August 8, 1503: King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor

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6th Earl of Angus, Archibald Douglas, Battle of Flodden, Elizabeth of York, Henry Stuart, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, House of Stewart, House of Tudor, King James IV of Scotland, Lord Darnley, Louis XI of France, Margaret Tudor, Pope Julius II, Queen Mary I of Scotland

Margaret Tudor (November 28, 1489 – October 18, 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She was the eldest daughter and second child of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the sister of King Henry VIII of England.

Margaret married James IV at the age of 13, in accordance with the Treaty of Perpetual Peace between England and Scotland. Together, they had six children, though only one of them reached adulthood. Margaret’s marriage to James IV linked the royal houses of England and Scotland, which a century later resulted in the Union of the Crowns.

Early life

Margaret was born on November 28, 1489 in the Palace of Westminster in London to King Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. She was their second child and firstborn daughter. Her siblings included Arthur, Prince of Wales, the future King Henry VIII, and Mary, who would briefly become Queen of France.

Margaret Tudor

Margaret was baptised in St. Margaret’s, Westminster on St Andrew’s Day. She was named after Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, her paternal grandmother. Her nurse was Alice Davy.

On September 30, 1497, James IV’s commissioner, the Spaniard Pedro de Ayala concluded a lengthy truce with England, and now the marriage was again a serious possibility. James IV was in his late twenties and still unmarried. The Italian historian Polydore Vergil said that some of the English royal council objected to the match, saying that it would bring the Stewarts directly into the line of English succession, to which the wily and astute Henry replied:

What then? Should anything of the kind happen (and God avert the omen), I foresee that our realm would suffer no harm, since England would not be absorbed by Scotland, but rather Scotland by England, being the noblest head of the entire island, since there is always less glory and honour in being joined to that which is far the greater, just as Normandy once came under the rule and power of our ancestors the English.

On January 24, 1502, Scotland and England concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, the first peace agreement between the two realms in over 170 years. The marriage treaty was concluded the same day and was viewed as a guarantee of the new peace. Margaret remained in England, but was now known as the “Queen of Scots”.

Marriage and progress

The marriage was completed by proxy on January 25, 1503 at Richmond Palace. The Earl of Bothwell was proxy for the Scottish king and wore a gown of cloth-of-gold at the ceremony in the Queen’s great chamber. He was accompanied by Robert Blackadder, archbishop of Glasgow, and Andrew Forman, postulate of Moray.

The herald, John Young, reported that “right notable jousts” followed the ceremony. Prizes were awarded the next morning, and the tournament continued another day.

The new queen was provided with a large wardrobe of clothes, and her crimson state bed curtains made of Italian sarcenet were embroidered with red Lancastrian roses. Clothes were also made for her companion, Lady Catherine Gordon, the widow of Perkin Warbeck. The clothes were embroidered by John Flee.

James IV, King of Scotland

In May 1503, James IV confirmed her possession of lands and houses in Scotland, including Methven Castle, Stirling Castle, Doune Castle, Linlithgow Palace and Newark Castle in Ettrick Forest, with the incomes from the corresponding earldom and lordship lands.

Later in 1503, months after the death of her mother, Queen Elizabeth (of York) Margaret came to Scotland; her progress was a grand journey northward. She left Richmond Palace on June 27, with Henry VII, and they travelled first to Collyweston in Northamptonshire.

At York a plaque commemorates the exact spot where the Queen of Scots entered its gates. After crossing the border at Berwick upon Tweed on August 1, 1503, Margaret was met by the Scottish court at Lamberton. At Dalkeith Palace, James came to kiss her goodnight. He came again to console her on August 4 after a stable fire had killed some of her favourite horses. Her riding gear, including a new sumpter cloth or pallion of cloth-of-gold worth £127 was destroyed in the fire.

At a meadow a mile from Edinburgh, there was a pavilion where Sir Patrick Hamilton and Patrick Sinclair played and fought in the guise of knights defending their ladies.

On August 8, 1503, the marriage was celebrated in person in Holyrood Abbey. The rites were performed by the archbishop of Glasgow and Thomas Savage, archbishop of York. Two days later, on St Lawrence’s day, Margaret went to mass at St Giles’, the town’s Kirk, as her first public appointment. The details of the proxy marriage, progress, arrival, and reception in Edinburgh were recorded by the Somerset Herald, John Young.

The marriage led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when Elizabeth I of England died without heirs and James IV’s great-grandson James VI succeeded to the English throne.

The long period of domestic peace after 1497 allowed James IV to focus more on foreign policy, which included the sending of several of his warships to aid his uncle, King Hans of Denmark, in his conflict with Sweden; amicable relations with the Pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Louis XII of France; and James’s aspiration to lead a European naval crusade against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. James was granted the title of Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith in 1507 by Pope Julius II.

Following the death of James IV at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Margaret, as queen dowager, was appointed as regent for their son, King James V.

A pro-French party took shape among the nobility, urging that she should be replaced by John, Duke of Albany, the closest male relative to the infant king. In seeking allies, Margaret turned to the Douglases, and in 1514 she married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, which alienated the nobility and saw her replaced as regent by Albany.

