Very recently, I read a book written by Philippa Gregory called The White Queen, a book about Elizabeth Woodville who was the wife of king Edward IV of England, making her the Queen of England from 1465–1470 and again from 1471–1483, and was nicknamed the White Queen.
I can’t really remember how I came into possession of the book (I think I bought it at a used book store), but it sat on my bookshelf for a long time before I decided to read it and to be honest, I never thought historical fiction was my cup of tea persay, but oh my goodness was I wrong. The book takes place between the years of 1464 and ends in 1485 and tells the story of how Elizabeth met the new King of England in 1464 and fell in love at first sight, got married, had 10 children (can you imagine?) and ends with his death and the aftershock that came from her husbands death.
Elizabeth Woodville was born around 1437 in Northhamptomshire, England to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg and was the oldest of 14 children (that’s right, 14 children). She was married twice during her lifetime first to Sir John Grey in 1452, but the marriage ended in 1461 when John was killed during the battle of St. Albans during the War of the Roses. Together, the couple had two boys: Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset and Richard Grey.
In 1464, Elizabeth met King Edward IV, the young York King as he and his procession were going by. Her plan was to implore the King to re-establish her dowager lands which had been taken from her after her first husband’s death. That same year, the two of them married in secret with on only her mother and two ladies in attendance and was crowned Queen in 1465. In 1470, The King lost a battle to his younger brother, George who with the help of Richard “The Kingmaker” Neville, Earl of Warwick, reinstalled Henry VI as King.
After the battle, Edward fled to Flanders where he gathered as much support as he could and in 1471 invaded England and took back the throne where he and Elizabeth reined from 1471 until his death in 1483. Edward and Elizabeth were married for almost 20 years before he died suddenly.
Elizabeth’s oldest son, Thomas Grey would grow up to get married twice first to Lady Anne Holland whom he married around 1466, but sadly she died in 1474 without having any children. Thomas married secondly to Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington of Aldinham and 7th Baroness Bonville on September 5, 1474. The couple went on to have 14 children before Thomas died in 1501 at the age of 46. His wife would later follow him in death 28 years later at the age of 68.
Elizabeth’s second oldest son, Richard Grey grew up to be knighted by his stepfather in 1474 and was even nominated four times for a membership to The Most Noble Order of the Garter and was never married nor did he have any children. Richard and his Uncle Anthony (Elizabeth’s brother) took part in protecting and raising his younger half brother, Prince Edward when the young Prince was moved to Ludlow Castle. After the King died in 1483, Richard along with Anthony set out to escort Prince Edward to London so that he could be coronated as King Edward V. Sadly that never happened as the late King’s brother, Richard captured them and established that the marriage between Elizabeth and Edward IV was invalid and he himself was crowned King Richard III. Once that happened, both Richard Grey and Anthony Woodville was executed in 1483.
In total, Elizabeth Woodville had 12 children and out of all of them, only 8 of them lived to see adulthood. Her two oldest sons by the king are well known today as the Princes in the Tower and although it’s not exactly clear what happened to them, they were likely killed in the Tower of London when they were 12 and 10 years old. Her fourth daughter, Margaret of York died in infancy and her youngest son, George, Duke of Bedford died when he was only 2 years old.
Elizabeth would later live out the rest of her life in around Surrey, England and died 1492 when she was about 55 years old. She would live long enough to see her oldest daughter get married to King Henry VII, which made her Queen of England from 1466–1503. The marriage between her daughter and Henry marked an end to the War of the Roses. Elizabeth Woodville is the maternal grandmother to King Henry VIII.
