1.
Queen consort of England
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The Kingdom of England merged with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707, to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. There have thus been no consorts of England since that date, in 1066, the Duke of Normandy, William, killed King Harold II of England at the battle of Hastings, and overthrew the English elite. He established himself as King, his wife Matilda as Queen consort and his dynasty would not, however, outlive his children, becoming defunct with the death of his youngest son, Henry I, in 1135. In 1135, Stephen of Blois, the son of Henry Is sister Adela, seized the English throne and his wife, Matilda of Boulogne, became his Queen consort, but her elder son died, and Stephen was forced to appoint the Empresss son as his successor. With the death of Elizabeth I, the crown of England passed to her cousin and nearest heir, James VI of Scotland and his dynasty would rule - interrupted by the Interregnum between 1649 and 1660 - until 1714. The Kingdom of England, however, was merged with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707, to form a new Kingdom, for the continuation of this list, go to List of British consorts
2.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
3.
Warwick Castle
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Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from an original built by William the Conqueror in 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a bend of the River Avon, the original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified and it was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Greville converted it to a house and it was owned by the Greville family. In 2007, the Tussauds Group merged with Merlin Entertainments, which is the current owner of Warwick Castle, Warwick Castle is situated in the town of Warwick, on a sandstone bluff at a bend of the River Avon. The river, which runs below the castle on the east side, has eroded the rock the castle stands on, the river and cliff form natural defences. When construction began in 1068, four belonging to the Abbot of Coventry were demolished to provide room. The castles position made it important in safeguarding the Midlands against rebellion. During the 12th century, King Henry I was suspicious of Roger de Beaumont, to counter the earls influence, Henry bestowed Geoffrey de Clinton with a position of power rivalling that of the earl. The lands he was given included Kenilworth – a castle of comparable size, cost, Warwick Castle is about 1.6 kilometres from Warwick railway station and less than 3.2 kilometres from junction 15 of the M40 motorway, it is also close to Birmingham Airport. An Anglo-Saxon burh was established on the site in 914, with fortifications instigated by Ethelfleda, the burh she established was one of ten which defended Mercia against the invading Danes. Its position allowed it to dominate the Fosse Way, as well as the river valley, though the motte to the south-west of the present castle is now called Ethelfledas Mound, it is in fact part of the later Norman fortifications, and not of Anglo-Saxon origin. After the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror established a castle at Warwick in 1068 to maintain control of the Midlands as he advanced northwards. Building a castle in a settlement could require demolishing properties on the intended site. In the case of Warwick, the least recorded of the 11 urban castles in the 1086 survey, a motte-and-bailey castle consists of a mound – on which usually stands a keep or tower – and a bailey, which is an enclosed courtyard. William appointed Henry de Beaumont, the son of a powerful Norman family, in 1088, Henry de Beaumont was made the first Earl of Warwick. He founded the Church of All Saints within the walls by 1119. According to the Gesta Regis Stephani, a 12th-century historical text, Henry later returned the castle to the Earls of Warwick as they had been supporters of his mother, Empress Matilda, in The Anarchy of 1135–1154
4.
Warwickshire
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Warwickshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton, the county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks, the county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the historic county boundaries also included Coventry and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles from the Derbyshire border, an average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles north to south. Equivalently it extends as far north as Shrewsbury in Shropshire and as far south as Banbury in north Oxfordshire, the majority of Warwickshires population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The south of the county is rural and sparsely populated. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour, the highest point in the county, at 261 m, is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the countys southwest extremity. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves, the largest towns in Warwickshire in 2011 were, Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Warwick, Stratford and Kenilworth. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull, thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase -in-Arden, such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden – from fielden, areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, and some of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the county of West Midlands following local government re-organisation in 1974. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as an area and share a single Chamber of Commerce. Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history, in 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire, in recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this
5.
Westminster
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Westminster is an area of central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically the area lay within St Margarets parish, City & Liberty of Westminster and it has been the home of the permanent institutions of Englands government continuously since about 1200 and is now the seat of British government. In a government context, Westminster often refers to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the closest tube stations are Westminster, St Jamess Park on the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines. Within the area is Westminster School, a public school which grew out of the Abbey. Bounding Westminster to the north is Green Park, a Royal Park of London, the area has a substantial resident population, indeed most of its listed buildings are residential. A proportion of residents are people of limited means, living in council, hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist nearer to Buckingham Palace. The name describes an area no more than 1 mile from Westminster Abbey, the settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a church, St Margarets Westminster for the servants of the palace. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a local government unit until created as a civil parish. Indeed, the Cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, as such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built, the abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson onwards. From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and Englands law courts, thus London developed two focal points, the City of London and Westminster. The monarchs later moved to St James Palace and the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east, the main law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice. The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex, the ancient parish was St Margaret, after 1727 this became the civil parish of St Margaret and St John, the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by —, until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John, which was based at Westminster City Hall in Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields, Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction
6.
Westminster Abbey
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It is one of the United Kingdoms most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral, since 1560, however, the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England Royal Peculiar—a church responsible directly to the sovereign. The building itself is the abbey church. According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site in the 7th century, at the time of Mellitus, construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have held in Westminster Abbey. There have been at least 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100, two were of reigning monarchs, although, before 1919, there had been none for some 500 years. The first reports of the abbey are based on a tradition claiming that a young fisherman called Aldrich on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to be quoted to justify the gifts of salmon from Thames fishermen that the abbey received in later years, in the present was, the Fishmongers Company still gives a salmon every year. The proven origins are that in the 960s or early 970s, Saint Dunstan, assisted by King Edgar, between 1042 and 1052, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peters Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style, the building was completed around 1090 and was consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edwards death on 5 January 1066. A week later, he was buried in the church, and, nine years later and his successor, Harold II, was probably crowned in the abbey, although the first documented coronation is that of William the Conqueror later the same year. The only extant depiction of Edwards abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in the Bayeux Tapestry, construction of the present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the abbot often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. The abbey built shops and dwellings on the west side, encroaching upon the sanctuary, the abbey became the coronation site of Norman kings. The Confessors shrine subsequently played a part in his canonisation. The work continued between 1245 and 1517 and was finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of Richard II. Henry III also commissioned the unique Cosmati pavement in front of the High Altar, Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503. Much of the came from Caen, in France, the Isle of Portland
7.
Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
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Edward of Westminster, also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury, making him the heir apparent to the English throne to die in battle. Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster, London, the son of King Henry VI of England and his wife. At the time, there was strife between Henrys supporters and those of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, who had a claim to the throne and challenged the authority of Henrys officers of state. Henry was suffering from illness, and there were widespread rumours that the prince was the result of an affair between his mother and one of her loyal supporters. Edward was invested as Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 1454, in 1460, King Henry was captured by the supporters of the Duke of York at the Battle of Northampton and taken to London. Queen Margaret and Edward had meanwhile fled through Cheshire, by Margarets later account, she induced outlaws and pillagers to aid her by pledging them to recognise the seven-year-old Edward as rightful heir to the crown. They subsequently reached safety in Wales and journeyed to Scotland, where Margaret raised support, after York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, the large army which Margaret had gathered advanced south. They defeated the army of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, one of Yorks most prominent supporters, Warwick brought the captive King Henry in the train of his army, and he was found abandoned on the battlefield. Two of Warwicks knights, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, and Sir Thomas Kyriell, the day after the battle, Margaret asked Edward what death the two knights should suffer. Edward readily replied that their heads should be cut off, Margaret hesitated to advance on London with her unruly army, and subsequently retreated. They were routed at the Battle of Towton a few weeks later, Margaret and Edward fled once again, to Scotland. For the next three years, Margaret inspired several revolts in the northernmost counties of England, but was forced to sail to France. After several years in exile, Margaret took the best opportunity that presented itself, King Louis XI of France wanted to start a war with Burgundy, allies of the Yorkist King Edward IV. He believed if he allied himself to restoring Lancastrian rule they would help him conquer Burgundy, as a compliment to his new allies Louis made young Edward godfather to his son Charles. Prince Edward was married to Anne Neville, Warwicks younger daughter, in December 1470, Warwick returned to England and deposed Edward IV, with the help of Edward IVs younger brother, the Duke of Clarence. Edward IV fled into exile to Burgundy with his youngest brother the Duke of Gloucester, Edward and Margaret lingered behind in France until April 1471. However, Edward IV had already raised an army, returned to England, on the same day Margaret and Edward landed in England, Edward IV defeated and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet
8.
Richard III of England
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Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty and his defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of the historical play Richard III by William Shakespeare, when his brother King Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edwards son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. As the young king travelled to London from Ludlow, Richard met and escorted him to lodgings in the Tower of London, on 25 June, an assembly of Lords and commoners endorsed the claims. The following day, Richard III began his reign, and he was crowned on 6 July 1483. The young princes were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that the boys had been murdered on Richards orders, there were two major rebellions against Richard. The first, in October 1483, was led by allies of Edward IV and Richards former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. In August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Henry Tudor landed in southern Wales with a small contingent of French troops and marched through his birthplace, Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henrys force engaged Richards army and defeated it at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, Richard was struck down in the conflict, making him the last English king to die in battle on home soil and the first since Harold Godwinson. Henry then ascended the throne as Henry VII, after the battle Richards corpse was taken to Leicester and buried without pomp. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the Reformation, in 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on a city council car park on the site once occupied by Greyfriars Priory Church. Richards remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015 and they returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton and participated in the coronation of Richards eldest brother as King Edward IV in June 1461. At this time Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made a Knight of the Garter and Knight of the Bath, by the age of seventeen, he had an independent command. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, while at Warwicks estate, he probably met Francis Lovell, a strong supporter later in his life, and Warwicks younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match, during Warwicks lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the eldest, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the kings permission. George joined his father-in-laws revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, in 1468, Richards sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Although only eighteen years old, Richard played crucial roles in the battles of Barnet, during his adolescence, Richard developed idiopathic scoliosis. Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville, by the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her fathers allegiance to the Lancastrian party
9.
Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales
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Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, 1st Earl of Salisbury, was the only child of King Richard III of England and his queen consort, Anne Neville. He was Richards only legitimate child and died aged ten, Edward was allegedly born in December 1473 at Middleham Castle, a stronghold close to York that became Richard and Annes principal base in northern England. The date of 1473 is, however, not universally accepted, in fact, he was probably not born until 1476. The act of Parliament that settled the dispute between George of Clarence and Richard over Anne Beauchamps inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick was naturally dead was dated May 1474. There were no provisions, however, for their heirs in case of this said divorce, but such provision was the provence of the ruling king for those of royal blood so would have been moot. Edward was mostly kept at Middleham, and was known to be a sickly child, after the citizens of London, nobles, and commons convened, a petition was drawn up that asked Richard to assume the throne. He accepted and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July 1483 and his title to the throne was later confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius. Edward did not attend his parents coronation, likely due to illness and he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in a splendid ceremony in York Minster on 8 September 1483, following his parents Royal Progress across England. The reasons of his death are unknown. The Croyland Chronicle reads, Edwards sudden death left Richard without a legitimate child, contemporary historian John Rous recorded that Richard declared his nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick, his heir in his place, but there is no other evidence of this. Similarly, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln also seemed to have designated as Richards new heir. The location of Edwards burial is unknown, however evidence for this suggestion is lacking. Edward of Middleham appeared in Sharon Penmans The Sunne in Splendour, in the latter series, it is implied that Edward was poisoned at the behest of Margaret Beaufort as part of her efforts to secure the throne for her son, the eventual Henry VII. Edward of Middleham is a character in Joan Szechtmans Loyalty Binds Me, panton, Kenneth J. Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy. Edward of Middleham at Find a Grave
10.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
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Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick KG, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander. The son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, Warwick was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, through fortunes of marriage and inheritance, Warwick emerged in the 1450s at the centre of English politics. Originally he was a supporter of King Henry VI, however, from this conflict he gained the strategically valuable post of Captain of Calais, a position that benefited him greatly in the years to come. The political conflict later turned into rebellion, where in battle York was slain. Yorks son, however, later triumphed with Warwicks assistance, and was crowned King Edward IV, Edward initially ruled with Warwicks support, but the two later fell out over foreign policy and the kings choice of Elizabeth Woodville as his wife. After a failed plot to crown Edwards brother, George, Duke of Clarence, the triumph was short-lived however, on 14 April 1471 Warwick was defeated by Edward at the Battle of Barnet, and killed. The elder of his two daughters, Isabel, married George, Duke of Clarence and his younger daughter Anne had a short-lived marriage to King Henrys son Edward of Westminster, who died in battle at the age of 17. She then married King Edwards younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Warwicks historical legacy has been a matter of much dispute. Historical opinion has alternated between seeing him as self-centred and rash, and regarding him as a victim of the whims of an ungrateful king. It is generally agreed, however, that in his own time he enjoyed popularity in all layers of society. The Nevilles, an ancient Durham family, came to prominence in Englands fourteenth-century wars against the Scots, in 1397 King Richard II made Ralph Neville Earl of Westmorland. Ralphs son Richard, the later Earl of Warwicks father, was a son by a second marriage. He received a settlement, however, and became jure uxoris Earl of Salisbury through his marriage to Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Montacute. Salisburys son Richard, the later Earl of Warwick, was born on 22 November 1428, at the age of six, Richard was betrothed to Anne Beauchamp, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, and of his wife Isabel Despenser. This made him not only to the earldom of Salisbury, but also to a substantial part of the Montague, Beauchamp. Circumstances would, however, increase his fortune even further, Beauchamps son Henry, who had married the younger Richards sister Cecily, died in 1446. When Henrys daughter Anne died in 1449, Richard also found himself jure uxoris Earl of Warwick, Richards succession to the estates did not go undisputed, however. A protracted battle over parts of the inheritance ensued, particularly with Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, the dispute centred on land, not on the Warwick title, as Henrys half-sisters were excluded from the succession
11.
Princess of Wales
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Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales, who is, since the 14th century, the heir apparent of the English or British monarch. The first acknowledged title holder was Eleanor de Montfort, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and it has subsequently been used by wives of post-conquest princes of Wales. The title is held by Camilla, second wife of Charles. She does not, however, use the title, as it has remained associated with the previous holder. Instead, she uses the title Duchess of Cornwall, the Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right. For most of her childhood, Mary was her fathers only legitimate heir, for example, Spanish scholar Juan Luis Vives dedicated his Satellitium Animi to Dominæ Mariæ Cambriæ Principi, Henrici Octavi Angliæ Regis Filiæ. When a title was discussed for the future Elizabeth II, the possibility of investing her as Princess of Wales in her own right was raised, but proved problematical. If it were used by Princess Elizabeth, it would have degraded her right as a Princess of the United Kingdom unless Letters Patent or legislation were introduced to the contrary. Furthermore, if the then-Princess Elizabeth had been given the title of Princess of Wales, therefore, King George VI decided not to grant his elder daughter the title. The Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage to the Prince of Wales, takes on the equivalent of her husbands titles. Of all these titles, Princess of Wales has been used officially, however, as with the example of the current holder, a subsidiary title may just as easily and lawfully be used. The Princess of Wales also holds the titles of Duchess of Cornwall and Countess of Chester, as the wife of the Prince of Wales who is also Duke of Cornwall, several consorts of Welsh princes of Wales were theoretically princesses of Wales while their husbands were in power. The only consort of a Welsh prince definitively shown to have used the title was Eleanor de Montfort, the English bride of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales. Their only child was Gwenllian of Wales, who was taken prisoner as an infant following her fathers death. herein is kept the Princess of Wales, whom we have to maintain. This is a list of Princesses of Wales who held the title by their marriage to the Prince of Wales The Green Howards, tystiolaeth Garth Celyn Y Traethodydd 1998 ISSN 0969-8930 Fryer, M. Mary Beacock Fryer, Arthur Bousfield, Garry Toffoli. Lives of the Princesses of Wales
12.
House of Neville
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The House of Neville is a noble house of early medieval origin, which was a leading force in English politics in the later Middle Ages. The family became one of the two powers in northern England along with the House of Percy and played a central role in the Wars of the Roses. The Neville family is first attested decades after the Norman conquest of England and Domesday Book, which did not cover County Durham, the continuation of landowning among such native families was more common in the far north of England than further south. Dolfin was succeeded by his son Meldred and he in turn by his son Robert fitz Meldred and their son Geoffrey inherited the estates of his mothers family as well as his fathers, and adopted their surname, which was borne by his descendants thereafter. In Norman-ruled England a Norman surname was more prestigious and socially advantageous than an English one, in the 16th century the Nevilles claimed that their ancestor Uhtred was descended from Crinan of Dunkeld, ancestor of the Scottish royal House of Dunkeld. Modern genealogists have put forward a variety of different speculative theories to connect Uhtred with his purported forebears, the familys wealth and power grew steadily over the following centuries. Their regional power benefited greatly from frequent appointment to royal offices such as sheriff, castellan, justice of the forest and this prominent office-holding began with Geoffrey de Nevilles son Robert, in the reign of Henry III, whom Robert supported against the barons under Simon de Montfort. The Nevilles also held office under the prince-bishops of Durham. Service in the wars of the late 13th and 14th centuries against Scotland, in 1334 Ralph Neville, Lord of Raby was appointed one of the wardens of the marches, the chief officers for frontier defence, and the Nevilles habitually occupied these posts thereafter. Ralph commanded the force that crushed an invading Scottish army at the Battle of Nevilles Cross outside Durham, in the mid-14th century the Nevilles became involved in naval defence as well, holding the post of Admiral of the North. By the late 14th century the family had acquired an array of estates across northern England. Besides their original powerbase in County Durham, they possessed a large block of lands in northern and central Yorkshire and they also held scattered estates in Lancashire and further south in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Essex. In addition to Raby, they acquired or built important castles at Brancepeth near Durham and at Middleham, Sheriff Hutton, towards the end of the 14th century Middleham became a second habitual residence of the head of the family. The Nevilles emergence into the highest echelon of the aristocracy received formal recognition in 1397, by this time the Nevilles power in the north was matched only by the Percy Earls of Northumberland, with whom they developed an acrimonious rivalry. These competing northern magnates enjoyed a degree of autonomy from royal authority, owing to the remoteness. Although the family had previously been close to Richard II, Earl Ralph was quick to join Henry Bolingbroke when he landed in England to overthrow Richard in 1399. Shortly after Bolingbrokes successful seizure of power and accession to the throne as Henry IV, while increasing the political standing of the Nevilles, the royal marriage also led to a serious split in the family. Earl Ralph had previously married to Margaret de Stafford
13.