In 1524, Margaret, with the help of the Hamiltons, removed Albany from power in a coup d’état while he was in France, and was recognised by Parliament as regent, then later as chief counsellor to King James V.

Following her divorce from Angus in 1527, Margaret married her third husband, Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven. Through her first and second marriages, Margaret was the grandmother of both Queen Mary I of Scotland, and Mary’s second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

Lady Margaret Beaufort. Conclusion

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Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, House of Tudor, King Henry VII of England, King Henry VIII of England, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Prince Arthur

After her son’s victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Countess was referred to in court of Henry VII as “My Lady the King’s Mother”. Her son’s first Parliament reversed the attainder against her and declared her a feme sole. This status granted Beaufort considerable legal and social independence from men. She was allowed to own property separately from her husband (as though she were unmarried) and sue in court – two rights denied her contemporary married women.

As arranged by their mothers, Henry VII married Elizabeth of York the daughter of Edward IV. The Countess was reluctant to accept a lower status than the dowager Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) or even her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth of York the Queen Consort.

She wore robes of the same quality as the queen consort and walked only half a pace behind her. Elizabeth’s biographer, Amy Licence, states that this “would have been the correct courtly protocol”, adding that “only one person knew how Elizabeth really felt about Margaret and she did not commit it to paper.”

Margaret had written her signature as M. Richmond for years, since the 1460s. In 1499, she changed her signature to Margaret R., perhaps to signify her royal authority (R standing either for regina – queen in Latin as customarily employed by female monarchs – or for Richmond). Furthermore, she included the Tudor crown and the caption et mater Henrici septimi regis Angliæ et Hiberniæ (“and mother of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland”).

Many historians believe the departure from court of Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville in 1487 was partly at the behest of Henry’s influential mother, though this is uncertain.

Beaufort exerted considerable political influence within the Tudor court. The power she exercised was evidently obvious; a report from Spanish envoy Pedro de Ayala dating to 1498 claimed Henry VII was “much influenced by his mother and his followers in affairs or personal interest and in others.” In the earlier years of her son’s reign, records indicate Margaret usually accompanied the royal couple when they traveled.

While Margaret’s position in the royal court was, to some extent, an expression of gratitude by her son, she was likely far less the passive recipient of Henry’s favor one might expect.

Later in her marriage, the Countess preferred living alone. In 1499, with her husband’s permission, she took a vow of chastity in the presence of Richard FitzJames, Bishop of London. Taking a vow of chastity while being married was unusual but not unprecedented.

The Countess moved away from her husband and lived alone at Collyweston, Northamptonshire (near Stamford). She was regularly visited by her husband, who had rooms reserved for him. Margaret renewed her vows in 1504. From her principal residence at Collyweston she was given a special commission to administer justice over the Midlands and the North.

Margaret was also actively involved in the domestic life of the royal family. She created a proper protocol regarding the birth and upbringing of royal heirs. Though their relationship is often portrayed as antagonistic, Margaret and her daughter-in-law Elizabeth worked together when planning the marriages of the royal children.

They wrote jointly of the necessary instruction for Catherine of Aragon, who was to marry Elizabeth’s son Prince Arthur. Both women also conspired to prevent Elizabeth and Henry’s daughter Margaret from being married to the Scottish king, James IV, at too young an age; in this matter, Gristwood writes, Margaret was undoubtedly resolved that her granddaughter “should not share her fate”.

Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland

After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1503, Margaret became the principal female presence at court. When Prince Arthur died, Margaret played a part in ensuring her grandson Prince Henry, Duke of York, the new heir apparent, was raised appropriately by selecting some members of his new household.

The Countess was known for her education and her piety. Biographers Jones and Underwood claim the entirety of Beaufort’s life can be understood in the context of her “deeply-felt love and loyalty to her son”. Henry is said to have been likewise devoted.

Henry VII died on April 21, 1509, aged 52, having designated his mother chief executrix of his will. For two days after the death of her son, Margaret scrambled to secure the smooth succession of her grandson, Henry VIII. She arranged her son’s funeral and her grandson’s coronation. At her son’s funeral she was given precedence over all the other women of the royal family.

Before her death Margaret also left her mark on the early reign of Henry VIII; when her eighteen-year-old grandson chose members of his privy council, it was Margaret’s suggestions he took.

Death

The Countess Margaret died in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey on June 29, 1509, (probably aged 66). This was the day after her grandson Henry VIII’s 18th birthday, 5 days after his coronation and just over two months after the death of her son Henry VII. She is buried in the Henry VII Chapel of the Abbey. Her tomb is now situated between the later graves of William III and Mary II and the tomb of her great-great-granddaughter Mary I, Queen of Scots.

April 30, 1513: Execution of Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk

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3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, Battle of Bosworth Field, Edmund de la Pole, Edward IV of England, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, House of Tudor, Richard III of England

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, KG (c. 1471 – April 30, 1513), Duke of Suffolk, was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, the sixth child and third daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (a great-grandson of King Edward III) and Cecily Neville. She was thus a sister of King Edward IV and of King Richard III.

