The Earls of March on the Welsh Marches (or borders) were descended from Roger Mortimer who was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 for having led the Marcher lords in a revolt against King Edward II in what became known as the Despenser War. He later escaped to France, where he was joined by Edward's Queen Consort Isabella, whom he may have taken as his mistress. After he and Isabella led a successful invasion and rebellion, Edward was deposed; Mortimer allegedly arranged his murder at Berkeley Castle. For three years, Mortimer was de facto ruler of England before being himself overthrown by Edward's eldest son, Edward III. Accused of assuming royal power and other crimes, Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn in 1330. This Roger Mortimer’s descendant, another Roger, managed to have the title restored eighteen years later. With the death of the fifth Earl, however, there remained no more Mortimers as heirs to the first Earl, and the title passed to Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and, in turn, as a curtesy title to Edward. |
Barry or and azure, on a Chief of the first two Pallets between two Base Esquires of the second over all an Inescutcheon argent.
The third Earl of March, Edmund, married Philippa, only child of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second son of King Edward III, and Elizabeth de Burgh, who was Countess of Ulster in her own right. The de Burgh and, therefore, Ulster Arms were gold with a red Cross. Elizabeth also brought the Badge of the black Bull into the family, which was associated with the Honour of Clare through her great-grandfather, Earl Gilbert de Clare, hence the origin of the name of Lionel’s dukedom.
The Seal of Edmund, third Earl of March, shows Mortimer quartered with de Burgh/Ulster with Lions supporting the Shield. Edmund is known to have bequeathed to his son Roger bed hangings of black satin embroidered with white Lions and his quartered Shield. The children of Roger, fourth Earl of March would become important to the Throne.
The son, Edmund, the fifth Earl, was close to the Crown under King Henry V but was treated with suspicion by Henry’s son, Henry VI. Edmund died without issue and his elder sister, Anne, married another Edmund, namely the son of the Duke of York. She would become grandmother to Edward IV and Richard III, so bringing King Edward III’s line full circle.
Edward IV inherited the Arms of the land as King - France quartered with England. His Supporters are variously shown as white Mortimer Lions, a gold Lion of England and the black Bull of Clarence. These, however, cannot be confirmed as little more than an extension of the use of Badges to fill space on Seals and show the inconsistency of the concept of Supporters at the time and an imposition of more modern heraldic thinking on a previous era which would not settle down until the Tudor era.
With the re-installation of Henry VI, Edward fled to Flanders, where he gathered support and invaded England in March 1471. After victories at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, he resumed the Throne. Shortly afterwards, Henry VI was found dead in the Tower of London. Despite a continuing threat from Henry Tudor, the last Lancastrian claimant, Edward reigned in relative peace for the next twelve years. When he died suddenly in April 1483, Edward IV was succeeded by his young son Edward V, but Edward IV's brother Richard III, , as we have seen, soon seized the Throne.
Edward IV's legacy includes St George's Chapel within the precincts of Windsor Castle, begun by him in 1475. Although he is buried there, the Chapel was not completed until 1509. It is the Chapel of the Order of the Garter and almost the parish church of the British Royal Family. His other legacy was his appearance. He was unusually tall for the period at 6 feet 4 inches and had reddish brown hair. Although it is uncertain where he inherited either from (the red hair has variously been credited to John of Gaunt, the Beaufort decendents via Katherine Swynford and even Elizabeth Woodville rather than himself), his grandson - King Henry VIII - and great-granddaughter - Queen Elizabeth I - certainly inherited both traits.
Elizabeth Woodville
She was the firstborn child of a socially unequal marriage between Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, which briefly scandalised the English court. The Woodvilles, though an old and respectable family, were gentry rather than noble. Her mother had previously been an aunt-by-marriage to Henry VI, being the widow of the Duke of Bedford. Elizabeth's first marriage was to a minor supporter of the House of Lancaster, Sir John Grey of Groby, who died at the Second Battle of St Albans, leaving Elizabeth a widowed mother of two sons.
