Anthony Woodville was the oldest son of Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxemburg. He was destined for high office due to his noble birth and he fulfilled all expectations. He was highly educated, extremely intelligent, pious and a fine swordsmen. He married Elizabeth Scales, a baroness in her own right, which elevated his status even further. He was known as Lord Scales, due to this fortunate marriage.

He fought on the Lancastrian side at the battle of Towton but, together with his father, later transferred his allegiance to the Yorks. He became well known and influential at court when his sister Elizabeth married Edward IV and the Woodvilles became a force to be reckoned with. After his sister’s marriage to the King, Anthony became a Knight of the Garter and was given the honour of Lordship of the Isle of Wight. He was promoted to be Lieutenant of Calais and captain of the king’s armada, among many other honorary positions.

It is said he fought a two day ‘duel’ with the Bastard of Burgundy, which is an indication of his fighting prowess. They started out on horseback and ended up fighting with daggers, until the King intervened to prevent death, which would not have been welcomed by anyone. Later Anthony was part of the group which went to Bruges, there to negotiate the marriage of Edward IV’s sister Margaret to Charles the Bold.

Anthony’s father and brother were both beheaded after the battle of Edgecote and he succeeded to the title of Earl Rivers. He accompanied Edward of March into exile in 1470 and fought with him at Barnet, where he was wounded. Edward thought highly of him and appointed him councillor to the young Prince of Wales, essentially putting his son into Anthony’s care and keeping. This was pivotal in Anthony’s future, although at the time it was a highly lucrative and important position to hold. Later he was actually made a guardian of the young prince.

It was probably during this time that he became a writer, and also began his pilgrimages to holy sites. His pilgrimage to Rome resulted in Pope Sextus IV investing him with the title of defender and director of papal causes in England.

• He was a serious patron of the arts, working with Caxton in translating and producing books. He was responsible for the first ever book printed in England, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers. Overall Anthony Woodville was known as a courtier and writer, as well as a devout and devoted man.
• In 1483 Edward appointed his brother Richard of Gloucester as protector for his young son Edward. When the king died in April 1483, Richard intercepted the group heading for London with the boy, now officially Edward V, ordered the arrest of Earl Rivers and those with him and had them imprisoned at Sherrif-Hutton Castle, near York. Later they were all executed at Pontefract Castle. He died on the 25th June 1483, a victim of his position, of the paranoia of the time and of the circumstances and problems left behind by Edward IV.

George Plantagenet was born in Dublin on the 21st October 1449. He was the 3rd surviving son of Richard, Duke of York and Lady Cecily Neville. At the time his father was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Later they returned to Fotheringhay, which became home during his growing up. Three years later his brother Richard was born, the child who become Richard III.

When he was ten, the two brothers were moved to Ludlow Castle, as it was decreed by the Duke of York that the castle at Fotheringhay was not secure enough in those troubled times. The Duchess of York, joined them at Ludlow a few days later. The eldest sons of the York family, Edward, Earl of March and Edmund, Earl of Rutland, had grown up and been taught all the arts and skills of being knights and belted earls at Ludlow. George had not, up to that time, met his two brothers. No portrait of Edmund, Earl of Rutland, exists, but it is probably fair to assume he too was good-looking. In later years the same thing was written about George.

By the end of summer the King’s army was advancing on the town, the Yorks were out numbered, so it was decided that Richard Duke of York and the two eldest Yorks should leave immediately, in order to fight another day, and that Lady Cecily and the two youngest boys should surrender to the king’s army. The Duke rode away under cover of the night and the next morning the soldiers took charge of the duchess and her two sons, conveying them to her sister’s home in Coventry, whilst the rest of the army sacked the village and the castle.

It could not have been a particularly happy time, being in the care of a complete stranger, but it did not last too long. Edward was in Calais, preparing for a return and thinking of his younger brothers too, as he arranged for them to be removed to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s home, where they could be educated.

June 1460 and a change in the fortunes of the House of York. The Earls of Warwick, Salisbury and March, together with Lord Falconberg, were back in England, where they fought and won the Battle at Northampton. In October of that year the Yorks were reunited in London.

The triumph did not last. By the end of the year, the disastrous Battle of Wakefield had claimed the lives of Richard, Duke of York, Edmund, Earl of Rutland and the Earl of Salisbury. The Duke’s head was cut off and put on a spike at Micklegate, adorned with a paper crown, signifying his claim to the English throne and its disastrous consequences. Edmund, Earl of Rutland, aged 17, was killed on the battlefield in cold blood.