Although the male York line ended with the death of Edward Plantagenet 17th Earl of Warwick (February 25, 1475 – November 28, 1499) who was the son of Isabel Neville and George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III.

The 17th Earl of Warwick was a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both his uncle, Richard III (1483–1485), and Richard’s usurper, Henry VII (1485–1509). He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury.

The Poles at first swore loyalty to the Tudor king of England, they later tried to claim the throne as the Yorkist claimant. Edmund was ultimately executed at the Tower of London.

Yorkist claim

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk

Edmund de la Pole was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and Elizabeth of York. His mother was the second surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. She was also a younger sister to Kings Edward IV and Richard III.

Service to the Tudors

De la Pole’s eldest brother John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1464 – 1487), was the designated heir of their maternal uncle Richard III, who gave him a pension and the reversion of the estates of Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Meanwhile, Edmund was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Richard III, and was present at the coronation of his cousin Elizabeth of York in 1487. Following the Battle of Bosworth Field, Lincoln took the oath of allegiance to Elizabeth’s husband, Henry VII, instead of claiming the throne for himself. In 1487, Lincoln joined the rebellion of Lambert Simnel and was killed at the Battle of Stoke.

After the death of his older brother, Edmund became the leading Yorkist claimant to the throne, and succeeded to the title Duke of Suffolk in 1492. Edmund took part in the Siege of Boulogne in October 1492.

However, he is said to have subsequently agreed with King Henry VII, by Indenture dated February 26, 1492/3, to surrender the dukedom (with, apparently, the marquessate) of Suffolk, and to be known henceforth as the Earl of Suffolk only, this being ratified by Act of Parliament in 1495.

In consideration of this surrender and “of the true and diligent service done to his Highness by the said Edmund” the King granted to him, for £5,000, a portion of the lands forfeited by his elder brother John, Earl of Lincoln, in 1487.

Suffolk was one of the leaders against the Cornish rebels at Blackheath, June 17, 1497. However, in Michaelmas term 1498 he was indicted for murder in the King’s Bench and, though afterwards pardoned, he fled overseas to Guisnes, July 1499, returning to England after September.

He was at this time recorded as stout and bold and of courage. On May 5, 1500 he witnessed at Canterbury the treaty for the marriage of King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth’s son Prince Arthur with Catherine of Aragon.

He then left for France, arriving there on the 13th, and attended the King at his meeting with Archduke Philipp of Austria, and titular Duke of Burgundy at Calais, on June 9, 1500.

Yorkist claimant

In August 1501 he and his brother Richard again left England without royal leave (apparently assisted by James Tyrrell, who was subsequently executed for these actions), and joining Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in the Tyrol, he assumed his former title of Duke of Suffolk, being also known as the “White Rose” (Yorkist Pretender).

For his alleged projected rebellion he was proclaimed an outlaw at Ipswich, December 26, 1502, and with his brothers William (arrested on suspicion and sent to the Tower, which he never left, early in 1502) and Richard, was attainted in Parliament January 1503/4, whereby all his honours were forfeited, backdated to July 1, 1499. Seward relates that throughout this period until Edmund’s death he used a Thomas Killingworth, gentleman of East Anglia and London, as his Steward, for which Killingworth later received a Royal Pardon.

On July 28, 1502 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian signed a treaty at Augsberg whereby, in return for £10,000, he undertook not to help the English rebels.

Nevertheless, Suffolk was allowed to remain at Aix, 1502–04, though on leaving he had to leave his brother Richard as hostage for his debts. Upon leaving Aix about April 1504 in an attempt to join the Duke of Saxony in Friesland, he was imprisoned by the Duke of Gueldres at Hattem and subsequently by Archduke Philipp of Austria and Duke of Burgundy, at Namur into 1506.

Imprisonment and execution
While sailing to Spain to secure his wife Joanna’s inheritance of the Crown of Castile, Archduke Philipp of Austria (future King Felipe I of Castile) was blown off course to England, and reluctantly and unexpectedly became a guest of Henry VII.

Needing to continue his journey, Archduke Philipp was persuaded by Henry to hand over the Earl of Suffolk in the treaty Malus Intercursus. Henry VII committed the Earl to the Tower on his arrival in London, late in March 1505/6.

On the accession of Henry VII and Elizabeth’s son Henry VIII, Edmund being still in the Tower, was (with his two brothers) excepted from the new king’s general pardon of April 30, 1509. After being a prisoner in the Tower for 7 years, he was (since his brother Richard had joined the service of France, with whom England was then at war), without any further proceedings, beheaded on Tower Hill aged about 42.

Montaigne, in his Essays, said that Henry VII, in his will, instructed his son to put Suffolk to death immediately after his own death, and the author criticized the father for requiring that his son do what he himself would not.

Marriage and heirs

Edmund married, before October 10, 1496, Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Scrope, second son of Henry Scrope, 4th Baron Scrope of Bolton. Margaret died in 1515. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who became a nun and died of the Black Plague in the Convent of the Minoresses without Aldgate, London, in 1515.

Edmund’s younger brother, Richard de la Pole, declared himself Earl of Suffolk and was the leading Yorkist pretender until his death at the Battle of Pavia on February 24, 1525.