Her second marriage to Edward IV was a cause célèbre of the day, thanks to Elizabeth's great beauty and lack of great estates. She was said to have waited for Edward to plead for the return of her sons’ inheritance and, when they met, both had fallen in love. Edward was the first king of England since the Norman Conquest to marry one of his subjects and Elizabeth was the first such consort to be crowned Queen. (King John's marriage to Isabel of Gloucester was annulled shortly after his accession, and she was never crowned; Henry IV's first wife Mary de Bohun died before he became King.) Their marriage was kept secret at first and only came out when Edward’s advisor, Warwick the Kingmaker, wanted him to marry a French princess. Elizabeth's elevation to Queen greatly enriched her siblings and children, but their advancement incurred the hostility of Warwick and his various alliances. This hostility turned into open discord between King Edward and Warwick, leading to Warwick switching allegiance to the Lancastrian cause, and to the execution of Elizabeth's father, Richard Woodville, in 1469.
After the death of her husband in 1483, Elizabeth remained politically influential even after her son, briefly proclaimed King Edward V of England, was deposed by her brother-in-law, Richard III. Elizabeth subsequently played an important role in plotting with Lady Margaret Beaufort and against Richard to secure the accession of Margaret’s son, Henry Tudor, in 1485. Henry married her daughter Elizabeth of York, ending the Wars of the Roses, and established the Tudor dynasty. Through her daughter, Elizabeth was a grandmother of the future Henry VIII, but was forced to yield pre-eminence to Henry VII's mother.
Elizabeth Woodville’s influence on events in these years, and her eventual departure from court into retirement, remain obscure. She spent the last five years of her life in retirement at Bermondsey Abbey, although living in regal style. Although her will had expressed a wish that her funeral be simple, many were surprised at the actual simplicity of it and blame the King. However, there is a suggestion that Elizabeth died of the plague, which would have necessitated a hurried burial.
Elizabeth's Coat of Arms is a strange affair. It is blazonned as follows:
Quartlerly, first argent, a Lion rampant double queued gules, crowned or (Luxemburg, her mother’s family), second quarterly, I and IV, gules, a Star of eight Points argent; II and III, azure, semée of Fleurs-dse-Lys or; third, barry argent and azure, overall a Lion rampant gules; fourth, gules, three Bendlets argent, on a Chief of the first, charged with a Fillet in base or, a Rose of the second; fifth, gules, three Pallets vairy, on a Chief or a Label of five Points azure, and sixth, argent, a Fess and a Canton conjoined gules (Woodville)
Her Supporters were the King's white Lion and a white Greyhound, collared and chained of uncertain origin.
As the widow of Sir John Grey, Elizabeth had born the following Arms:
Barry of six argent and azure, in a Chief three Torteaux, a Label of three Points ermine (Grey) impaling argent, a Fess and a Canton conjoined gules (Woodville)
The Children of Edward and Elizabeth
- Elizabeth of York (11th February 1466 – 11th February 1503) - Covered in a previous Blog.
- Mary of York (11th August 1467 – 23rd May 1482)
- Cecily of York (20th March 1469 – 24th August 1507), Viscountess Welles.
- Edward V of England (4th November 1470 – c. 1483) - Covered in last week's Blog.
- Margaret of York (10th April 1472 – 11th December 1472)
- Richard, Duke of York (17th August 1473 – c. 1483) - As his elder brother Edward.
- Anne of York (2nd November 1475 – 23rd November 1511), Lady Howard.
- George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford (March 1477 – March 1479) - Only lived to the age of 2.
- Catherine of York (14th August 1479 – 15th November 1527), Countess of Devon.
- Bridget of York (10th November 1480 – 1507), nun at Dartford Priory, Kent.
- Arthur, Viscount Lisle (illegitimate) - Covered in a previous Blog.
All the daughters, surprisingly, used Edward's Arms as Earl of March rather than as King, even Elizabeth. Maybe this was to single out and legitimise the Tudor Dynasty which followed. George did not live long enough to be assigned Arms.