George and Richard were despatched to Burgundy for safety until the situation in England was resolved. The two boys were greeted and treated with great reverence, then quietly removed to Utrecht where their education was resumed. They were not allowed to leave for England before the political situation had settled, which basically meant that they had to wait until their brother Edward was about to be crowned as King. When that news came, the boys were féted and treated as honoured royal guests, showered with gifts and compliments before they returned to England.

The new king, Edward IV, created his younger brother George Steward of England for the coronation. Shortly after that, George Plantagenet became Duke of Clarence, a title that showed he was Edward’s heir. He was made Knight of the Bath and a short time later Knight of the Garter, a high honour which confirmed his future role in life: a land owning magnate and heir to the throne. He was not yet 12 years old.

At seventeen, George, Duke of Clarence was said to be handsome, tall and charming. His Lieutenantship of Ireland was given to a deputy, the Earl of Worcester, as Edward refused to let him go because of his young age but he had many duties, acting as commissioner and steward on important occasions. It was about this time that the first difficulties arose. Edward IV had showered responsibilities and honours on Richard, whereas George, three years older, had none. In his fury he made a fuss to the extent that Edward had to reverse the decision and allocate them to George. It did not bode well for the future.

• In September 1464 George Duke of Clarence heard the news of the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Grey. Immediately his position as Edward’s heir was wiped out. It left him sidelined, which may have accounted for what happened next in his life. Warwick and Clarence were first cousins, with a twenty year age gap between them. A friendship was soon developing, as George was looking to the future and marriage to Isabel, the Earl’s oldest daughter. That marriage would secure George’s future with estates and wealth and keep the patronage of a powerful earl. It is possible that George did not see anything wrong in making an alliance with Warwick, who had been loyal to Edward IV, despite rumours of pro-Lancastrian plots. Warwick could no doubt see the sense in cultivating the brother of the king and binding him to the family by marriage. The problems began when Edward vetoed the arrangement. Clarence took serious objection to his brother’s opposition and decided to go ahead with the marriage anyway. They made the arrangements and travelled to Calais in 1469. There Archbishop Neville conducted the wedding ceremony. George, Duke of Clarence became a part of the Warwick empire.
• Just before travelling to Calais, Warwick had written to Coventry and other places with an array, saying he was going to subdue the northern rebels. The truth was he planned to use the men in his own insurrection. When they returned to England, they launched the Battle of Edgecote which ended with Clarence, working with Warwick, ordering executions, surely a taste of real power. When his brother Edward IV was taken prisoner by Archbishop Neville and handed over to Warwick and Clarence himself, it must have seemed like the ultimate in power. It is this act which many cite as the real treachery of Clarence against his brother Edward IV.
• Edward outsmarted them, however, and, surrounded by several hundred armed men, calmly left his captivity and returned to London to claim his crown again. He appeared not to hold a grudge against his brother and the Earl as he began to negotiate to bring them back into the court again. This may not have pleased his new Queen or her family, the Woodvilles, but Edward was the supreme ruler and what he said happened.
• Unfortunately the moves did not work. Another uprising ended with Clarence and Warwick suffering an enforced exile to Calais, Clarence with his heavily pregnant wife who gave birth to a stillborn son. To add to his miseries, Clarence had to stand back and watch his sister-in-law being married to the Prince of Wales and realise that all his ambitions were as nothing in the eyes of the Kingmaker.
• It can only be presumed but seems likely that it was at this time Clarence secretly began his moves to reinstate himself with the king and having land and estates returned to him. Edward must have wanted his brother back in the family, or surely he would not have given him such favours after his blatant treachery. Trading on Edward’s good nature, Clarence asked for concessions for Warwick too, which were offered.
• Unfortunately for Warwick, he did not appear to be able to accept Edward’s offers. He raised an army and on the 14th April, the Battle of Barnet took place. Warwick was cut down, despite orders from both Edward and Clarence that he be allowed to live. Clarence no longer had a strong ally outside the Yorks.
• On the 4th May Battle of Tewkesbury took place and the Prince of Wales was killed. It is suggested by some that it was Clarence who did the deed but it has never been proved. This meant Anne Neville was a widow after the briefest of marriages and left her as a desirable heiress for someone. She had long been coveted by Richard Duke of Gloucester.
• Richard asked for the hand of Anne Neville in marriage. For reasons best known to himself George did not agree. Richard immediately went to Edward, and asked that she be released into his care. George’s reaction was to try to disguise her and hide her in a friend’s home. It didn’t work; in the shortest possible time Richard had discovered her whereabouts and had her escorted to sanctuary at St Martins in the Field until he could arrange the marriage.