January 18, 1486 ~ King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

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Battle of Bosworth Field, Catherine of Valois, Duke of Richmond, Edmund Tudor, Edward IV of England, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Owen Tudor, Richard III of England, Wars of the Roses

Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on August 22, 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle to Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died three months before his birth. Henry’s paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of King Henry V.

Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Owen Tudor rose to become one of the “Squires to the Body to the King” after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of King Henry V, Catherine of Valois. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry’s father. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and “formally declared legitimate by Parliament”.

Henry’s mother, Margaret, provided Henry’s main claim to the English throne through the House of Beaufort. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III), and his third wife Katherine Swynford.

Initially Katherine was Gaunt’s mistress for about 25 years. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry’s great-grandfather John Beaufort. Thus, Henry’s claim was somewhat tenuous; it was from a woman, and by illegitimate descent.

Hereditarily the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim to the throne of England than the Beaufort family since they were descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile.

John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II legitimised Gaunt’s children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV, Gaunt’s son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for the throne.

Elizabeth of York, Queen of England and Lady of Ireland

Henry IV’s action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament.

Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry Tudor was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret’s uncle, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset.

By 1483, Henry’s mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III, despite her being married to Lord Stanley, a Yorkist. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. She was Edward’s heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard III quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. Though outnumbered, Henry’s Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard III’s Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 22, 1485. Several of Richard’s key allies, such as Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, and also Lord Stanley and his brother William, crucially switched sides or left the battlefield. Richard III’s death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses.

To secure his hold on the throne, Henry declared himself king by right of conquest retroactively from August 21, 1485, the day before Bosworth Field. Thus, anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason and Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III, while restoring his own.

On January 18, 1486 Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes, and he was largely successful.

However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example) with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne.

Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife.

September 19/20, 1486: Birth of Arthur, Princes Wales and Earl of Chester

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By Proxy Wedding, Catherine of Aragon, Edward IV of England and Ireland, Elizabeth of York, Fernando II of Aragon, Henry VII of England and Ireland, House of Tudor, Isabella I of Castile, Wars of the Roses

Arthur Tudor (September 19/20, 1486 – April 2, 1502) was Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester and Duke of Cornwall. As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor and the House of Lancaster.

Henry VII became King of England and Lord of Ireland upon defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. In an effort to strengthen the Tudor claim to the throne, Henry decided on marying naming Elizabeth of York, the daughter of the Yorkist king, Edward IV. To further solidify the House of Tudor on the English throne Henry named his firstborn son “Arthur” and born in Winchester where Legend of King Arthur originated in order to emphasise the Welsh origin of the Tudors.

On this occasion, Camelot was identified as present-day Winchester, and his wife, Elizabeth of York, was sent to Saint Swithun’s Priory (today Winchester Cathedral Priory) in order to give birth there. Born at Saint Swithun’s Priory on the night of September 19/20, 1486 at about 1 am, Arthur was Henry and Elizabeth’s eldest child. Arthur’s birth was anticipated by French and Italian humanists eager for the start of a “Virgilian golden age”.

Young Arthur was viewed as “a living symbol” of not only the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York, but also of the end of the Wars of the Roses. In the opinion of contemporaries, Arthur was the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor.

Arthur became Duke of Cornwall at birth and on November 29, 1489, after being made a Knight of the Bath, Arthur was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, and was invested as such at the Palace of Westminster on February 27, 1490. As part of his investiture ceremony, he progressed down the River Thames in the royal barge and was met at Chelsea by the Lord Mayor of London, John Mathewe, and at Lambeth by Spanish ambassadors.

The popular belief that Arthur was sickly during his youth stems from a misunderstanding of a 1502 letter, but there are no reports of Arthur being ill during his lifetime. Arthur grew up to be unusually tall for his age, and was considered handsome by the Spanish court: he had reddish hair, small eyes, a high-bridged nose, resembling his brother Henry, who was said to be “extremely handsome” by contemporaries.

Henry VII planned to marry Arthur to a daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon, in order to forge an Anglo-Spanish alliance against France. It was suggested that the choice of marrying Arthur to Ferdinand and Isabella’s youngest daughter, Catherine (b. 1485), would be appropriate.

Thanks to negotiations by the Spanish ambassador Rodrigo González de la Puebla, the Treaty of Medina del Campo (March 27, 1489) provided that Arthur and Catherine would be married as soon as they reached canonical age; it also settled Catherine’s dowry at 200,000 crowns (the equivalent of £5 million in 2021).

Since Arthur, not yet 14, and was below the age of consent, a papal dispensation (i.e., waiver) allowing the marriage was issued in February 1497, and the pair were betrothed by proxy on August 25, 1497. Two years later, a marriage by proxy took place at Arthur’s Tickenhill Manor in Bewdley, near Worcester; Arthur said to Roderigo de Puebla, who had acted as proxy for Catherine, that “he much rejoiced to contract the marriage because of his deep and sincere love for the Princess”.

The young couple exchanged letters in Latin until September 20, 1501, when Arthur, having attained the age of 15, was deemed old enough to be married. Catherine landed in England about two weeks later, on October 2, 1501, at Plymouth. The next month, on November 4, 1501, the couple met for the first time at Dogmersfield in Hampshire.

