Anne Neville: Richard III's Tragic Queen by Licence Amy

Author:Licence, Amy [Licence, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2013-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

9

Richard’s Wife

1472–1483

With love founded on profit, pleasure and honesty

then shall true friendship reign among you.1

For the next decade, the rule of Edward IV went unchallenged. His queen, Elizabeth Wydeville, bore five more children to add to the existing five and, with the death of Henry VI and Queen Margaret effectively silenced, it looked as if the Yorkist regime was finally secure. Richard and Anne retreated to their estate at Middleham Castle, where they settled into the roles of a great northern magnate and his wife. The seals from surviving documents relating to Richard’s activities indicate that he spent most of his time at the castle, which was their primary residence, although they also owned Sheriff Hutton, which was useful for its proximity to York and a number of other properties. Richard was to play an important role in government during this time, ruling the Earl of Warwick’s old lands in the name of his brother. He regularly attended Parliament, travelling south in the autumn of 1472 for the first session since his marriage and leaving his young wife behind, although they were probably reunited for their first Christmas. Anne bore a son early in the marriage and established herself as the head of the Ducal household, even deputising for her husband in his absence. There was nothing to suggest the pair would not live out happy, quiet lives, raising their child among the rolling hills of Anne’s childhood home.

Today it is possible to get a sense of the majesty of the couple’s home, even though the building stands in ruins. Middleham was entered across a traditional defensive moat and drawbridge, either into the castle’s east gatehouse or the gatehouse to the north. Both gave into a courtyard which was flanked by the chapel and the massive keep, where a staircase led up to the Great Hall. The chapel’s surviving masonry gives an idea of the extent of the huge arches on third-story level and the little niches and pedestals that would have contained statues and devotional items. The impressive keep, with its reconstructed wooden steps, stood over the cellars, while the inner chamber was warmed by the kitchens below. Wooden bridges linked the upper levels to the garderobe or latrine block, the Lady’s Chamber and Prince’s Tower, where Anne is rumoured to have given birth.

The arrival of Edward of Middleham has usually been placed around 1473 or 1474, although Charles Ross has put it as late as 1476. His case has been based on the boy’s investiture as Prince of Wales in August 1483, when he is described in one account as being around seven. Edward had certainly arrived by April 1477, when a licence was granted to the manor and church of Fulmere, Cambridge, for prayers to be said for ‘the king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Anne, his consort and Edward, their son’.2 Then, in 1478, the boy was given Anne’s grandfather’s title of Earl of Salisbury. Anne may well have conceived just days after her wedding,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.