(A.D. 1431-1492.)
|When Elizabeth Woodville was maid of honor to Queen Margaret of Anjou
she little supposed that she would ever ascend the throne of England,
yet that was her destiny not many years later.
But, first, she became the wife of John Grey, son and heir of the
wealthy Lord Ferrers, who owned the domain of Bradgate, where she
lived until her husband's death. John Grey was a brave, handsome man
of twenty-five when he married Elizabeth, and occupied the important
position of leader of Queen Margaret's cavalry. He was killed at the
second battle of St. Albans, leaving his young wife with two little
children, named Thomas and Richard, both under four years of age. By
the cruel fortunes of war these little ones were deprived of their
inheritance of Bradgate, and so, with their mother, went to live at the
Castle of Grafton, which belonged to the Duchess of Bedford, Elizabeth's
mother.
One day when Edward IV. was hunting in the forest of Whittlebury, the
young widow waylaid him, and throwing herself at his feet, pleaded
earnestly for the restoration of Bradgate to her fatherless boys, who
stood by her side. Struck by her beauty and downcast looks, the king
listened attentively to her request, and not only granted it, but fell
in love with her on the spot. This interview took place beneath the
shade of a wide-spreading tree that is known to this day as the Queen's
Oak.
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[Illustration: 0321]
[[A.D. 1464.]] {319}Elizabeth met her royal lover many times after
that in the same place, and when the Duchess of Bedford, who was a
most ambitious and manoeuvring mother, found out how matters stood, she
arranged for a private marriage, which took place May 1, 1464, in the
town of Grafton.
The king's mother became very angry when she heard of this unequal
match, for she was queen at that period, and could not bear to resign
her place to the daughter of a man who began his career as a poor
squire. However, it was too late to lament, and in the autumn the bride
was led by the young Duke of Clarence to the abbey-church of Reading,
where the king took her by the hand, and presented her to the council
of peers assembled there as his lawfully wedded wife. Elizabeth appeared
that day in a dress of rich blue and gold brocade with a long, full
train bordered with ermine. The sleeves and body were tight, and a band
of ermine around the neck, and, passing down either side of the open
skirt in front, displayed a rich satin petticoat. Over her yellow hair,
which fell loosely down her back, she wore a lofty crown. A costly pearl
necklace encircled her throat.
Queen Elizabeth soon gained unbounded influence over the mind of her
husband, which she too frequently exerted for the advancement of her own
relatives. She had a soft, caressing voice, and always assumed an air
of humility, when desirous of gaining a point, that had its weight with
Edward. The acknowledgment of the king's marriage was followed by a
series of the most brilliant feasts and tournaments ever witnessed in
England.
The coronation of the new queen took place at Westminster Abbey, May
26th. That morning the king had knighted thirty-two citizens, who
preceded the queen's litter on horseback. After the coronation, which
was conducted {320}with great solemnity, a grand banquet was held, the
royal couple presiding.
Elizabeth was most unfortunate in soon incurring the ill-will of
Warwick, the prime minister, who had been all-powerful in England for
several years. It was increased by the influence gained through her
instrumentality by the various members of her family. Before long, the
popular rage was excited against the Woodvilles, and England was in a
state of insurrection.
[[A.D. 1469.]] The queen's father and one of her brothers concealed
themselves in a forest, but were discovered and beheaded, without judge
or jury. This was a dreadful blow to Elizabeth, who was warmly attached
to her family. The king went north to inquire into the cause of the
outrage, but could not get back for a long-time because Warwick and the
Duke of Clarence kept him under a kind of restraint; however he escaped
at last, and got back to London. Then Warwick and Clarence were so
frightened at having interfered with the king's movements that they got
away with their families as quickly as possible and went to France.
All this time the queen was safely lodged in the Tower. But it was not
very long before Warwick returned to England, and Edward came so near
falling into his hands again that he fled half-dressed one night just as
the troops approached the castle, and embarked on board a ship at Lynn.
Elizabeth was so alarmed for her own safety and that of her family that
she went at once to a gloomy monastery, called the Sanctuary, where her
mother and her three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Cicely, accompanied
her.
[[A.D. 1470.]] It was there that the first son of Edward IV. was born.
He was named after his father, and christened with as little ceremony as
though he had been the son of the poorest man in the kingdom.
