Читать книгу Blood Sisters: The Hidden Lives of the Women Behind the Wars of the Roses - Sarah Gristwood - Страница 8

ANNE: the name borne by Anne Neville (1456–85); daughter to the Earl of Warwick, wife first to Edward of Lancaster and then to Richard III. Her mother was another Anne, the heiress Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick (1426–90). Anne was also the name given to the Duchess of Exeter (1439–76), eldest daughter of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville and sister to Edward IV and Richard III. Other English noblewomen bearing the name include one of Cecily’s sisters, who became Duchess of Buckingham; one of Edward IV’s daughters; and Anne Mowbray who was married in childhood to Edward’s youngest son.

BEAUFORT: the family name of Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), mother to Henry VII, and of the Dukes of Somerset, one of whom was Margaret’s father. The Beaufort family also included Cardinal Beaufort, advisor to Henry VI.

BUTLER, ELEANOR (?–1468): born Eleanor Talbot; the woman who was later said to have been secretly married to Edward IV.

CECILY NEVILLE (or Cicely, 1415–95): matriarch of the York dynasty; wife to Richard, Duke of York; mother to Edward IV and Richard III. The name was also shared by Cecily’s granddaughter (Edward IV’s daughter, 1469–1507).

CLARENCE, GEORGE, DUKE OF (1449–78): son to Cecily Neville and Richard Duke of York. The second of their sons to survive into maturity, Clarence was famously executed on the orders of his brother Edward IV.

DORSET, MARQUIS OF (1455–1501): the title bestowed on Thomas Grey, the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband, John Grey.

EDMUND, EARL OF RUTLAND (1443–60): second son to Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville, killed young in battle.

EDWARD: this name was borne most importantly by Edward IV (1442–83), eldest son to Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville; and by his own eldest son (1470–83?), the elder of the ‘Princes in the Tower’, who would have reigned as Edward V. The name Edward was also bestowed, however, on the eldest sons both of Henry VI (‘Edward of Lancaster’, 1453–71) and of Richard III (‘Edward of Middleham’, 1476?–84). Both were, in their time, also Prince of Wales. The name Edward may have been considered particularly suitable for kings or prospective kings, perhaps because the last undisputed king of England had been the mighty Edward III. Henry VIII, in the next century, would also call his son ‘Edward’.

ELIZABETH: the name borne by Elizabeth Woodville (1437–92), queen to Edward IV, and by their daughter Elizabeth of York (1466–1503), who would marry Henry VII. It was also the name borne by Edward IV’s sister (1444–1503), who became Duchess of Suffolk.

GEORGE: see Clarence, above.

GLOUCESTER, RICHARD, DUKE OF: the title borne in early adulthood by the future Richard III.

HENRY: the name borne by successive Lancastrian and later Tudor kings; Henry V (1387–1422), Henry VI (1421–71), Henry VII (‘Henry Tudor’, 1457–1509) and Henry VIII (1491–1547).

ISABEL NEVILLE (1451–76): daughter to the Earl of Warwick and elder sister to Anne Neville, wife to George, Duke of Clarence.

JACQUETTA WOODVILLE (1415?–72): born Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, wife to Sir Richard Woodville, subsequently created Earl Rivers. She had previously, by her first marriage, been Duchess of Bedford.

KATHERINE: the name borne by one of Edward IV’s daughters, and also given to Katherine Gordon, wife to the pretender Perkin Warbeck. Also Katherine (or Catherine) of Aragon (1485–1536): daughter of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, she was brought to England to marry Arthur, son to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She subsequently became the first wife of Arthur’s brother Henry VIII.

LANCASTER: the name of one of the two great rival houses, the other being York, sometimes identified by the symbol of the red rose.

MARGARET: besides Margaret Beaufort, the name was borne by Margaret (or Marguerite) of Anjou (1430–82), queen to Henry VI and mother to Edward of Lancaster. Margaret (Margaret ‘of Burgundy’ or ‘of York’, 1446–1503) was also the name of the youngest daughter of Cecily Neville and Richard, Duke of York, sister to Edward IV and Richard III, who was married to Charles, Duke of Burgundy. Yet another Margaret was Margaret Tudor (1489–1541), eldest daughter of Elizabeth of York and Henry VII, who was married to the king of Scots.

MARY: the younger daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was Mary Tudor (1495/6–1533), who would be married to the king of France. The name also belonged to Mary of York (1467–82), one of Elizabeth of York’s sisters, as well as to Mary of Burgundy.

NEVILLE: name of the great northern family to which Cecily and Anne both belonged, Anne’s father Warwick being the son of Cecily’s brother, Salisbury. The Neville family was a particularly extensive one, not all of whose members would necessarily be on the same side.

PASTON: name of the Norfolk gentry family whose letters, down the generations, provide an invaluable background to this period.

RICHARD: name borne by Richard, Duke of York (1411–60); by his youngest son Richard III (1452–85); and by the younger of the two ‘Princes in the Tower’ (1473–83?).

SOMERSET, DUKES OF: John Beaufort, Earl (later first Duke) of Somerset (1404–44) was Margaret Beaufort’s father. He was succeeded by his brother Edmund Beaufort, second Duke of Somerset (1405–55), who in turn was succeeded by his son Henry, the third duke (1436–64). When Henry was executed his younger brother, another Edmund (1439–71), assumed the title of fourth duke, although it was never formally granted to him.

STAFFORD, SIR HENRY (1425?–71): second husband of Margaret Beaufort, a son to the Duke of Buckingham.

STANLEY, THOMAS, LORD STANLEY, EARL OF DERBY (1435?–1504): third husband of Margaret Beaufort and a powerful magnate.

SUFFOLK, WILLIAM DE LA POLE, DUKE OF (1396–1450): favourite minister of Henry VI and Marguerite of Anjou. He was married to Alice Chaucer (1404–75), a granddaughter of the poet Chaucer. William was succeeded by his son John (1442–91) who, despite the family’s Lancastrian affiliations, was married to Elizabeth, sister to Edward IV and Richard III, daughter of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville.

TUDOR: the family name of Henry VII, of his father Edmund (1428–56) and his uncle Jasper (1431–95). The Welsh Tudors were a comparatively obscure family until Edmund’s father Owen (1400–61) became the second husband of Henry V’s widow.

WARWICK, RICHARD NEVILLE, EARL OF (1428–71): known as the ‘Kingmaker’ for the prominent role he played in placing the house of York on what had previously been a Lancastrian throne. He was the father of Isabel and Anne Neville, both of whom he married to York brothers.

WOODVILLE (or Wydeville): the birth family of Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV’s queen. Notable among her numerous siblings was her eldest brother Anthony (1440?–83), who became Earl Rivers on his father’s death.

YORK: (as in Richard, Duke of, above). The second of the two great warring families, often identified by the symbol of a white rose.

Of the seven women whose stories I explore, the fashions of the times mean that two are called Elizabeth and three, Margaret. I have therefore referred to the York princess who married the Burgundian ruler as Margaret ‘of Burgundy’, while giving Margaret of Anjou the French appellation she herself continued sometimes to use after marriage – Marguerite. The family originally spelt as ‘Wydeville’ has been given its more familiar appellation of ‘Woodville’, and other spellings and forms have sometimes been modernised. The quotations at the top of each chapter have been drawn from Shakespeare’s history plays.