The Earl’s death had left a legacy of wealth and disputes behind it. The inheritance argument went on for years, with brother against brother, adjudicated by the king, surely a most fascinating combination. Both men, Clarence and Gloucester, were versed in law and skilled in the art of oratory and their legal arguments were admired by many, a fact which did not make it easy for Edward IV to make a fair or easy judgement over the cases. In fact, Clarence had no legal standing to forbid Anne Neville’s marriage to his brother as he was not her guardian and the Countess was still alive. But eventually a compromise was reached, the marriage was agreed but the division of the Warwick estates was uneven, with a greater proportion going to Clarence and Gloucester giving up the office of Great Chamberlain.

That wasn’t the end of the disputes, though. They continued to flare up, especially when the Countess of Warwick was released from sanctuary, as it threatened to depose Clarence of some of his estates. As arguments broke out yet again, giving Edward no choice but to create an act of resumption which took from Clarence everything he had. He was left with a stark choice: rebellion or submission. He chose to submit and paved the way for a new act which authorised both Dukes to divide the property of the Countess and thus end that particular problem once and for all.

Clarence’s wife, Isabel, died in December 1476. Some reports are that she died of childbirth complications, others that she suffered from T.B. and simply wasted away. This seems the most likely as her sister, Anne Neville, Duchess of Gloucester, was to die of the same condition later. In his wild grief, Clarence made an attempt to arrange a marriage with the daughter of the late Duke of Burgundy,. This was immediately blocked by Edward.

From that time on, Clarence’s actions became hysterical. He left the court and retired to his country estate. If he ever went to see Edward for any reason, he refused meat and drink, as if suspecting people of wanting to poison him. He had no pleasant words for anyone, but frowned as if everyone was against him.

Earl Rivers was proposed as a candidate for marriage with Mary in Burgundy. Whether this was the final straw for a mind in danger of going over the edge, history does not say, but he began investigating and questioning and eventually convinced himself that his wife’s servant, Ankarette Twynho, had poisoned his wife. He also accused another member of his household, John Thursby, of poisoning his infant son. Ankarette and John Thursby were brought before the justices at Warwick. The trial was rigged, they were found guilty and they were hanged. Edward, in what would appear to be retaliation, had a member of Clarence’s household, one John Stacey, accused of witchcraft and executed. Clarence’s response was to appear in council at Westminster where he insisted they listened to a priest read John Stacey’s declaration of innocence. The net result of this confrontation was Clarence being arrested on the orders of the king. It would seem his behaviour had finally upset the Woodvilles to the point when they put pressure on the king to do something about a troublesome Duke.

It is said by some historians that Clarence knew of the pre-contract of marriage that Edward had entered into. This is another of history’s great unanswered questions, how much did he know? Suddenly things seemed to get out of hand. The execution of Thomas Burdett on a charge of necromancy was meant to be a warning to Clarence, but it didn’t work. He gathered men around him, accused his brother the king of the black arts, broadcast the ‘fact’ that Edward was a bastard and cast doubts on the validity of the royal marriage. None of this could be ignored, particularly when the final piece fell into place, the ‘statement’ that Clarence had sought the hand of Mary as a means of seizing the throne.

Clarence was summoned to appear before the king, which he did, and was committed to the Tower. It was Christmas and the court was celebrating, but it has been recorded that Richard Duke of Gloucester spent the time pleading for his brother’s life. On the 15th January 1478 the wedding of the Duke of York and Anne Mowbray was celebrated. The next Parliament convened to try George Duke of Clarence for high treason. It was said no one accused the Duke but the King and no one answered the accusations but the Duke. Everything that could have been said in mitigation had been said over the Christmas period and had no effect at all. On the 7th February sentence of death was passed, but even then Edward stayed his hand. He waited ten days but eventually, on the 18th February 1478 the sentence was carried out privately within the walls of the Tower of London.

It has come down through history that Clarence was executed by being drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. There is no evidence for this, it is highly possible that it was a myth that attached itself to his name. It is more likely that, because of his love for the wine, which he drank to excess most of the time, someone commented that he had in fact drowned in malmsey wine and the story stuck. It is more likely that he was quietly drowned in his bath, as one contemporary record has it, and he was buried at Tewkesbury Abbey along with his wife, Isabel Neville.