Wars of the Roses
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The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, however, there was fighting before and after this period between the houses. With the Duke of Yorks passing, the transferred to his heir, Edward. His son reigned for 86 days as Edward V, but Parliament then decided that Edward and his brother Richard were illegitimate and offered the crown to Edward IVs younger brother, the two young princes disappeared within the confines of the Tower of London. The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, after assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The name Wars of the Roses refers to the badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. Wars of the Roses came into use in the nineteenth century. Badges were not always distinct, at the Battle of Barnet, Edwards sun was very similar to the Earl of Oxfords Vere star, which caused fateful confusion. Another example, Henry Tudors forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon, although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. Although minor armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of York and Lancaster, the first open fighting broke out in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans, several prominent Lancastrians died at the hands of the Yorkists. Although peace was restored, the Lancastrians were inspired by Margaret of Anjou to contest Yorks influence. Fighting resumed more violently in 1459, York and his supporters were forced to flee the country, but one of his most prominent supporters, the Earl of Warwick, invaded England from Calais and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England. When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of St Albans, but failed to occupy London, Yorks eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV. He gathered the Yorkist armies and won a victory at the Battle of Towton in March 1461. After Lancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 1464 and Henry was captured once again, Edward fell out with his chief supporter and adviser, the Earl of Warwick after Edwards unpopular and secretly conducted marriage with the widow of a Lancastrian supporter, Elizabeth Woodville. Within a few years, it clear that Edward was favoring his wifes family
14.
House of York
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The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became Kings of England in the late 15th century and it is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with the House of Lancaster, it had a claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England in 1485 and it became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick in 1499. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 1st Earl of Cambridge, KG was a son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was the founder of the House of York, but it was through the marriage of his younger son, Richard to Anne Mortimer that the Yorkist faction in the Wars of the Roses made its claim on the throne. The other party in the Wars of the Roses, the Lancasters, were descendants of Edmunds elder brother, Edmund had two sons, Edward, and Richard of Conisburgh. Edward succeeded to the dukedom in 1402, but was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, Richard married Anne Mortimer, a great-granddaughter of Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of Edward III. Furthermore, Annes son Richard also became heir general to the earldom of March, after her brother, Edmund, 5th Earl. Richard of Conisburgh was executed following his involvement in the Southampton Plot to depose Henry V of England in favour of the Earl of March, the dukedom of York therefore passed to his son, Richard Plantagenet. Through his mother, Richard Plantagenet also inherited the lands of the earldom of March, although he served as Protector of the Realm during Henry VIs period of incapacity in 1453-54, his reforms were reversed by Somersets party once the king had recovered. The Wars of the Roses began the year, with the First Battle of St Albans. Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king and it was not until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the battle of Northampton, Richard and his second son Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield on 30 December. Richards claim to the throne was inherited by his son Edward, with the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in the north, Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out. The early reign of Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting, Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the kings jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence, in briefly restoring Henry in 1470-71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471
15.
House of Lancaster
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The House of Lancaster was the name of two cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the house was named—for his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 and this brought him—and Henry, his younger brother—into conflict with their cousin Edward II of England, leading to Thomass execution. Henry inherited Thomass titles and he and his son, who was also called Henry, the second house of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, who married the heiress of the first house. Edward III married all his sons to wealthy English heiresses rather than following his predecessors practice of finding continental political marriages for royal princes. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, had no male heir so Edward married his son John to Henrys heiress daughter and this gave John the vast wealth of the House of Lancaster. Their son Henry usurped the throne in 1399, creating one of the factions in the Wars of the Roses, there was an intermittent dynastic struggle between the descendants of Edward III. In these wars, the term Lancastrian became a reference to members of the family, the family provided England with three kings, Henry IV, who ruled from 1399 to 1413, Henry V, and Henry VI. Later grants included the first Earldom of Lancaster on 30 June 1267, Edmund was also Count of Champagne and Brie from 1276 by right of his wife. Edmunds second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the widow of the King of Navarre, Blanches daughter Joan I of Navarre was queen regnant of Navarre and through her marriage to Philip IV of France was queen consort of France. Edmunds son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, gaining the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy and his income was £11,000 per annum—double that of the next wealthiest earl. After initially supporting Edward, Thomas became one of the Lords Ordainers, who demanded the banishment of Piers Gaveston, after Gaveston was captured, Thomas took the lead in his trial and execution at Warwick in 1312. Edwards authority was weakened by poor governance and defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn and this allowed Thomas to restrain Edwards power by republishing the Ordinances of 1311. Following this achievement Thomas took little part in the governance of the realm and this allowed Edward to regroup and re-arm, leading to a fragile peace in August 1318 with the Treaty of Leake. In 1321 Edwards rule again collapsed into civil war, Thomas raised a northern army but was defeated and captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but because he was Edwards cousin he was given a death by beheading. Henry joined the revolt of Edwards wife Isabella of France and her lover Mortimer in 1326 and his restored prestige led to him knighting the young King Edward III of England before his coronation. Mortimer lost support over the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton that formalised Scotlands independence, when Mortimer called a parliament to make his new powers and estates permanent with the title of Earl of March in 1328, Henry led the opposition and held a counter-meeting. In response, Mortimer ravaged the lands of Lancaster and checked the revolt, Edward III was able to assume control in 1330 but Henrys further influence was restricted by poor health and blindness for the last fifteen years of his life
16.
Henry VI of England
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Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years War, where Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. Henry married Charless niece, Margaret of Anjou, partially in the hope of achieving peace in 1445, the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand, by 1453, Calais was Henrys only remaining territory on the continent. Henry experienced a breakdown after the failure of the war. Civil war broke out in 1460, leading to a period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was taken prisoner by Richard of York at Northampton on 10 July 1460 but was rescued that December by forces loyal to Margaret and he was deposed on 29 March 1461 following the victory at Towton by Richards son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Henry suffered another breakdown and, despite Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, he was captured by Edwards forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, restored Henry to the throne in 1470, Henry died in the Tower during the night of 21 May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of Edward. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey, before being moved to Windsor Castle in 1484, miracles were attributed to Henry after his death, and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, Kings College and All Souls College, William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. Henry was the child and heir of King Henry V. He was born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle and he succeeded to the throne as King of England at the age of nine months upon his fathers death on 31 August 1422, he was the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. A few weeks later on 21 October 1422 in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 and his mother, Catherine of Valois, was then 20 years old. As Charles VIs daughter, she was viewed with suspicion by English nobles and was prevented from playing a full role in her sons upbringing. On 28 September 1423, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry VI and they summoned Parliament in the Kings name and established a regency council to govern until the King should come of age. One of Henry Vs surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedfords absence, the government of England was headed by Henry Vs other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament. Henry Vs half-uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, had an important place on the Council, after the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, the Duke of Gloucester claimed the Regency himself, but was contested in this by the other members of the Council
17.
Edward IV of England
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Edward IV was the King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was the first Yorkist King of England, before becoming king, he was 4th Duke of York, 7th Earl of March, 5th Earl of Cambridge and 9th Earl of Ulster. He was also the 65th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Edward of York was born at Rouen in France, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was the eldest of the four sons who survived to adulthood and he bore the title Earl of March before his fathers death and his accession to the throne. Edwards father Richard, Duke of York, had been heir to King Henry VI until the birth of Henrys son Edward in 1453, Richard carried on a factional struggle with the kings Beaufort relatives. He established a dominant position after his victory at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which his chief rival Edmund Beaufort, however, Henrys Queen, Margaret of Anjou, rebuilt a powerful faction to oppose the Yorkists over the following years. The Yorkist leaders fled from England after the collapse of their army in the confrontation at Ludford Bridge, the Duke of York took refuge in Ireland, while Edward went with the Nevilles to Calais where Warwick was governor. In 1460 Edward landed in Kent with Salisbury, Warwick and Salisburys brother William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, raised an army and this left Edward, now Duke of York, at the head of the Yorkist faction. He defeated a Lancastrian army at Mortimers Cross in Herefordshire on 2–3 February 1461 and he then united his forces with those of Warwick, whom Margarets army had defeated at the Second Battle of St Albans, during which Henry VI had been rescued by his supporters. Edwards father had restricted his ambitions to becoming Henrys heir, and he then advanced against the Lancastrians, having his life saved on the battlefield by the Welsh Knight Sir David Ap Mathew. He defeated the Lancastrian army in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Towton in Yorkshire on 29 March 1461, Edward had effectively broken the military strength of the Lancastrians, and he returned to London for his coronation. King Edward IV named Sir David Ap Mathew Standard Bearer of England, Lancastrian resistance continued in the north, but posed no serious threat to the new regime and was finally extinguished by Warwicks brother John Neville in the Battle of Hexham in 1464. Henry VI had escaped into the Pennines, where he spent a year in hiding, Queen Margaret fled abroad with the young Prince Edward and many of their leading supporters. Even at the age of nineteen, Edward exhibited remarkable military acumen and he also had a notable physique and was described as handsome and affable. His height is estimated at 6 feet 4.5 inches, making him the tallest among all English, Scottish, most of Englands leading families had remained loyal to Henry VI or remained uncommitted in the recent conflict. The new regime, therefore, relied heavily on the support of the Nevilles, however, the king increasingly became estranged from their leader the Earl of Warwick, due primarily to his marriage. Warwick, acting on Edwards behalf, made arrangements with King Louis XI of France for Edward to marry either Louis daughter Anne or his sister-in-law Bona of Savoy. He was humiliated and enraged to discover that, while he was negotiating, Edward had secretly married Elizabeth Woodville, Edwards marriage to Elizabeth Woodville has been criticised as an impulsive action that did not add anything to the security of England or the York dynasty
18.
