of ‘Fourteen Holy Helpers’, saints popular for their endurance during periods of extreme hardship. The Black Death had arrived in England in 1348, with recurring epidemics decimating the population in 1361, 1369 and 1375. The disease remained endemic, with periodic outbreaks during the next several centuries, and some historians speculate that the King and Queen’s infant son George died of the plague in 1479.
Dedicating her chapel to a saint who survived adverse circumstances was particularly apt for this Queen, whose own tenacity during adversity had already been tested and proven – with worse to come just beyond the horizon. The endowment for the Chapel of St Erasmus specified that every day two monks who were chaplains of Westminster monastery would say Mass ‘for the good estate of the King and Queen and for their souls after death and the souls of their children’. On each anniversary, the Abbot or his representative assembled, with the entire convent singing placebo and dirige. The ceremony was lit with twenty-four tapers, each made of six pounds of wax. A solemn Mass was sung at the high altar, ‘with tapers and candles lit and bells tolled’. Monks in minor orders said a ‘whole psalter’ and the lay brothers said ‘the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, with the Ave Maria, as many times as the abbot and convent shall appoint’. The Prior and convent distributed one penny to each poor person at the High Mass, ‘to the number of 240’. Two tapers remained on the altar throughout the year, to be lit ‘at the greater feasts of vespers and mass’.13
The building of the Chapel of St Erasmus required 21,000 bricks, 302 loads of burnt lime, 20 loads of sand, 100 tiles for covering the wall, and 100 roof-tiles, all installed by two tilers and two workmen. By the time these items were listed in the Liber Niger Cartulary of Westminster Abbey in 148614, the Queen who endowed the chapel had suffered almost as much adversity as St Erasmus, whose image then stood under a canopy.
At the moment of endowment in 1479, however, the family of Elizabeth and Edward IV – as well as England itself – was thriving. A ninth child, Katharine, was born at Eltham in early to mid-1479, just in time for her father to begin negotiating her marriage to the infant son of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Within the year, Elizabeth became pregnant with the King’s tenth child (twelfth for Elizabeth). Her growing family did not deter her engagement in activities traditional for English queens, who frequently acted as intercessors for those who wished to lobby the King.
On 4 September 1479, Edward IV assessed the merchants of London with a subsidy that was approved by an act of Parliament. The Merchant Adventurers’ Company were assigned £2,000, a sum they found excessive and resolved to fight. After discovering that the ‘two discreet men’ appointed to reduce the assessment were inadequate to the job, the company embarked on an intensive lobbying campaign that involved the Queen, the Marquis of Dorset, Earl Rivers and Lord Hastings. If at this point the Wydevilles and Hastings were at odds, they at least worked together in the interest of the Merchant Adventurers, whose records are fulsome in praise of the Queen:
Very good effort [was] made by mean of the Queen’s good grace, the lord Marquess, the Lord Maister, & the Lord Chamberlain & other gentles &. But especially by the Queen. And as William Pratt reports, the Lord Chamberlain is our very good special Lord and aviseth us to apply our labour still unto the Queen’s grace & to the Lord Marquess, and he will help when time cometh what he can do or may do for us.15
When those efforts did not provide immediate success, Hastings advised them to be ‘more secret of their friends… Except the Queen’s good grace only, which that is, & always has been, our very good & gracious lady in the said matter.’16 While ‘the Queen’s grace’ succeeded in reducing the subsidy by 500 marks, the Adventurers wanted more, and sent another delegation to the King asking for additional relief. They soon discovered that they had met their match in Edward IV, who told them that he really intended to assess them 3,000 marks, but ‘at the special Instance & prayer of the Queen’s good grace he had released 1,000 marks’.17 Aware that they had encountered a superior negotiator, the Merchant Adventurers went home and assessed their individual members sufficient sums to meet the King’s subsidy.
Such ordinary business transactions transpired in the midst of ongoing royal celebrations and splendour. In late June 1480, the court prepared for a visit from the King’s sister Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, a visit that, as always, combined pleasure with politics. Margaret was escorted across the Channel aboard the royal ship The Falcon by Sir Edward Wydeville, the Queen’s brother who had become a naval officer. Twelve years earlier, Sir Edward, along with his more famous brother Anthony, had accompanied Margaret to Burgundy for her marriage with Charles the Bold. Her visit home – the only one – was equally splendid, with the Burgundians disembarking at Gravesend, where Margaret transferred to a royal barge manned by twenty-four oarsmen who rowed her up the Thames to London. The master and oarsmen wore new liveries in the Yorkist colours of murrey and blue, with white roses embroidered on their jackets. The escort party of knights and squires wore black velvet jackets decorated with silver and purple. Sir Edward Wydeville had been provided ‘a yard of velvet purple and a yard of blue velvet’ for his own wardrobe.18
Margaret had her choice of two residences especially prepared for her three-month visit: the palace at Greenwich where she had lived before her marriage, and the London house of Coldharbor on Thames Street, near the Duchess of York’s Baynard’s Castle. Both had been renovated with new curtains, screens, tapestries, bed linens and coverlets. A hundred servants wore new ‘jackets of woollen cloth of murrey and blue’. Ten horses, with harnesses of green velvet decorated with aglets of silver and gold, and reins of crimson velvet, were provided for Margaret’s travels in England, made more comfortable by Edward IV’s gift of a pillion saddle in blue and purple cloth of gold, fringed with Venetian gold thread.19
Queen Elizabeth welcomed Margaret and introduced her to her large family of royal nieces and nephews. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was in the north fighting the Scots, came to London to visit his sister. Edward IV hosted a state banquet at Greenwich honouring Margaret and their mother, Cecily, Duchess Dowager of York. Margaret must have expressed particular delight in the wine, for the next day the King sent her a gift of ‘a pipe of our wine’ valued at 36s 8d.