Arthur wrote to Catherine’s parents that he would be “a true and loving husband”; the couple soon discovered that they had mastered different pronunciations of Latin and so were unable to easily communicate. Five days later, on November 9, 1501, Catherine arrived in London.

On November 14, 1501, the marriage ceremony finally took place at Saint Paul’s Cathedral; both Arthur and Catherine wore white satin. The ceremony was conducted by Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assisted by William Warham, Bishop of London. Following the ceremony, Arthur and Catherine left the Cathedral and headed for Baynard’s Castle, where they were entertained by “the best voiced children of the King’s chapel, who sang right sweetly with quaint harmony”.

What followed was a bedding ceremony laid down by Arthur’s grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort: the bed was sprinkled with holy water, after which Catherine was led away from the wedding feast by her ladies-in-waiting. She was undressed, veiled and “reverently” laid in bed, while Arthur, “in his shirt, with a gown cast about him,” was escorted by his gentlemen into the bedchamber as viols and tabors played. The Bishop of London blessed the bed, and prayed for the marriage to be fruitful, after which the couple were left alone.

After residing at Tickenhill Manor for a month, Arthur and Catherine headed for the Welsh Marches, where they established their household at Ludlow Castle. Arthur had been growing weaker since his wedding, and Henry VII thus seemed reluctant to allow Catherine to follow him, until ultimately ordering her to join her husband. Arthur found it easy to govern Wales, as the border had become quiet after many centuries of warfare.

In March 1502, Arthur and Catherine were afflicted by an unknown illness, “a malign vapour which proceeded from the air.” It has been suggested that this illness was the mysterious English sweating sickness, tuberculosis (“consumption”), plague or influenza. While Catherine recovered, Arthur died on April 2, 1502 at Ludlow, six months short of his sixteenth birthday.

News of Arthur’s death reached Henry VII’s court late on April 4th. The King was awoken from his sleep by his confessor, who quoted Job by asking Henry “If we receive good things at the hands of God, why may we not endure evil things?” He then told the king that “[his] dearest son hath departed to God,” and Henry burst into tears. “Grief-stricken and emotional,” he then had his wife brought into his chambers, so that they might “take the painful news together”; Elizabeth reminded Henry that God had helped him become king and “had ever preserved him,” adding that they had been left with “yet a fair Prince and two fair princesses and that God is where he was, and [they were] both young enough.” Soon after leaving Henry’s bedchamber, Elizabeth collapsed and began to cry, while the ladies sent for the King, who hurriedly came and “relieved her.”

One year after Arthur’s death, Henry VII renewed his efforts of sealing a marital alliance with Spain by arranging for Catherine to marry Arthur’s younger brother Henry, Prince of Wales. Arthur’s untimely death paved the way for Henry to ascend to the throne in 1509 as King Henry VIII. Whether Arthur and Catherine consummated their six-month marriage, was, much later (and in a completely different political context), exploited by Henry VIII and his court. This strategy was employed in order to cast doubt upon the validity of Catherine’s union with Henry VIII, eventually leading to the separation between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

February 11: Birth and Death Anniversary of Elizabeth of York, Queen of England (1466-1503).

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Edward V of England, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VII of England, House of Tudor, House of York, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VIII of England, Kings and Queens of England, Queen of England

Elizabeth of York (February 11, 1466 – February 11, 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. Together, they had seven children.

Elizabeth’s younger brothers, the “Princes in the Tower”, mysteriously disappeared shortly after the death of her father, King Edward IV. Although the 1484 act of Parliament Titulus Regius declared the marriage of her parents, Edward and Elizabeth Woodville, invalid, she and her sisters were subsequently welcomed back to court by Edward’s brother, King Richard III. As a Yorkist princess, the final victory of the Lancastrian faction in the Wars of the Roses may have seemed a further disaster, but Henry Tudor knew the importance of Yorkist support for his invasion and promised to marry Elizabeth before he arrived in England. This may well have contributed to the haemorrhaging of Yorkist support for Richard.

Although Elizabeth seems to have played little part in politics, her marriage appears to have been a successful and happy one. Her eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales, died at age 15 in 1502, and three other children died young. Her second, and only surviving, son became King Henry VIII of England, while her daughters Mary and Margaret became queens of France and of Scotland, respectively; many modern royals, including Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom trace their line through Margaret.

In 1469, aged three, she was briefly betrothed to George Neville. His father John later supported George’s uncle, the Earl of Warwick, in rebellion against King Edward IV, and the betrothal was called off. In 1475, Louis XI agreed to the marriage of nine-year-old Elizabeth of York to his son Charles, the Dauphin of France. In 1482, however, Louis XI reneged on his promise. She was named a Lady of the Garter in 1477, at age eleven, along with her mother and her paternal aunt Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.