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
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He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets known as the Wars of the Roses. Though a member of the House of York, he switched sides to support the Lancastrians and he was later convicted of treason against his brother, Edward IV, and was executed. He appears as a character in William Shakespeares plays Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III, George was born on 21 October 1449 in Dublin at a time when his father, the Duke of York, had begun to challenge Henry VI for the crown. His godfather was James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond and he was the third of the four sons of Richard and Cecily who survived to adulthood. In 1461 his elder brother, Edward, became King of England as Edward IV, despite his youth, he was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the same year. Clarence joined Warwick in France, taking his pregnant wife and she gave birth to their first child, a girl, on 16 April 1470, in a ship off Calais. Warwicks efforts to keep Henry VI on the ultimately failed. The re-instated King Edward IV restored his brother Clarence to royal favour, Edward intervened and eventually divided the estates between his brothers. Clarence was created first Earl of Warwick on 25 March 1472, in 1475 Clarences wife Isabel gave birth to a son, Edward, later Earl of Warwick. Isabel died on 22 December 1476, two months after giving birth to a son named Richard, and they are buried together at Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire. Their surviving children, Margaret and Edward, were cared for by their aunt, Anne Neville, until she died in 1485 and she was hanged immediately after trial with John Thursby, a fellow defendant. Clarences mental state, never stable, deteriorated from that point, in 1477 Clarence was again a suitor for the hand of Mary, who had just become duchess of Burgundy. Edward objected to the match, and Clarence, jealous of Gloucesters influence and he implicated one Thomas Burdett, and one Thomas Blake, a chaplain at Staceys college. All three were tried for treason, convicted, and condemned to be drawn to Tyburn and hanged, Blake was saved at the eleventh hour by a plea for his life from James Goldwell, Bishop of Norwich, but the other two were put to death as ordered. This was a warning to Clarence, which he chose to ignore. He appointed Dr John Goddard to burst into Parliament and regale the House with Burdett, Goddard was a very unwise choice, as he was an ex-Lancastrian who had expounded Henry VIs claim to the throne. Edward summoned Clarence to Windsor, severely upbraided him, accused him of treason, shakespeare portrays Clarence as weak-willed and changeable, his initial defection from Edward IV to Warwick is prompted by outrage at Edward IVs unwise marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. Several lines reference his penchant for wine, Gloucester nimbly stage-manages Clarences death, fast-tracking the order of execution and then intercepting Edward IVs pardon when he changes his mind
19.
Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence
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Lady Isabel Neville was the elder daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. She was the wife of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and she was also the elder sister of Anne Neville, who was Princess of Wales, by her first marriage and Queen consort of England by her second. Isabel Neville was born at Warwick Castle, the seat of the Earls of Warwick, in 1469, her ambitious father betrothed her to Englands heir presumptive, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, the brother of both King Edward IV and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The king opposed the marriage as it would bring the already powerful Earl of Warwick too close to the throne, the ceremony however took place in secret at Calais on 11 July 1469, conducted by Isabel Nevilles Uncle George Neville, archbishop of York. Following their marriage Clarence joined forces with Warwick and traitorously allied with the Lancastrians led by Margaret of Anjou, Isabel Neville married George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, in Calais, France, on 11 July 1469. Four children resulted, Anne of York, born outside Calais, Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Married Sir Richard Pole, executed by Henry VIII, Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick. Executed by Henry VII for attempting to escape the Tower of London, Richard of York, born at Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, died at Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, buried Warwick. Isabel Neville died on 22 December 1476, two and a half months after the birth of Richard, the answer of the king was, Soit fait come il est desire
20.
Elizabeth Woodville
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Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. At the time of her birth, her family was mid-ranked in the English aristocracy. Her first marriage was to a supporter of the House of Lancaster, Sir John Grey of Groby, he died at the Second Battle of St Albans. Her second marriage, to Edward IV, was a cause célèbre of the day, thanks to Elizabeths great beauty and lack of great estates. Edward was only the king of England since the Norman Conquest to have married one of his subjects. This hostility turned into open discord between King Edward and Warwick, leading to a battle of wills that finally resulted in Warwick switching allegiance to the Lancastrian cause, Elizabeth Woodville was born about 1437, possibly in October, at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire. She was the child of a socially unequal marriage that had briefly scandalised the English court. Her father, Sir Richard Woodville, was merely a knight at the time of her birth, Sir Richards own father had made a good career in royal service, rising to become chamberlain to the Duke of Bedford. Sir Richard followed his father into service with the duke, the daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, and Margaret de Baux, she had been married to the Duke of Bedford in 1433 at the age of 17. The duke was significantly older than Jacquetta of Luxembourg, his second wife and he died in 1435, leaving Jacquetta of Luxembourg a childless, wealthy widow. She was required to seek permission from King Henry VI before she could remarry, the couple was fined £1000, but this was remitted in October of the same year. Despite this inauspicious start, the couple soon prospered, thanks mainly to Jacquettas continuing prominence within the royal family. She retained her rank and dower as Duchess of Bedford, the latter providing an income of between £7000 and £8000 per year. Over the years, this income would diminish due to losses in France. Sir Richard was honoured with military ranks, in which he proved himself a capable soldier, further honours for both came when Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, whose uncle was Jacquettas brother-in-law. The Woodvilles were among those chosen to escort the bride to England, Sir Richard was raised to the rank of Baron Rivers in 1448. Their children therefore would grow up enjoying considerable privilege and material comfort, in about 1452, Elizabeth Woodville married Sir John Grey of Groby, the heir to the Barony Ferrers of Groby. He was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 and this would become a source of irony, since Elizabeths future husband Edward IV was the Yorkist claimant to the throne
21.
Cecily Neville, Duchess of York
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Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and the mother of two Kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. She herself signed her name Cecylle and her husband, the Duke of York, was the leading contender for the throne of England from the House of York during the period of the War of the Roses until his death in 1460. His son Edward, Earl of March, actually assumed the throne as Edward IV in 1461, the Duchess of York thus narrowly missed becoming queen consort of England. Cecily Neville was a daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and her paternal grandparents were John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, and Maud Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy. Her maternal grandparents were John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt was the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. In 1424, when Cecily was nine years old, she was betrothed by her father to his ward, Richard Plantagenet. Ralph Neville died in October 1425, bequeathing the wardship of Richard to his widow, Cecily and Richard were married by October 1429. Their first child Joan was born in 1438, but died young and their next child, Anne of York, was born in August 1439 in Northamptonshire. When Richard became a lieutenant and governor general of France in 1441 and moved to Rouen. Their son Henry was born in February but died soon after and their next son, the future King Edward IV, was born in Rouen on 28 April 1442 and immediately baptised privately in a small side chapel. He would later be accused of illegitimacy by his cousin, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and by his own brother, George, Duke of Clarence, George and Warwick were in dispute with Edward at the time and seeking to overthrow him as king. The claims would later be dismissed, in any case, Richard acknowledged the baby as his own, which established legal paternity. Around 1454, when Richard began to resent the influence of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, when Henry VI suffered a nervous breakdown later in the year, Richard of York established himself as a Protector. After the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, Cecily remained at their home, Ludlow Castle, even after Richard fled to Ireland, at the same time, she surreptitiously worked for the cause of the House of York. When a parliament began to debate the fate of the Duke of York and his supporters in November 1459, One contemporary commentator stated that she had reputedly convinced the king to promise a pardon if the duke would appear in the parliament in eight days. This effort failed, and Richards lands were confiscated, but Cecily managed to gain a grant of £600 to support herself. After the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, Cecily moved to London with her children and she carried the royal arms before Richard in triumph in London in September. But in the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, the Lancastrians won a decisive victory, the Duke of York, his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Cecilys brother Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, were among the casualties
22.
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York
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Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York KG, was a leading English magnate, a great-grandson of King Edward III through his father, and a great-great-great-grandson of the same king through his mother. He inherited vast estates and served in offices of state in Ireland, France, and England. Richard eventually attempted to take the throne, but was dissuaded, but within a few weeks of securing this agreement, he died in battle. Although Richard never became king himself, he was the father of King Edward IV, Anne Mortimer was the great-granddaughter of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of King Edward III. On his fathers side, Richard had a claim to the throne in a male line of descent from his grandfather Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York. Although the Earls title was forfeited, he was not attainted, Richard had an only sister, Isabel of Cambridge, who became Countess of Essex upon her second marriage in 1426. Within a few months of his fathers death, Richards childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, after some hesitation, King Henry V allowed Richard to inherit his uncles title and the lands of the Duchy of York. The lesser title but greater estates of the Earldom of March also descended to him on the death of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, however, during his lifetime, Mortimer remained a faithful supporter of the House of Lancaster. The Valor Ecclesiasticus shows that Yorks net income from Mortimer lands alone was £3,430 in the year 1443–44, as he was an orphan, Richards income became the property of, and was managed by, the crown. Ralph Neville had fathered an enormous family and had many daughters needing husbands, as was his right, in 1424 he betrothed the 13-year-old Richard to his daughter Cecily Neville, then aged 9. In October 1425, when Ralph Neville died, he bequeathed the wardship of York to his widow, by now the wardship was even more valuable, as Richard had inherited the Mortimer estates on the death of the Earl of March. These manors were concentrated in Wales, and in the Welsh Borders around Ludlow, little is recorded of Richards early life. On 19 May 1426 he was knighted at Leicester by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, in October 1429 his marriage to Cecily Neville took place. On 6 November he was present at the coronation of King Henry VI in Westminster Abbey. He then followed Henry to France, being present at his coronation as king of France in Notre Dame on 16 December 1431, finally, on 12 May 1432, he came into his inheritance and was granted full control of his estates. In May 1436, a few months after Bedfords death, York was appointed to succeed him as Lieutenant in France. Yorks appointment was one of a number of stop-gap measures after the death of Bedford to try to retain French possessions until the young King Henry VI could assume personal rule, the fall of Paris led to his army being redirected to Normandy. Working with Bedfords captains, York had some success, recapturing Fecamp and holding on to the Pays de Caux, while establishing good order and justice in the Duchy of Normandy
23.
