The Women of the Cousins' War: The Real White Queen And Her Rivals by Philippa Gregory & David Baldwin & Michael Jones

Author:Philippa Gregory & David Baldwin & Michael Jones [Gregory, Philippa]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780857201799
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2011-09-14T23:00:00+00:00

ELIZABETH THE WOMAN

We have seen something of how Elizabeth responded to the demands and responsibilities of queenship, but can we tell what she was like as a person? Modern historians have alleged that she indulged in feuds, behaved meanly towards those who displeased her, and was careless of others’ welfare, but much of their evidence is open to interpretation. One charge that can be dismissed quite easily is that she plotted the execution of the Irish Earl of Desmond who had dared to suggest to King Edward that it was still not too late for him to reject her and marry a well-connected foreigner. This appears to be no more than a ‘family tradition’ first mentioned by the earl’s grandson in Henry VIII’s reign, and although Desmond was beheaded there were sound political reasons for his downfall. Allegations that Elizabeth persuaded her husband to appoint the Earl of Worcester (who had agreed to avenge her) as his deputy in Ireland and purloined the royal signet ring to validate a ‘feigned’ letter ordering Desmond’s execution are almost certainly tales concocted years later. The Desmonds may have preferred to peddle the story that their ancestor had fallen victim to a spiteful woman rather than admit that he had conspired against the Crown.

Another criticism of Elizabeth is that her new royal status had ‘gone to her head’ and made her insufferably haughty. No one said this in so many words however, and the idea seems to be based mainly on the observations of some visiting Bohemians who were invited to see her ‘churched’ (formally received back into society following her period of ritual impurity) after the birth of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, in 1466. One of them, Gabriel Tetzel, described the banquet that followed the service in great detail, noting that

The Queen sat alone at table on a costly golden chair. The Queen’s mother and the King’s sister had to stand some distance away. When the Queen spoke with her mother or the King’s sister, they knelt down before her until she had drunk water. Not until the first dish was set before the Queen could the Queen’s mother and the King’s sister be seated. The ladies and maidens and all who served the Queen at table were all of noble birth and had to kneel so long as the Queen was eating. The meal lasted for three hours. The food which was served to the Queen, the Queen’s mother and the King’s sister and the others was most costly. Much might be written of it. Everyone was silent and not a word was spoken.

It would be easy to suppose that Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed making these ladies who had once far outranked her kneel in the rushes, but such a view takes no account of the strict rules governing English court protocol. The great respect shown her was as traditional as the silence that so impressed Tetzel, and would probably not have attracted comment if she had been a high-born princess.

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