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[Illustration: 0325]
{323}By the time the little prince was five months old, the Duke of
Clarence had parted from Warwick, and Edward returned to London, where
he was warmly received. He hastened to meet his family, and removed
them from the Sanctuary to his mother's palace, Castle Baynard. Several
battles that he fought and won after his return put an end to so many
of Edward's opponents--among them Warwick, the most formidable--that the
house of York was at last firmly established in power and the rebellion
crushed. Then followed several years of peace, when the royal family
were settled at Windsor or at Westminster, holding court with great
state and splendor.
King Edward's second son, Prince Richard, Duke of York, was born during
this season of enjoyment, and when he was five years old he was formally
married to Anne Mowbray, infant heiress of the Duchy of Norfolk, aged
three.
The following spring the singular death of the Duke of Clarence
occurred. He had been condemned to execution for an offence against the
king, his brother, but one morning he was found drowned in a butt of
malmsey. Clarence was in the habit of drinking to excess, and it was
supposed that he fell into the butt of his favorite wine while in a
state of intoxication.
[[A.D. 1483.]] In 1483 King Edward was seized with an attack of fever
that resulted in death. After lying in state for several days his body
was interred with great pomp in the Chapel of St. George.
Queen Elizabeth was left in a more unprotected state this time than
when her first husband died. The young king was pursuing his studies
at Ludlow Castle, under the care of her brother, Lord Rivers. Elizabeth
proposed to the council that he should be at once escorted to London
with a powerful army, but Lord Hastings, who presided, {324}could see
no necessity for such a step, and so, unfortunately for young Edward, it
was not taken.
Meanwhile the Duke of Gloucester, who was in Scotland, caused Edward V.
to be proclaimed at York, and wrote such a kind, deferential letter to
the queen, that she felt she had a friend in this first prince of the
blood.
[Illustration: 0328]
The council then commanded Earl Rivers to bring the young king to
London, and Elizabeth was eagerly awaiting him, when news was brought
to her that the Dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham had met him with
an armed force, seized his person, and arrested Earl Rivers and Lord
Richard Grey, who were with him. The poor mother could scarcely believe
such an astonishing report. As soon as the Archbishop of York heard
what had happened, he took the great seal and carried it to Elizabeth,
assuring her that if an attempt were made to crown anybody but her
eldest son he would take it upon himself to crown Richard. But, when
on the following day, he saw the Thames covered with boatloads of
Gloucester's soldiers, placed there to watch the queen, he regretted
what he had done, and went to the {325}Sanctuary, where Elizabeth had
taken refuge with the Duke of York, to get the seal back again..
The 4th of May had been appointed for the coronation of Edward V. He
entered the city surrounded by a retinue of the Duke of Gloucester's
officers, headed by the treacherous duke himself, and, under some
pretence, was lodged in the royal apartments of the Tower, the
coronation having been postponed for some trivial reason.
[Illustration: 0329]
Gloucester's next object was to get possession of Prince Richard. He
would have taken him by force, but the Archbishop of Canterbury took it
upon himself to persuade Elizabeth to give him up. This he accomplished,
after a great deal of persuasion, by working upon her sympathies and
telling her of the loneliness of her eldest son, Edward, who was pining
for a playmate. At last it was agreed that the child should go to his
brother until after the coronation, for which preparations were going on
night and day.
But the Duke of Gloucester intended that no such coronation should ever
take place, so he brought shameful accusations against Elizabeth and her
children, put several {326}of her adherents to death, and finally had
himself crowned King of England on the 26th of June.
In less than a month from that date the two little princes, whom he had
kept shut up in the Tower, were murdered by his order. It is impossible
to describe the agony of the poor mother when she learned the fate of
her two dear little boys. She cried to God for vengeance on the wretch
who had committed so foul a crime. Only a few months later Richard
of Gloucester's only son, for whose advancement he had shed so much
innocent blood, died.
Elizabeth was forced to submit to the will of the usurper, whose acts of
tyranny rendered her existence bitter in the extreme. But she lived
to see her daughter Elizabeth on the throne of England, as the wife of
Henry VII., and her own restoration to liberty.
[[A.D. 1492.]] She died in 1492, attended in her last ill ness by the
most affectionate care of her daughter. Her funeral was conducted with
the utmost simplicity, and she was buried at St. George's Chapel, in
the tomb with Edward IV. The monument is of steel, representing a double
gate between two ancient Gothic towers. On a flat stone, at the foot of
this monument, is engraved:
King Edward, and his Queen,
Elizabeth Woodville.
[Illustration: 0330]
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