Middleham Castle
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Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, in the county of North Yorkshire, England, was built by Robert Fitzrandolph, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, commencing in 1190. It was built near the site of a motte and bailey castle. Their brother King Edward IV was imprisoned at Middleham for a short time, following Warwicks death at Barnet in 1471 and Edwards restoration to the throne, his brother Richard married Anne Neville, Warwicks younger daughter, and made Middleham his main home. Their son Edward was also born at Middleham and later died there. Richard ascended to the throne as King Richard III, but spent little or no time at Middleham in his two-year reign, after Richards death at Bosworth in 1485 the castle remained in royal hands until the reign of James I, when it was sold. It fell into disuse and disrepair during the 17th century and it was garrisoned during the Civil War, but saw no action. The ruins are now in the care of English Heritage, the castle is a compact, massive structure, and though ruinous, most of the walls are intact. A simple rectangle in plan, the castle consists of a massive Norman keep surrounded by a curtain wall, to which were then added extensive. The keep is similar to large square keeps, but had only two stories. It is divided on both levels by a wall, and there are turrets at each corner and midway along each wall. The ground floor has two large, originally vaulted, chambers, and above are two grand halls surrounded by high windows, the entrance is by staircase to the first floor—as was common—and a later chapel outbuilding defends that approach. A repaired spiral staircase leads up to the top of the south-east corner tower, affording views of the town and countryside. The 13th century curtain wall surrounds the keep concentrically, making the castle into a compact and effective defensive structure, though it was built more for comfort than security. In the 15th century the Nevilles constructed a range of halls and outbuildings against these walls, turning the castle into a truly magnificent residence. Bridges at first-floor level were built to connect these to the keep, the entrance to the castle is through a tower in the north-east corner, though this was also a 15th-century modification. Only foundations remain of the gatehouse, facing east into the now-vanished outer ward. Apart from this east wall, however, the circuit of the walls is fairly complete, some restoration was done on the castle in modern times, but there is extensive damage to the lower faces of the keep. Windows and doorways have crumbled away, floors have fallen in, still, the castle is an impressive ruin, and the sense of its original strength and grandeur remains
24.
Tower of London
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The Tower of London, officially Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, a grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, the general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history and it was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a record office. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, in the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period, in the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence and this use has led to the phrase sent to the Tower. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, in the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, in the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, today, the Tower of London is one of the countrys most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site. The Tower was orientated with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London and it would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three wards, or enclosures, the innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle
25.
Margaret of Anjou
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Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen of England from 1445 to 1461, born in the Duchy of Lorraine into the House of Valois-Anjou, Margaret was the second eldest daughter of René of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. She was one of the figures in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Owing to her husbands frequent bouts of insanity, Margaret ruled the kingdom in his place, Margaret was taken prisoner by the victorious Yorkists after the Lancastrian defeat at Tewkesbury. In 1475, she was ransomed by her cousin, King Louis XI of France and she went to live in France as a poor relation of the French king, and she died there at the age of 52. Margaret was born on 23 March 1430 at Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire east of France ruled by a branch of the French kings. Margaret was the daughter of René of Anjou and of Isabella. She had five brothers and four sisters, as well as three half-siblings from her fathers relationships with mistresses. Her father, popularly known as Good King René, was duke of Anjou and titular king of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, he has described as a man of many crowns. Her mother took care of her education and may have arranged for her to have lessons with the scholar Antoine de la Sale, in childhood Margaret was known as la petite créature. On 23 April 1445, Margaret married King Henry VI of England, Henry at the time also claimed the Kingdom of France and controlled various parts of northern France. The English government, fearing a negative reaction, kept this provision secret from the English public. Margaret was crowned Queen Consort of England on 30 May 1445 at Westminster Abbey by John Stafford and she was described as beautiful, and furthermore already a woman, passionate and proud and strong-willed. Those that anticipated the return of English claims to French territory believed that she already understood her duty to protect the interests of the Crown fervently. Thus by family example and her own personality, she was fully capable of becoming the champion of the Crown. Henry, who was interested in religion and learning than in military matters, was not a successful king. He had reigned since he was only a few months old, when he married Margaret, his mental condition was already unstable and by the birth of their only son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, he had suffered a complete breakdown. Rumours were rife that he was incapable of begetting a child, many have speculated that either Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, or James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, both staunch allies of Margaret, was the young princes actual father
26.
Angers Cathedral
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The Saint Maurice Cathedral of Angers is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers in Angers, France. The original Romanesque church was rebuilt with Gothic details in the mid-12th century, the single-aisle plan was vaulted with pointed arches resting on a re-clad interior elevation. The nave consists of three bays, with single bays on either side of a crossing forming transepts, followed by a single-bay choir. The Cathedral of Angers was originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but, in 396, St. Martin, the Archbishop of Tours, added St. Maurice to the dedication. He had acquired a relic of some of the blood of the members of the Theban Legion, the relic was brought to Tours and later, according to legend, a phial of it was given to Angers. In the 7th Century, a devotion to St. Maurilius, a biography of him was written and, in 873, his body was transferred to the Cathedral. Two hundred years, St. Maurilius and St. Maurice were frequently mentioned together as the saints of the Cathedral. At the beginning of the century, Hubert de Vendôme. The new church was consecrated on 16 August 1025 but, seven years later, in 1032, right after the completion of the construction, during the rebuilding, the altar crucifix was blessed in 1051 and the new altar was consecrated in 1096. The new church was finished in the first half of the thirteenth century, under the crosier of Guillaume de Beaumont. Consequently, the Cathedral underwent a series of changes, in the 16th Century, the gallery, featuring the knight-companions of St. Maurice, was built by Jean Delespine and the facade was added. The spire in the Renaissance style, with a crown, was placed on the cusp of the north tower in 1518. In 1806, the porch, which stood in front of the facade, had to be demolished because of its dilapidated condition. Built in the Angevin Gothic style in front of the entrances gate, various reconstruction projects were developed in the 20th Century but none of them made it out of the planning stage. But the current incarnation was built only in 1617 by the maker, Jacques Girardet. An earlier organ was replaced in 1416 with a new case by Jean Chabencel but in 1451 it burned down, a replacement was built in 1507 on the initiative of Anne of Brittany on the original spot, the counter in the choir. It was restored for the first time, after a fire, in 1533 by Peter Bert and for the time, in 1701 by Marin Ingoult. When Ingoult was done, the organ had, besides the pedalboard,47 pipes with four keyboards, in the 18th Century, its case was replaced
27.
Battle of Barnet
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The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, on 14 April 1471 near Barnet, then a small Hertfordshire town north of London, Edward led the House of York in a fight against the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. Leading the Lancastrian army was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, historians regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of the Roses, since it brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two houses. Edwards victory was followed by 14 years of Yorkist rule over England, formerly a key figure in the Yorkist cause, Warwick defected to the Lancastrians over disagreements about Edwards nepotism, secret marriage and foreign policy. Leading a Lancastrian army, the earl defeated his former allies, the Yorkist king persuaded his host, Charles the Bold, to help him regain the English throne. Leading an army raised with Burgundian money, Edward launched his invasion of England, under cover of darkness, the Yorkists moved close to the Lancastrians and clashed in a thick fog at dawn. As both armies fought, the Earl of Oxford on the Lancastrian right routed the Yorkists opposite under Lord Hastings, on their return to the battlefield, Oxfords men were erroneously shot at by the Lancastrian centre commanded by Lord Montague. As cries of treason spread through their line, Lancastrian morale was disrupted, while retreating, Warwick was killed by Yorkist soldiers. Warwick had been such a figure in 15th-century English politics that, on his death, no one matched him in terms of power. Three centuries after the Battle of Barnet, an obelisk was raised on the spot where Warwick purportedly died. The Wars of the Roses were a series of conflicts between various English lords and nobles in support of two different royal families. In 1461 the conflict reached a milestone when the House of York supplanted its rival, Edward IV, leader of the Yorkists, seized the throne from the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was captured in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, and her son, Edward of Lancaster, fled to Scotland, Edward IV crushed the uprisings and pressured the Scottish government to force Margaret out, the House of Lancaster went into exile in France. The Earl grew to disapprove of the Kings rule, however, Warwick had planned for Edward to marry a French princess—Bona of Savoy—to create an alliance between the two countries. At her request, Edward bestowed gifts of land and titles on her relations and arranged marriages to rich, eligible bachelors were paired with the Woodville females, narrowing the marriage prospects for Warwicks daughters. Furthermore, the Earl was offended by two matches involving his kin, the first was the marriage of his aunt, Lady Katherine Neville, over 60 years old, to Elizabeths 20-year-old brother, John Woodville, a pairing considered outside of normal wedlock by many people. The other was his nephews fiancée, the daughter of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, exasperated by these acts, Warwick decided the Woodvilles were a malignant influence on his liege. He felt marginalized, his influence over the king was failing
28.