Margaret’s visit was not merely a pleasure jaunt to see the family. Edward IV’s alliance with France had worked to the disadvantage of Burgundy, and Margaret was determined to win back his support. She also hoped to negotiate a marriage between the Burgundian heir
Philip, son of Maximilian and Mary (Margaret’s stepdaughter), and Edward’s daughter Anne, now five years old. Edward was in an awkward position, since such a shift in alliance might forfeit his allowance from Louis XI and abrogate the marriage contract between the Dauphin and Princess Elizabeth.
Margaret was a charming, intelligent and persuasive advocate for restoring Burgundian influence in England, a threat of which Louis XI of France was well aware. While Margaret was in England, Louis sent a delegation to Edward IV to deliver his annuity of 50,000 crowns and to offer an additional annuity of 15,000 crowns to Princess Elizabeth until her marriage to the Dauphin. Edward IV tried to play both France and Burgundy for England’s benefit. He offered to support Burgundy by invading France, but only if Burgundy replaced his French annuity. Further, no dowry would accompany his daughter Anne when she married Philip. Such exorbitant demands were beyond Margaret’s authority to negotiate, and she was forced to send messengers to Maximilian and Mary for advice.
Weeks of tricky diplomatic negotiations produced an agreement whereby Edward IV would permit Burgundy to recruit English archers for their battles with France, and would provide a loan to cover their wages and transportation to Burgundy. He would also support Burgundy’s claims for lands confiscated by France after the death of Charles the Bold and declare war against France if the lands were not restored by Easter 1481. In return, Burgundy would replace Edward IV’s French annuity if that were cancelled. Princess Anne and Philip would marry in six years time, with Anne bringing a dowry of 100,000 crowns, half to be paid within two years of the marriage. Since Margaret’s own dowry was still unpaid twelve years after her marriage, that promise might have raised a few diplomatic eyebrows, but the deal was sealed with a Burgundian promise to pay Anne an annuity of 6,000 crowns for living expenses, and a wedding ring presented to the five-year-old princess by Margaret.
Just as this agreement was concluded, Margaret received word that Maximilian had himself negotiated a seven-month truce with France on 21 August, to be followed by a peace conference in October. To soothe any English feathers he might have ruffled, Maximilian invited Edward IV to join France and Burgundy at the conference. Margaret was a bit concerned that Maximilian’s double-dealing would anger Edward IV, but the King seemed unperturbed and escorted his sister from London as she left to return home.
Before departing from England, Margaret spent a week in Kent, where she visited the shrine of St Thomas à Becket, staying at the private estate of Anthony Wydeville, Earl Rivers. Their shared interest in books and philosophy fostered their friendship. Anthony’s patronage of Caxton, Margaret’s protégé, must surely have been part of their conversation, along with the three books Anthony had translated and Caxton had printed.
Shortly after Margaret’s departure, Queen Elizabeth, aged forty-three, gave birth on 10 November 1480 to the last of her children, Bridget. The christening took place in the chapel at Eltham on the day following Bridget’s birth, an elaborate ceremony that began with a procession of knights, esquires and ‘other honest persons’ carrying 100 torches. Lord Maltravers carried the basin, ‘having a towel placed around his neck’. The Earl of Northumberland carried an unlighted taper and the Earl of Lincoln the salt. Under a canopy carried by three knights and a baron, Lady Maltravers (the Queen’s sister Margaret) walked with Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, who carried the baby with the assistance of the Marquis of Dorset (Elizabeth’s eldest son).
The Bishop of Chichester baptised the child, placing salt in the baby’s mouth to preserve its body and soul, wetting the baby’s ears and nostrils with saliva, smearing oil on its breast and back, then totally immersing the child in the font three times – once on the right side, once on the left, and once face downwards. The baby’s godmothers at the font were the Duchess of York (paternal grandmother) and the Lady Princess Elizabeth (the baby’s eldest sister). Her godfather was the Bishop of Winchester. Among the men present were Lord Hastings, the King’s chamberlain, Lord Stanley, steward of the King’s house, and Lord Dacre, the Queen’s chamberlain, as well as the baby’s brother, the Duke of York.20 Following baptism, Lady Maltravers stood as godmother for the baby’s confirmation. Presented before the high altar, the child was then carried into a curtained section of the church where she received gifts from her godparents.