Wife of the king

As the eldest daughter of Edward IV with no surviving brothers, Elizabeth of York had a strong claim to the throne in her own right, but she did not assume the throne as queen regnant. There was no queen regnant until 1553, when her granddaughter, Mary I, acceded to the throne; the last attempt a female had made at ruling in her own right resulted in disaster when the mother and first cousin once removed of Henry II of England fought bitterly for the throne in the 12th century. Though initially slow to keep his promise, Henry VII acknowledged the necessity of marrying Elizabeth of York to ensure the stability of his rule and weaken the claims of other surviving members of the House of York. It seems Henry wished to be seen as ruling in his own right, having claimed the throne by right of conquest and not by his marriage to the de facto heiress of the House of York. He had no intention of sharing power. He consequently chose to be crowned on 30 October 1485, before his marriage.

Henry VII had the Act of Titulus Regius repealed, thereby legitimising anew the children of Edward IV, and acknowledging Edward V as his predecessor. Though Richard III was regarded as a usurper, his reign was not ignored. Henry and Elizabeth required a papal dispensation to wed because of Canon Law frowning upon ‘affinity”: Both were descended from John of Gaunt or his older brother Lionel in the 4th degree, an issue that had caused much dispute and bloodshed as to which claim was superior. Two applications were sent, the first more locally, and the second one was slow in reaching Rome and slow to return with the response of the Pope. Ultimately, however, the marriage was approved by papal bull of Pope Innocent VIII dated March 1486 (one month after the wedding) stating that the Pope and his advisors “approveth confirmyth and stablishyth the matrimonye and coniuncion made betwene our sou[er]ayn lord King Henre the seuenth of the house of Lancastre of that one party And the noble Princesse Elyzabeth of the house of Yorke.

Because the journey to Rome and back took many months, and because Henry as king wanted to be certain that nobody could claim that his wedding to Elizabeth was unlawful or sinful, the more local application was obeyed first – it was sent to the papal legate for England and Scotland, which returned in January 1486. Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated at the wedding of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York on 18 January 1486 in Westminster Abbey. Their first son, Arthur, was born on 20 September 1486, eight months after their marriage. Elizabeth of York was crowned queen on 25 November 1487. She gave birth to several more children, but only four survived infancy: Arthur, Margaret, Henry and Mary.

Despite being a political arrangement at first, the marriage proved successful and both partners appear to have slowly fallen in love with each other. Thomas Penn, in his biography of Henry VII writes that “[t]hough founded on pragmatism, Henry and Elizabeth’s marriage had nevertheless blossomed throughout the uncertainty and upheaval of the previous eighteen years. This was a marriage of ‘faithful love’, of mutual attraction, affection and respect, from which the king seems to have drawn great strength.”

Death

In 1502, Elizabeth of York became pregnant once more and spent her confinement period in the Tower of London. On 2 February 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine, but the child died a few days afterwards. Succumbing to a post partum infection, Elizabeth of York died on 11 February, her 37th birthday. Her family seems to have been devastated by her death and mourned her deeply. According to one biographer, the death of Elizabeth “broke the heart” of her husband and “shattered him.” Another account says that Henry Tudor “privily departed to a solitary place and would no man should resort unto him.” This is notable considering that, shortly after Elizabeth’s death, records show he became deathly ill himself and would not allow any except his mother Margaret Beaufort near him, including doctors. For Henry Tudor to show his emotions, let alone any sign of infirmity, was highly unusual and alarming to members of his court. Within a little over two years, King Henry VII lost his oldest son, his wife, his baby daughter, and found himself having to honour the Treaty of Perpetual Peace.

Henry VII entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew the alliance with Spain — Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples), Joanna, Queen of Castile (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella), and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile), were all considered — but he died a widower in 1509. The specifications that Henry gave to his ambassadors outlining what he wanted in a second wife described Elizabeth. On each anniversary of her death, he decreed that a requiem mass be sung, the bells be tolled, and 100 candles be lit in her honour. Henry also continued to employ her minstrels each New Year.

The Tower of London was abandoned as a royal residence, as evidenced by the lack of records of its being used by the royal family after 1503. Royal births in the reign of Elizabeth’s son, Henry VIII, took place in various other palaces.

Henry VII’s reputation for miserliness became worse after Elizabeth’s death.

He was buried with Elizabeth of York under their effigies in his Westminster Abbey chapel. Her tomb was opened in the 19th century and the wood casing of her lead coffin was found to have been removed to create space for the interment of her great-great-grandson James VI-I of England and Scotland.

September 19/20, 1486: Birth of Arthur, Prince of Wales.

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Arthur Tudor, Battle of Bosworth Field, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII of England, House of Tudor, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Henry VIII of England, Prince of Wales, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Richard III of England, Wars of the Roses

Arthur Tudor (September 19/20 1486 – April 2, 1502) was Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester and Duke of Cornwall. As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York.

Henry VII became King of England upon defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. In an effort to strengthen the Tudor claim to the throne, Henry had royal genealogists trace his lineage back to the ancient British rulers and decided on naming his firstborn son after the legendary King Arthur.

On this occasion, Camelot was identified as present-day Winchester, and his wife, Elizabeth of York, was sent to Saint Swithun’s Priory (today Winchester Cathedral Priory) in order to give birth there. Born at Saint Swithun’s Priory on the night of 19/20 September 1486 at about 1 am, Arthur was Henry and Elizabeth’s eldest child. Arthur’s birth was anticipated by French and Italian humanists eager for the start of a “Virgilian golden age”. Sir Francis Bacon wrote that although the Prince was born one month premature, he was “strong and able”.