Battle of Tewkesbury
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The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483, in 1461 the Yorkist claimant, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV and defeated the supporters of the weak, intermittently insane Lancastrian king Henry VI at the Battle of Towton. Lancastrian revolts in the far north of England were defeated in 1464, and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and their thirteen-year-old son Edward of Westminster, were exiled and impoverished in France. Edward IVs hold on the throne appeared temporarily to be secure, Edward IV owed his victory in large measure to the support of his cousin, the powerful Earl of Warwick. When the marriage became public knowledge, Edward placed many of his new family in powerful positions that Warwick had hoped to control. Edward meanwhile reversed Warwicks policy of friendship with France by marrying his sister Margaret to Charles the Bold, the embittered Warwick secured the support of Edward IVs brother George, Duke of Clarence, for a coup, in exchange for Warwicks promise to crown Clarence king. Although Edward was imprisoned briefly, Clarence was unacceptable as monarch to most of the country, Edward was allowed to resume his rule, outwardly reconciled with Warwick and Clarence. Within a year, he accused them of fresh treachery and forced them to flee to France, with no hope of a reconciliation with King Edward, Warwicks best hope of regaining power in England lay in restoring Henry VI to the throne. Louis XI of France feared an alliance of Burgundy under Charles the Bold. He was prepared to support Warwick with men and money, but to give legitimacy to any uprising by Warwick, Warwick and Margaret were previously sworn enemies, but Margarets attendants and Louis eventually persuaded her to ally the House of Lancaster with Warwick. At Angers, Warwick begged her pardon on his knees for all past wrongs done to her, Prince Edward was betrothed to Warwicks younger daughter Anne. Finally, they swore loyalty to Henry VI on a fragment of the True Cross in Angers Cathedral, however, Margaret declined to let Prince Edward land in England or to land there herself until Warwick had established a firm government and made the country safe for them. Warwick landed in the West Country on 13 September 1470, accompanied by Clarence and some unswerving Lancastrian nobles, including the Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke. Edward fled to Kings Lynn where he took ship for Flanders, part of Burgundy, accompanied only by his youngest brother, Richard of Gloucester, in London, Warwick released King Henry, led him in procession to Saint Pauls cathedral and installed him in Westminster palace. His alliance with Louis of France and his intention to declare war on Burgundy was contrary to the interests of the merchants, as it threatened English trade with Flanders, Clarence had long been excluded from Warwicks calculations. In November 1470, Parliament declared that Prince Edward and his descendants were Henrys heirs to the throne, unknown to Warwick, Clarence secretly became reconciled with his brother, King Edward. With Warwick in power in England, it was Charles of Burgundys turn to fear a hostile alliance of England, as an obvious counter to Warwick, he supplied King Edward with money, ships and several hundred men
29.
Coventry
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Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Warwickshire, Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and it is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham, with a population of 345,385 in 2015. Coventry is 95 miles northwest of central London,19 miles east-south-east of Birmingham,24 miles southwest of Leicester and 11 miles north of Warwick. Coventry Cathedral was built after the destruction of the 14th century cathedral church of Saint Michael by the German Luftwaffe in the Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940, Coventry motor companies have contributed significantly to the British motor industry. The city has two universities, Coventry University in the city centre and the University of Warwick on the southern outskirts. The Romans founded a settlement in Baginton, next to the River Sowe, and another formed around a Saxon nunnery, founded c. AD700 by St Osburga, that was later left in ruins by King Canutes invading Danish army in 1016. Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva built on the remains of the nunnery, in time, a market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded. By the 14th century, Coventry was an important centre of the cloth trade, the bishops of Lichfield were often referred to as bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, or Lichfield and Coventry. Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, was granted a charter of incorporation in 1345, the plays that William Shakespeare witnessed in Coventry during his boyhood or teens may have influenced how his plays, such as Hamlet, came about. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coventry became one of the three main British centres of watch and clock manufacture and ranked alongside Prescot, in Lancashire, in the late 19th century, Coventry became a major centre of bicycle manufacture. The industry energised by the invention by James Starley and his nephew John Kemp Starley of the Rover safety bicycle, by the early 20th century, bicycle manufacture had evolved into motor manufacture, and Coventry became a major centre of the British motor industry. Jaguar is owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors, with many of the citys older properties becoming increasingly unfit for habitation, the first council houses were let to their tenants in 1917. With Coventrys industrial base continuing to soar after the end of the Great War a year later, numerous private and council housing developments took place across the city in the 1920s and 1930s. The development of a southern by-pass around the city, starting in the 1930s and being completed in 1940, Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during the Second World War. There was a massive Luftwaffe air raid, part of the Coventry Blitz, firebombing on this date led to severe damage to large areas of the city centre and to Coventrys historic cathedral, leaving only a shell and the spire. More than 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, along with three quarters of the citys industrial plants. More than 800 people were killed, with injured and homeless. Aside from London, Hull and Plymouth, Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, following the raids, the majority of Coventrys historic buildings could not be saved as they were in ruinous states or were deemed unsafe for any future use
30.
Beaulieu Abbey
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Beaulieu Abbey, grid reference SU389026, was a Cistercian abbey located in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203–1204 by King John and peopled by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the Medieval Latin name of the monastery was Bellus Locus Regis or more verbose monasterium Belli loci Regis Two other names of this location are, Bewley and Beaulie. The first Abbot of Beaulieu was Hugh, a man who stood high in the kings favour and he was later to become Bishop of Carlisle. Johns son and successor, King Henry III was equally generous to Beaulieu, with the result that the abbey became very wealthy, the abbeys buildings were of a scale and magnificence reflecting its status as an important royal foundation. The church was a vast cruciform structure in early gothic style and heavily influenced by French churches of the order, especially those of Cîteaux, Bonport, the church was 102-metre long and had a semi-circular apse with 11 radiating chapels. The building took more than four decades to complete and was dedicated in 1246, in the presence of King Henry III and his queen, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. South of the church stood a cloister, ranged around which were the house, refectory, kitchens, storehouse and quarters for the monks, lay brothers. A separate infirmary complex lay to the east of the main buildings, the abbey was surrounded by workshops, farm buildings, guesthouses, a mill, and extensive gardens and fishponds. Strongly fortified gatehouses controlled entry to the enclosure, which was defended by a wall. A water gate allowed access to ships in the river, Pope Innocent III constituted Beaulieu an exempt abbey, meaning that the abbot had to answer to no bishop save the Pope himself. Among these latter were Anne Neville, wife of Warwick the King-maker, after the battle of Barnet, twenty-six years later Perkin Warbeck fled to Beaulieu from the pursuing armies of Henry VII. Monks from Beaulieu founded four daughter houses, Netley Abbey, Hailes Abbey, Newenham Abbey, the last abbot of Beaulieu was Abbot Thomas Stevens, elected in 1536. Stevens was the abbot of the recently dissolved abbey of Netley. Beaulieu managed to survive until April 1538, at which point it was forced to surrender to the government. Many of the monks were granted pensions, the abbot receiving 100 marks per year, Abbot Thomas ended his days as treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral. Pardons were given to some of the criminals too, including one Thomas Jeynes, as soon as he took over, Wriothesley set about building himself a house on the site. He demolished the church, as was common practice but, unusually and this survives — much extended — as the modern country house at Beaulieu known as Palace House. Lord Southampton preserved the monks refectory, which he gave to the people of Beaulieu village to be their parish church, the west range of the abbey, known as the Domus was also saved
31.
St. Martin's Le Grand
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St. Martins Le Grand was a former parish and liberty within the City of London, and is the name of a one-way street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street. To the east of the road stood the collegiate church and monastic precinct of St Martins. The precinct was within the City, but was not subject to its jurisdiction, according to a somewhat dubious tradition, the church dated to the 7th or 8th century and was founded by King Wihtred of Kent. It was, more certainly, rebuilt or founded about 1056 by two brothers, Ingelric and Girard, during the reign of Edward the Confessor and its foundation was confirmed by a charter of William the Conqueror, dating to 1068. The church was responsible for the sounding of the bell in the evenings. It was dissolved by King Henry VIII and demolished in 1548 and it retained certain rights of sanctuary until 1697 and, as such, was a notorious haven for malefactors. One who sought sanctuary here was Miles Forrest, one of the murderers of the Princes in the Tower. The General Post Office established its headquarters on the site of the precinct in 1829. From here mail coaches departed for destinations across the country, coaches bound for the north went up St Martins Le Grand through Aldersgate – the first section of the Great North Road to York and Edinburgh. It replaced the previous starting point at Hicks Hall in Smithfield Market, the Post Office building, a Neoclassical design by Robert Smirke, was demolished in 1911 and replaced by new premises immediately to the west, on the former site of Christs Hospital school. St Martins Le Grand was part of the course of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Guglielmo Marconi and assistant George Kemp successfully demonstrated the wireless telegraphy system between two Post Office buildings on 27 July 1896, a transmitter was placed on the roof of the Central Telegraph Office and a receiver on the roof of the General Post Office South. The distance between the two buildings was 300 metres, later that year the Post Office provided funding for Marconi to conduct further experiments on Salisbury Plain. A plaque now appears at the BT Centre site, no such marker on the building replaced the GPO South in the early years of the 21st Century. The narrator in H. G. Wells War of the Worlds mentions that news of the Martians deaths was first spread by a survivor who had gone to St. Martins-le-Grand, the nearest London Underground station is St. Pauls, at the southern end of the street
32.
Lordship of Glamorgan
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The Lordship of Glamorgan was one of the most powerful and wealthy of the Welsh Marcher Lordships. These privileges were only lost under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, though possessing many castles, the main seat of the Lordship was Cardiff Castle. Ceased on her death in 1307, R. Davies, The Age of Conquest, Wales 1063–1415 T. B. Pugh, Glamorgan County History, The Middle Ages, The Marcher Lordships of Glamorgan and Morgannwg and Gower and Kilvey from the Norman Conquest to the Act of Union of England and Wales
33.
Duke of Clarence
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Duke of Clarence is a title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England, the title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of King Edward III, in 1362. Since he died without sons, the title became extinct, the title was again created in favour of Thomas of Lancaster, the second son of King Henry IV, in 1412. Upon his death, too, the title became extinct, the last creation in the Peerage of England was for George Plantagenet, brother of King Edward IV, in 1461. The Duke forfeited his title in 1478, after he had convicted of treason against his brother. He allegedly met his end by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey, however, she was deposed before this could take effect. Two double dukedoms, of Clarence and St Andrews and of Clarence, the title also took the form of an earldom for Queen Victorias son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and his son Prince Charles Edward, the Clarence earldom being a subsidiary title. The title is said to originate from the town of Clare, Suffolk, which was owned by the first Duke of Clarence, Lionel of Antwerp. His wife, Elizabeth, 4th Countess of Ulster, was a descendant of the previous owners, the de Clares. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the holders of the title were given titles including Scottish place names, St Andrews. His legitimate male line ended with the death in 1499 of his only son Edward Plantagenet, william IV, who became king in 1830, at which point the title merged with the Crown. For heirs to the peerages, see Duke of Albany Prince Albert Victor, 1st Duke of Clarence
34.
