Richard III planned to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York, after his wife, Anne Neville, died from tuberculosis. Elizabeth also pressured her daughter to accept the King’s advances in a bid to restore her own power and prestige rather than maternal feelings or common sense.
Richard was worried about scandal, his council opposed it, and he needed a dispensation from Rome so these plans came to nothing. (The Church actually granted dispensations for unlawful and incestuous marriages!)
Lancastrian forces led by Henry Tudor invaded in August 1485. Richard was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth two weeks later. Richard’s army outnumbered the Lancastrians, but three noblemen betrayed him by changing sides.
Henry VII
Henry was crowned at Westminster Abbey in a splendid ceremony on 30 October 1485.
Elizabeth’s jointure, along with her rights and privileges as a dowager queen, were restored. The Act of Parliament which confiscated her property was repealed, but Henry VIII granted Elizabeth an income of £400 but he retained her property.
Parliament also declared Elizabeth’s marriage valid and her children were legitimised once more.
Henry married Elizabeth of York, once he received a papal dispensation. Their eldest son arrived eight months later.
Queen-Dowager
Elizabeth’s dignity was restored as Queen-Dowager. She was appointed principal godmother at her grandson Arthur’s christening held in Winchester Cathedral in 1486.
Margaret Beaufort resented giving precedence to a former Queen, so she schemed to remove Elizabeth from court.[1] Henry suspected Elizabeth of plotting with Yorkist conspirators against him in 1486.
Her dower lands were confiscated again and her pension reduced to 400 marks. Henry couldn’t afford to support both his wife and mother-in-law. Some of her lands were given to the new Queen.
Henry VII negotiated a marriage for Elizabeth with the widowed James III of Scotland to strengthen the alliance. James’ violent death dashed any hopes of becoming Queen of Scotland.
Elizabeth was forced to retire to Bermondsey Abbey, where many royal ladies sought monastic seclusion for health and spiritual purposes.
Elizabeth visited the court when her granddaughter, Margaret, was born in 1489, and assist her daughter hosting a reception for foreign dignitaries in 1490.
Her second grandson—the future Henry VIII—was born in 1491.
Death
She died, surrounded by her daughters, on 8 June 1492 at Bermondsey Abbey from a fatal illness.
Only three of her five daughters—Anne, Catherine and Bridget—actually attended their mother’s funeral on 12 June, as Elizabeth was expecting her fourth child.
Elizabeth had requested a speedy and quiet funeral. Nevertheless Yorkist supporters were appalled at the miserliness of the ceremony and procession.
Elizabeth was laid to rest beside her husband, Edward IV, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Her descendants include the present British royal family.
© 2008 Carolyn Cash
NB: Elizabeth's family name is often, and incorrectly, spelt "Woodville" according to Alison Weir, The Princes in the Tower, p 19
Part I - Elizabeth Wydville
Part II – Elizabeth Wydville in Sanctuary
Part III - Elizabeth Wydville and Richard III
Sources
Griffiths, Ralph A, and, Thomas, Roger S, The Making of the Tudor Dynasty
Hilliam, David, Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards
Perry, Maria, Sisters To The King
Plowden, Alison, Tudor Women: Queens & Commoners
Starkey, David, Monarchy: From the Middle Ages To Modernity
Strickland, Agnes, Lives of the Queens of England, Elizabeth Woodville
Weir, Alison, The Princes in the Tower
Weir, Alison, Lancaster & York: The Wars of the Roses
Williams, Neville, The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England [edited by Antonia Fraser], Henry VII
Williamson, David, Debrett's Kings and Queens of Britain
Monarchy - Elizabeth Woodville
[1] Starkey, David, Monarchy: From the Middle Ages To Modernity, HarperCollins Publishers, London, 2006, pp 20-21
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