Young Prince Arthur was viewed as “a living symbol” of not only the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York, to which his mother belonged as the daughter of Edward IV, but also of the end of the Wars of the Roses. In the opinion of contemporaries, Arthur was the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor.

Arthur became Duke of Cornwall at birth. Four days after his birth, he was baptised at Winchester Cathedral by the Bishop of Worcester, John Alcock, which was immediately followed by his confirmation. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel, Queen Elizabeth Woodville and Cecily of York served as godparents; the latter two, his grandmother and aunt, respectively, carried the prince during the ceremony.

Initially, Arthur’s nursery in Farnham was headed by Elizabeth Darcy, who had served as chief nurse for Edward IV’s children, including Arthur’s own mother. After Arthur was created Prince of Wales in 1490, he was awarded a household structure at the behest of his father. Over the next thirteen years, Henry VII and Elizabeth would have six more children, of whom only three—Margaret, Henry and Mary—would reach adulthood. Arthur was especially close to his sister Margaret (b. 1489) and his brother Henry (b. 1491), with whom he shared a nursery.

The popular belief that Arthur was sickly during his lifetime stems from a misunderstanding of a 1502 letter, but there are no reports of Arthur being ill during his lifetime. Arthur grew up to be unusually tall for his age, and was considered handsome by the Spanish court: he had reddish hair, small eyes, a high-bridged nose, resembling his brother Henry, who was said to be “extremely handsome” by contemporaries. As described by historians Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton, Arthur had an “amiable and gentle” personality and was, overall, a “delicate lad”

Plans for Arthur’s marriage began before his third birthday; he was installed as Prince of Wales two years later. At the age of eleven, he was formally betrothed to Catherine of Aragon, a daughter of the powerful Catholic Monarchs in Spain, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, in an effort to forge an Anglo-Spanish alliance against France.

Arthur was well educated and, contrary to some modern belief, was in good health for the majority of his life. Soon after his marriage to Catherine in 1501, the couple took up residence at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, where Arthur died six months later of an unknown ailment. Catherine later firmly stated that the marriage had not been consummated.

One year after Arthur’s death, Henry VII renewed his efforts of sealing a marital alliance with Spain by arranging for Catherine to marry Arthur’s younger brother Henry, Prince of Wales. Arthur’s untimely death paved the way for Henry to ascend to the throne in 1509 as King Henry VIII.

Whether Arthur and Catherine consummated their six-month marriage was much later (and in a completely different political context) exploited by Henry VIII and his court. This strategy was employed in order to cast doubt upon the validity of Catherine’s union with Henry VIII, eventually leading to the separation between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

June 28, 1491: Birth of Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland.

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Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Carlos I of Spain, Catherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Parr, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VII of England, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Jane Seymour, King Edward IV of England, King Edward VI of England, King François I of France, King Henry VIII of England, King James V of Scotland

Henry VIII (June 28, 1491 – January 28, 1547) was King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville.

Henry is best known for his six marriages, and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII on the question of such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated. Henry is also known as “the father of the Royal Navy,” as he invested heavily in the navy, increasing its size from a few to more than 50 ships, and established the Navy Board.

Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland.

Domestically, Henry VIII is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings. He also greatly expanded royal power during his reign. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial by means of bills of attainder.

King Henry VIII achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and Thomas Cranmer all figured prominently in his administration.

King Henry VIII was an extravagant spender, using the proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament. He also converted the money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. Despite the money from these sources, he was continually on the verge of financial ruin due to his personal extravagance, as well as his numerous costly and largely unsuccessful wars, particularly with King François I of France, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, James V of Scotland and the Scottish regency under the Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise.

King François I of France.

Charles V (Carlos I), Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain.

James V, King of Scots.

At home, he oversaw the legal union of England and Wales with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, and he was the first English monarch to rule as King of Ireland following the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.

Henry’s contemporaries considered him an attractive, educated, and accomplished king. He has been described as “one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne”. He was an author and composer. As he aged, however, he became severely overweight and his health suffered, causing his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh and insecure king. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI.

April 21,1509: Death of Henry VII and his claim to the throne.

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Battle of Bosworth Field, Claim to the English throne, Earl of Richmond, Elizabeth of York, House of Tudor, Isabella I of Castile, John II of Portugal, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VII of England, Richard III of England, Wars of the Roses

Today is the Anniversary of the death of King Henry VII of England, Lord of Ireland. Today I am examining Henry’s claims to the English throne.

Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509) was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on August 22, 1485 to his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

Henry attained the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Richard’s brother Edward IV.

Henry’s main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort. Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine was Gaunt’s mistress for about 25 years. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry’s great-grandfather John Beaufort. Thus, Henry’s claim was somewhat tenuous; it was from a woman, and by illegitimate descent.

In theory, the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile.