Henry VII of England
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Henry VII was King of England from seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, and the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 1489 and was Lord of Ireland, Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle and he cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war and his supportive stance of the islands wool industry and stand off with the Low Countries had long lasting benefits to all the British Isles economy. However, the capriciousness and lack of due process that many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VIIs death. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple greed underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henrys final years, Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died three months before his birth, Henrys paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V. He rose to one of the Squires to the Body to the King after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Owen is said to have married the widow of Henry V. One of their sons was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and formally declared legitimate by Parliament. Henrys main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine was Gaunts mistress for about 25 years, when married in 1396, they already had four children. Thus Henrys claim was somewhat tenuous, it was from a woman, 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. Gaunts nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunts children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397, in 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunts 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 IVs action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henrys claim. Henry also made political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, for example in attracting military support. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr and he took it, as well as the standard of St George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henrys biographer, Bernard André, also much of Henrys Welsh descent
35.
Lord Protector
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Lord Protector is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for head of state. It is also a title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It is sometimes used to refer to holders of temporary posts, for example. The title of The Lord Protector was originally used by princes or other nobles exercising an individual regency while the English monarch was still a minor or otherwise unable to rule. The title was held by Oliver Cromwell and subsequently his son, the replacement constitution of 1657, the Humble Petition and Advice, gave His Highness the Lord Protector the power to nominate his successor. Cromwell chose his eldest surviving son, the politically inexperienced Richard and this was a non-representative and de facto dynastic mode of succession, with royal connotations in both styles awarded, and many other monarchic prerogatives, such as that of awarding knighthoods. Since the Restoration the title has not been used in either of the above manners, george, Prince of Wales, appointed to the regency in 1811, was referred to as His Royal Highness the Prince Regent. George exercised the powers of the monarchy, just as Lords Protector had, in Mary Shelleys novel The Last Man, 21st-century England is a republic, which elects a Lord Protector as the head of state and head of government every three years. The references especially come into play in Heartfire, the book in the series. While the title is not the same, the character Denethor in The Lord of the Rings conducts the same role as Steward of Gondor, due to the absence of the line of kings. Alan BStard on the episode of UK sitcom The New Statesman, after winning the general election. By the end of the episode, the technologically advanced society was governed by the Central Protectorate. In the MicroProse videogame Sid Meiers Civilization II, the term Lord Protector is applied to the leader of the English civilisation under the Fundamentalism type of government, trinidadian calypsonian Patrick Jones, or Chinee Patrick, was also known by the names Lord Protector and Oliver Cromwell. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
36.
Edward V of England
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Edward V was King of England from his father Edward IVs death on 9 April 1483 until 26 June of the same year. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, were the Princes in the Tower who disappeared after being sent to heavily-guarded royal lodgings in the Tower of London. Responsibility for their deaths is widely attributed to Richard III, but the lack of any solid evidence, Edward was born on 2 November 1470 in Westminster Abbey. His mother, Elizabeth Woodville, had sought sanctuary there from Lancastrians who had deposed his father, the prince was to arise every morning at a convenient hour, according to his age. His day would begin with matins and then Mass, which he was to receive uninterrupted, after breakfast, the business of educating the prince began with virtuous learning. Dinner was served from ten in the morning, and then the prince was to be read noble stories, of virtue, honour, cunning, wisdom, and of deeds of worship but of nothing that should move or stir him to vice. After further study, in the afternoon the prince was to engage in sporting activities suitable for his class, supper was served from four, and curtains were to be drawn at eight. Following this, the attendants were to enforce themselves to make him merry. They would then watch him as he slept. He had such dignity in his person, and in his face such charm. The two were to be married upon their majority, and the devolution of Brittany would have given to the second child to be born. Those plans disappeared together with Edward V and it was at Ludlow that the 12-year-old prince received news, on Monday 14 April 1483, of his fathers sudden death five days before. Edward IVs will, which has not survived, nominated his trusted brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, both the new king and his party from the west, and Richard from the north, set out for London, converging in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire. Dominic Mancini, an Italian who visited England in the 1480s, reports that Edward protested, but the remainder of his entourage was dismissed and Richard escorted him to London. On 19 May 1483, the new king took up residence in the Tower of London, the council had originally hoped for an immediate coronation to avoid the need for a protectorate. This had previously happened with Richard II, who had become king at the age of ten, another precedent was Henry VI whose protectorate had ended with his coronation aged seven. Richard, however, repeatedly postponed the coronation, the following day he acceded to the throne as King Richard III. The Latin reference to Argentinus medicus had previously been translated to mean a Strasbourg doctor, because in Roman times Strasbourg was called Argentoratum, however, D. E
37.
Titulus Regius
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Titulus Regius is a statute of the Parliament of England, issued in 1484, by which the title of King of England was given to Richard III. Thus Richard III had been proclaimed the rightful king, but as the Lords and Commons had not been officially convened as a parliament, doubts had arisen as to its validity, so when Parliament convened it enacted the declaration as a law. Following the overthrow of Richard III, the Act was repealed, Edwards marriage was invalidated because the king was said, on the testimony of a bishop, Robert Stillington, to have precontracted a marriage to Lady Eleanor Butler. The document also claims that Elizabeth Woodville and her mother used witchcraft to get the king to marry her, since Richards brother George, Duke of Clarence, had been executed and attainted, his descendants forfeited all rights to the throne, leaving Richard the true heir. For good measure, the document also hints that George and Edward were themselves illegitimate, while Richard, born within this land was the son and heir of Richard. In contrast Richard is a man distinguished by wit, prudence, justice, princely courage. After Richard was overthrown, the Act was repealed by the first parliament of the new king, Henry also ordered his subjects to destroy all copies of it without reading them. So well were his orders carried out only one copy of the law has ever been found. This copy was transcribed by a monastic chronicler into the Croyland Chronicle, a law report from his reign states. Henry almost succeeded in suppressing the Titulus Regius, the 100-year gap during which Titulus Regius was censored coincided with the ruling period of the Tudor dynasty. During this period it was known that Richard had claimed that a marriage pre-contract invalidated Edwards sons right to the throne, thomas More assumed that the act referred to Edwards longtime mistress Elizabeth Lucy, a view that was repeated until Buck discovered the original document. The Tudor king Edward VI was enumerated to recognise the legality of Edward Vs reign, Act of Accord Original text of Titulus Regius Modernised Spelling & Annotations of Titulus Regius
38.
Thomas Bourchier (cardinal)
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Thomas Bourchier was a medieval English cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor of England. Bourchier was a son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu by his wife Anne of Gloucester. One of his brothers was Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, and his great-nephew was John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham was his half-brother. He was educated at the University of Oxford, after which he entered the church, after holding some minor appointments he was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 15 May 1434. In the same year of 1434 he was Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in April 1454 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and became Lord Chancellor of England in March 1455. In 1458 he helped to reconcile the parties, but when the war was renewed in 1459 he had become a decided Yorkist. He crowned Duke Richards son Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke of York as King Edward IV in June 1461, in 1457 Bourchier took the chief part in the trial for heresy of Reginald Pecock, Bishop of Chichester. In 1473 he was created a cardinal, not after some delay as this honour had been sought for him by King Edward IV in 1465, in 1475 he was one of the four arbitrators appointed to arrange the details of the Treaty of Picquigny between England and France. Although Bourchier had sworn, before his fathers death, to be faithful to King Edward V, the third English king crowned by Bourchier was King Henry VII, whom he also married to Elizabeth of York in January 1486. Bourchier died on 30 March 1486 at the residence he had transformed, Knole House, near Sevenoaks in Kent, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. Greenway, D. E. Porter, S. Roy and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Bourchier, Thomas
39.