Finally, the new little princess was taken to her mother’s bedside, where Elizabeth and Edward named her Bridget in honour of the Swedish nun St Bridget. The name chosen for her daughter foretold the life that Queen Elizabeth would soon choose for herself. St Bridget had served as chief lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Sweden before she and her husband departed on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Quitting the court completely, Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, the Bridgettines, who devoted themselves to spirituality, study, and a simple lifestyle. Within seven years, Elizabeth Wydeville would make a similar decision.
An inherent sadness marks the life of this last of the royal children. Little is known about Bridget. Apparently no marriages were negotiated for her, and she entered the Dominican convent at Dartford at the age of ten in 1490.21 Bridget’s obscurity and religious seclusion have led to speculation that the child might have been developmentally disabled in ways that precluded participation in courtly activities. On the other hand, Elizabeth’s own retreat to Bermondsey convent in 1487 may have persuaded her that the cloistered life offered the most tranquil and ideal future for this youngest of her children.
Her growing family did not prevent the Queen from joining Edward IV on his journeys, and in September 1481 they visited Oxford University, where Elizabeth’s brother Lionel served as chancellor. A graduate of Oxford with a Doctor of Divinity degree, Lionel had been appointed Dean of Exeter in November 1478 and Chancellor of Oxford University in 1479. The visit was an extended family affair, with the King’s sister Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk, visiting her son Edmund de la Pole, who was studying there.
The royal entourage arrived at Oxford on the evening of 22 September 1481, causing a great stir as their carriages entered the city preceded by a crowd of people carrying torches. They were taken to Magdalen College, where Lionel greeted the party with a speech. The next day offered more speeches and a tour of the college. On the third day, the King attended the public Disputations and heard the Divinity Lecture delivered by Chancellor Lionel Wydeville. After visiting other parts of the University and hearing ‘Scholastical exercises’, Edward ‘departed with great content’.22
The years of happiness and splendour, however, were about to change, as the royal family entered a period of mourning and decline. Anne Mowbray, the child bride of Prince Richard, died on 19 November 1481, not quite nine years old, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Within months, the Princess Mary, recently betrothed to the King of Denmark, died at Greenwich on 23 May 1482, at the age of fourteen.
Mary’s funeral procession reflected her royal state and far exceeded the rites to be given her mother a decade later. From Greenwich Church, where a dirge was sung, the funeral train moved to Kingston-on-Thames, where it spent the night. The next morning a canopy, supported at each corner by a gentleman, was placed over the hearse, and the procession continued, augmented by thirty poor men carrying torches. Along the way, villagers in mourning paid their respects to the cortege. When it reached Eton, the Mayor and aldermen of Windsor, dressed in white liveries and carrying torches, met the hearse for the final journey to St George’s Chapel at Windsor. Here Mary was buried next to her brother George, who had died four years earlier. Neither the King nor Queen are mentioned in surviving accounts of the burial.23 Elizabeth was represented at the services by her chamberlain, Lord Dacre, and by her sister, Lady Grey of Ruthin, and several nieces. As King, Edward IV would not have attended the burial.
Almost immediately, Edward left for the north where his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester was commanding the troops fighting with Scotland. Included in the King’s troops were 500 men commanded by Sir Edward Wydeville, who was
appointed ‘to attend upon my lord of Gloucester’.24 Edward IV’s sojourn in the north was brief, and he returned without personally engaging in the battles that Gloucester efficiently won by August 1482. Bad news from the continent greeted the King in London. The peace conference between France and Burgundy had resulted in the Treaty of Arras, signed on 23 December 1482. Its provisions included the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy, to the Dauphin Charles of France, who had been betrothed to Princess Elizabeth! Not only did Edward IV lose that long-desired union of England and France, but the concord between Burgundy and France caused Louis XI to terminate on Michaelmas 1482 the annual pension he had been sending Edward IV.25
The calamities of 1481 and 1482 brought heartache, pain – and perhaps fear – to Queen Elizabeth. The royal family, nevertheless, celebrated Christmas 1482 with stunning displays of wealth, fashion and familial prosperity:
King Edward kept the following feast of the Nativity at his palace of Westminster, frequently appearing clad in a great variety of most costly garments, of quite a different cut to those which had been usually seen hitherto in our kingdom. The sleeves of the robes were very full and hanging, greatly resembling a monk’s frock, and so lined within with most costly furs, and rolled over the shoulders, as to give that prince a new and distinguished air to beholders, he being a person of most elegant appearance, and remarkable beyond all others for the attractions of his person. You might have seen, in those days, the royal court presenting no other appearance than such as fully befits a most mighty kingdom, filled with riches and with people of almost all nations, and (a point in which it excelled all others) boasting of those most sweet and beautiful children, the issue of his marriage… with queen Elizabeth.26
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