At the time of the Battle of Bosworth Field King João II of Portugal (1455-1495) a great-great grandson of John of Gaunt and his marriage to Constance of Castile had a better hereditary claim to the throne. Another descendant of the marriage John of Gaunt and Constance of Castile that had a better hereditary claim to the throne was Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504).

Incidentally, and Ironically, her daughter, Catherine of Aragon had a better hereditary claim to the English throne than her husband, King Henry VIII!

John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II legitimised Gaunt’s children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV, John of Gaunt’s son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. Henry IV’s action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henry’s claim.

Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI, his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret’s uncle, the 2nd Duke of Somerset.

Also by 1483, Henry’s mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III, despite her being married to Lord Stanley, a Yorkist. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV, who was also Edward’s heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. Though outnumbered, Henry’s Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard’s Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485. Several of Richard’s key allies, such as the Earl of Northumberland and William and Thomas Stanley, crucially switched sides or left the battlefield. Richard III’s death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses.

To secure his hold on the throne, Henry declared himself king by right of conquest retroactively from August 21, 1485, the day before Bosworth Field. Thus, anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason and Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III, while restoring his own.

Elizabeth of York

Henry spared Richard’s nephew and designated heir, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, and made Margaret Plantagenet, a Yorkist heiress, Countess of Salisbury suo jure. He took care not to address the baronage or summon Parliament until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on October 30, 1485. After his coronation Henry issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person.

Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. Henry and Elizabeth were married on January 18, 1486 at Westminster Abbey. The marriage unified the warring houses and gave his children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor rose, a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

Henry VII had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV’s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife.

Life of Elizabeth of York: (February 11, 1466 – February 11, 1503)

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Arthur Prince of Wales, Edward IV of England, Edward V of England, Edward VI of England, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, James VI-I of Scotland and England, Kings and Queens of England, Mary I of England, Mary I of Scotland, Richard III of England

Elizabeth of York (February 11, 1466 – February 11, 1503) was the first queen consort of England of the Tudor dynasty from January 18, 1486 until her death, as the wife of Henry VII. She married Henry in 1485 after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. Together, Elizabeth and Henry had seven, possibly eight, children.

Elizabeth of York was born at the Palace of Westminster as the eldest child of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. In 1469, aged three, she was briefly betrothed to George Neville. His father John later supported George’s uncle, the Earl of Warwick, in rebellion against King Edward IV, and the betrothal was called off. In 1475, Louis XI agreed to the marriage of nine-year-old Elizabeth of York to his son Charles, the Dauphin of France. In 1482, however, Louis XI reneged on his promise. She was named a Lady of the Garter in 1477, at age eleven, along with her mother and her paternal aunt Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.

Elizabeth of York, Queen of England

After the death of her father, King Edward IV, Elizabeth’s brothers the “Princes in the Tower” disappeared, their fate uncertain. Although the 1484 act of Parliament Titulus Regius declared the marriage of her parents, Edward and Elizabeth Woodville, invalid, she and her sisters were subsequently welcomed back to court by Edward’s brother, King Richard III. As a Yorkist princess, the final victory of the Lancastrian faction in the War of the Roses may have seemed a further disaster, but Henry Tudor knew the importance of Yorkist support for his invasion and promised to marry Elizabeth before he arrived in England. This may well have contributed to the hemorrhaging of Yorkist support for Richard.

Although Elizabeth seems to have played little part in politics, her marriage appears to have been a successful one. Her eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales, died at age 15 in 1502, and three other children died young. Her second, and only surviving, son became King Henry VIII of England, while her daughters Mary and Margaret became queen of France and queen of Scotland, respectively.

In 1502, Elizabeth of York became pregnant once more and spent her confinement period in the Tower of London. On February 2, 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine, but the child died a few days afterwards. Succumbing to a post partum infection, Elizabeth of York died on February 11, 1503 which was also her 37th birthday. Her husband and children appear to have mourned her death deeply. According to one account, Henry Tudor “privily departed to a solitary place and would no man should resort unto him.”

Henry VII entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew the alliance with Spain — Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples), Joanna, Queen of Castile (daughter of Fernando II-V and Isabella I), and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile), were all considered — but he died a widower in 1509. The specifications that Henry gave to his ambassadors outlining what he wanted in a second wife described Elizabeth. On each anniversary of her death, he decreed that a requiem mass be sung, the bells be tolled, and 100 candles be lit in her honour. Henry also continued to employ her minstrels each New Year.

Elizabeth of York had the distinction of being the daughter of a king (Edward IV), sister of a king (Edward V), niece of a king (Richard III), wife of a king (Henry VII), the mother of a king (Henry VIII), mother of two queen consorts (Margaret, Queen of Scotland & Mary, Queen of France), and the grandmother of two kings and queens (Edward VI of England, James V of Scotland, Queen Mary I of England, Queen Elizabeth I of England), the grand mother and great-grandmother of sovereigns (Queen Mary I of Scotland and her son James VI-I of Scotland and England) and so forth. Actually, many modern royals, including Elizabeth II, trace their line through her daughter Margaret.

Elizabeth of York was a renowned beauty, inheriting her parents’ fair hair and complexion. All other Tudor monarchs inherited her reddish gold hair and the trait became synonymous with the dynasty.