Battle of Bosworth Field
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Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty and his opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, at the request of his brother Edward IV, Richard was acting as Lord Protector for his son Edward V. Richard had Parliament declare Edward V illegitimate and ineligible for the throne, across the English Channel in Brittany, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richards difficulties so that he could challenge his claim to the throne. Henrys first attempt to invade England was frustrated by a storm in 1483, marching inland, Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard mustered his troops and intercepted Henrys army south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire, Thomas, Lord Stanley, and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support. Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henrys, into three groups, one was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford, Richards vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxfords men, and some of Norfolks troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry, seeing the kings knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened, Sir William led his men to Henrys aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle Henry was crowned king below an oak tree in nearby Stoke Golding, Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably, the Battle of Bosworth was popularised to represent the Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age. From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamorised as a victory of good over evil, the climax of William Shakespeares play Richard III provides a focal point for critics in later film adaptations. The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data, in 1974 the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009 a team of researchers, who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area from 2003, during the 15th century civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for the English throne. In 1471 the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet, the Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Lancaster, died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne, the Yorkist king, Edward IV, was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry, naming them traitors and confiscating their lands. The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany, then a semi-independent duchy, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV. The Beauforts were originally bastards, but Henry IV legitimised them on the condition that their descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne
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Mechtilde
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Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn was a Saxon Christian saint and a Benedictine nun. In the modern Benedictine calendar, her feast is celebrated on the anniversary of her death and she died in the monastery of Helfta. Born Matilda von Hackeborn-Wippra, in 1240 or 1241, she belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful Thuringian families, her sister was the illustrious Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn. The family of Hackeborn belonged to a dynasty of Barons in Thuringia who were related to the Hohenstaufen family and had possessions in northern Thuringia and in the Harz Mountains. So fragile was she at birth, that the attendants, fearing she might die unbaptized, hurried her off to the priest who was just then preparing to say Mass. He was reported as a person of great sanctity, and after baptizing the child, is reported to have made a statement to this effect, judged by some to be prophetic, What do you fear. This child most certainly not die, but she will become a saintly religious in whom God will work many wonders. Here, being gifted in mind as well as in body, she made remarkable progress in virtue. Ten years later she followed her sister, who, now abbess, had transferred the monastery to an estate at Helfta given her by her brothers Louis and she joined the convent and eventually became the headmistress of the convent school. Mechtilde was employed in the convent looking after the library, illuminating scripts, in 1261, the abbess committed to her care a child of five who was destined to shed glory and fame upon the monastery of Helfta. This was Gertrude who in later became known as St. Gertrude the Great. She was famous for her talents and was called the “Nightingale of Helfta”. Gifted with a voice, Mechtilde also possessed a special talent for rendering the solemn. All her life she held this office and trained the choir with indefatigable zeal, souls thirsting for consolation or groping for light sought her advice, learned Dominicans consulted her on spiritual matters. At the beginning of her own mystic life it may have been from St. Mechtilde that St. Gertrude the Great learnt that the marvellous gifts lavished upon her were from God. The Lord would say to Mechtild, Everything you have and by which you can please me you have from me, while Julian of Norwich gave expression to the idea of God as mother, the concept did not originate with her. St Anselm of Canterbury had already fostered devotion to our Lord, the Cistercians and Carthusians spread it by the use of these prayers in their monasteries, and women such as Marguerite dOyngt and Mechtilde of Hackeborn took it up. In the description of her visions Mechthild von Hackeborn appears throughout as a person of even temper, in her revelations Christ, the Virgin, and other members of the hierarchy of heaven enter as living realities
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Sheriff Hutton
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Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about ten miles north by north-east of York, the village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book as Hotun in the Bulford hundred. Before the Norman invasion the manor was split between land owners. Those named included Ligulf, Northmann, Thorkil, Thorsten and Thorulf, afterwards some of the land was retained by the Crown and others given to Count Robert of Mortain who installed Sir Nigel Fossard as lord of the manor. Soon after this, the land was in the possession of the Bulmer family, Bertram de Bulmer built the first castle in the village during the reign of King Stephen. After the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, the castle and manor were seized by the Crown before being held for the king by the Mauley family. The manor eventually came into the possession of the Nevill family in the 14th century until 1480, various grants of land were made up to the 17th century when possession is recorded as belonging to Sir Thomas Ingram. The Ingram family, by way of marriages, maintained lordship until 1904. The name is derived from the Old English words hoh and tun, the prefix of Sheriff is thought to arise because it was once held by Bertram de Bulmer, the Sheriff of York, who died in 1166. In 1140, during the reign of King Stephen, a castle was built here in the Forest of Galtres by Bertram de Bulmer. Those remains have been designated Ancient Monument status, the extant remains of the stone Castle at the western end of the village were built by John, Lord Neville in the late fourteenth century. It fell into disrepair during the reign of King James I and it is a Grade II Listed Building. The Nevill Castle was used by Richard III to house his nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick and his niece, the village lies within the Thirsk and Malton constituency. The village gives its name to the District ward of Ryedale District Council and it also gives it name to the Hovingham and Sheriff Hutton electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council in which it sits. The local Parish Council is made of six members, an electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south east to Flaxton with a population taken at the 2011 Census of 1,729. The nearest settlements are West Lilling 0.8 miles to the south, Thornton-le-Clay 2.2 miles to the south east, the 2001 UK Census recorded the population as 1,038, of which 842 were over the age of sixteen years. There were 448 dwellings, of which 239 were detached, the population at the 2011 Census was 1019
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Stained glass
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The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques, although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has extended the term stained glass to include domestic leadlight. As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together by strips of lead. Painted details and yellow stain are used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as illuminated wall decorations, Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship, artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. During the late Medieval period, glass factories were set up there was a ready supply of silica. Silica requires very high heat to become molten, something not all glass factories were able to achieve, such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network, Glass is coloured by adding metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while it is in a molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blue, much modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and gives a brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass coloured while in the pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass
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Cardiff Castle
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Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roman fort. The castle was commissioned either by William the Conqueror or by Robert Fitzhamon, and formed the heart of the town of Cardiff. In the 12th century the castle began to be rebuilt in stone, probably by Robert of Gloucester, with a shell keep, further work was conducted by Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester in the second half of the 13th century. After being held by the de Clare and Despenser families for centuries the castle was acquired by Richard de Beauchamp in 1423. Richard conducted extensive work on the castle, founding the main range on the west side of the castle, following the Wars of the Roses, the status of the castle as a Marcher territory was revoked and its military significance began to decline. During the English Civil War Cardiff Castle was initially taken by a Parliamentary force, when fighting broke out again in 1648, a Royalist army attacked Cardiff in a bid to regain the castle, leading to the Battle of St Fagans just outside the city. Cardiff Castle escaped potential destruction by Parliament after the war and was instead garrisoned, in the mid-18th century, Cardiff Castle passed into the hands of the Marquesses of Bute. During the first half of the 19th century the family became wealthy as a result of the growth of the coal industry in Glamorgan. The third Marquess, John Crichton-Stuart, used this wealth to back an extensive programme of renovations under William Burges, Burges remodelled the castle in a Gothic revival style, lavishing money and attention on the main range. The resulting interior designs are considered to be amongst the most magnificent that the gothic revival ever achieved, the grounds were re-landscaped and, following the discovery of the old Roman remains, reconstructed walls and a gatehouse in a Roman style were incorporated into the castle design. Extensive landscaped parks were built around the outside of the castle, in the early 20th century the fourth Marquess inherited the castle and construction work continued into the 1920s. The Bute lands and commercial interests around Cardiff were sold off or nationalised until, by the time of the Second World War, during the war, extensive air raid shelters were built in the castle walls, they could hold up to 1,800 people. When the Marquess died in 1947, the castle was given to the city of Cardiff, today the castle is run as a tourist attraction, with the grounds housing the Firing Line regimental museum and interpretation centre. The castle has served as a venue for events, including musical performances. The future site of Cardiff Castle was first used by the Romans as a location for many years. The first fort was built about AD55 and occupied until AD80. It was a structure much larger than the current site
44.
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick
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He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. He was born on 25 February 1475, at Warwick, the home of his mother. He was created Earl of Warwick in 1478 shortly after the attainder, despite this, he was knighted at York by Richard III in September 1483. In 1480, Warwick was made a ward of King Edward IVs stepson, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, after King Richards death in 1485, Warwick, only ten years old, was kept as prisoner in the Tower of London by Henry VII. His claim, albeit tarnished, remained a threat to Henry. In 1490, he was confirmed in his title of Earl of Warwick despite his fathers attainder, but he remained a prisoner until 1499, when he became involved in a plot to escape with Perkin Warbeck. On 21 November 1499, Warwick appeared at Westminster for a trial before his peers, presided over by John de Vere, a week later, Warwick was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill. Henry VII paid for his body and head to be taken to Bisham Abbey in Berkshire for burial, catherine was said to feel very guilty about Warwicks death, and that her trials in later life were punishment for it. A number of historians have claimed that Warwick had a mental disability and it seems likely that Hall simply meant that long imprisonment had made Warwick naive and unworldly. Upon Warwicks death, the House of Plantagenet became extinct in the male line. However, the sons of his aunt Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk
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John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln
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John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln was a leading figure in the Yorkist aristocracy during the Wars of the Roses. After the death of his uncle Richard III, de la Pole was reconciled with the new Tudor regime and he sought to place Lambert Simnel on the throne, claiming that Simnel was in fact his cousin Edward, Earl of Warwick. Whether or not de la Pole intended to take the throne for himself if he were successful is not known and he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Stoke in 1487. John de la Pole was the eldest son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth of York and his father was the son of Alice Chaucer, granddaughter of Geoffrey Chaucer. His mother was the child and third daughter born to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York. He was thus the nephew of the Yorkist kings Edward IV of England, johns uncle Edward IV made him Earl of Lincoln in 1467. After King Edwards death, de la Pole became a supporter of his uncle Richard III. He was given revenues of about 500 pounds a year, and was appointed president of the Council of the North, during the last year of Richards reign, Lincoln seems to have been designated heir to the throne, though he was never publicly proclaimed as such. Edward, Earl of Warwick would have had a claim but was attainted after his father, George, Duke of Clarence, was found guilty of treason against his brother, Edward IV. Richard made important land grants to Lincoln and, significantly, granted him the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, traditionally given to the heir. After Richards defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, Lincoln was reconciled with the new king, Henry VII, a clergyman named Symonds introduced him to his protegé, Lambert Simnel, who bore a resemblance to Edward, Earl of Warwick. The real Edward had been imprisoned in the Tower of London by King Henry, Lincoln decided to promote Edward as the true Yorkist heir, while using Simnel to represent him, thus allowing Lincoln to become the actual leader of the Yorkists. Lincoln travelled to Burgundy to persuade his aunt Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy to finance an expedition to take the throne from Henry. While nominally supporting Simnel, in private, he saw his own accession as the ultimate goal of the enterprise. With an army of mercenaries, Lincoln sailed to Ireland, where he was supported by Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare and this was mainly because the Yorkist kings had allowed Irish self-government with FitzGerald as almost the uncrowned king of Ireland. Simnel was proclaimed king in Ireland and crowned in Dublin as Edward VI, however, the town refused to surrender to Lincoln. This may have been a diversion planned by the Yorkists, lincolns army was, however, repeatedly harassed by Lancastrian cavalry under Sir Edward Woodville. The Yorkists then crossed the river Trent and set up their position at the top of a hill near the village of East Stoke, soon the vanguard of the main Lancastrian army under John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford caught up with them
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