Origins

The only king to have two separate reigns: 1461-1471, 1471-1483. Edward was born on April 28th in Rouen in Normandy. His father was Richard Duke of York, the great-grandson of Edward III. In 1447 Richard's chance of becoming the next king of England increased when Henry's IV uncle, the Duke of Gloucester died without any heirs. Henry IV was the last surviving male heir in the direct line of Lancaster and if he also died without a male heir, Richard would be the next in line in the line of male heirs. There was a nearer male heir, Henry Holland, but he was a decendant from Elizabeth a daughter of John of Gaunt. Another claimant to the throne was Edmund Beaufort, the Duke of Somerset who was the grandson of John of Gaunt and his mistress Catherine Swynford, but Parliament passed a law to prevent a Beaufort becoming king. It is possible that Richard's (Edward IV's father) claim to the thone was better than the current king (Henry VI) if the royal line could pass via a female. This is because Richard's mother (Anne) was the great-granddaughter of Lionel, the second son of Edward III, where as Henry VI was decended from John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward III. (It is best to look at a family tree at this point from Edward III to see what's going on.) Richard was acting as Henry VI's lieutenant-general in France at the time.

An overview of the soldier king's reign by Dorothy Davies.

Edward Plantagenet was born on the 22nd April 1442, the oldest surviving child of Dame Cecily and Richard duke of York. Two earlier children had been born to the couple, a son, Henry, who had died, and a daughter Anne, who survived. He grew up in Ludlow, at the fortified castle owned by his father. It was from Ludlow that the duke of York, Edward, by then Earl of March, his brother Edmund, by then Earl of Rutland, together with Lord Salisbury and the Earl of Warwick, fled from the approaching Lancastrian army, which had been bolstered by a defection of one of the Duke of York's most trusted advisors, along with a good many men. The only 'defence' at that time was to leave, which they did. Dame Cecily and her two sons, George and Richard, were left to face the 'enemy' and be captured. The duke of York went to Ireland, Edward, Lord Salisbury and the Earl of Warwick went to Calais.

When the duke of York returned to England, he came in style and determination, to claim the throne of England for himself, citing his blood line as his credentials. Unfortunately his claim failed and he was instead made Lord Protector until such time as the mentally unstable king, Henry VI, should die. The Lancastrian army was still causing problems and in December 1460 the duke of York, with his second son Edmund and Lord Salisbury, set out for Yorkshire. Edward was given his first command, in the Welsh Marches. The battle of Wakefield, which was fought just after Christmas, claimed the lives of both the duke and Edmund, earl of Rutland. Edward was left with the terrifying memory of the heads of his father and brother being put on spikes, his father's head crowned with paper crown to signify his attempt at claiming the throne.

From that moment on, a warrior king was in the making. This started with the battle of Mortimers Cross, when the freak atmospheric condition gave the Yorkist soldiers a perihelion, a vision of triple suns, a sign Edward took for his standard in later battles. Victory went to the Yorkists. By this time Edward was a giant of a man at well over 6 ft, with tremendous fighting abilities and more than that, a determination that no matter what, his father's death would be avenged and the House of York would regain its premier position as England's leading family. On 4th March 1455 he was pronounced King of England at St Paul's Cathedral, having successfully marched into the capital just a few days earlier.

But his fighting was not yet done, there was a major battle ahead, one which was fought at Towton. It gained the reputation of being England's bloodiest battle, with many arguments over how many died going on to this day. What did matter was the decisive Yorkist victory and for a time there was relative peace in the country. In 1464 Edward met and married the impoverished widowed daughter, Elizabeth, the eldest child of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxemburg, Dowager Duchess of Bedford. This marriage, which was carried out in secret, did two things. It enraged the Earl of Warwick who had plans for a continental marriage and a dynasty that would unite two countries and it elevated a family whose unpopularity was to cause problems for many years to come. Clashes with the Earl of Warwick and the defection of his brother George, by then the duke of Clarence, resulted first in Edward being captured and held prisoner by the Earl of Warwick, and eventually causing Edward to flee the country, taking his brother Richard of Gloucester, Lord Hastings, Earl Rivers and several others with him.

For a time Henry VI was restored to the throne and Edward began a period of exile. It did not last long. With the help of aristocrats in Europe, money was found to fit out ships and when the weather conditions permitted, they again set sail for England. Some ships were lost, but Edward landed safely in Yorkshire, his brother and Earl Rivers also landed safely a few miles down the coast. They met up and began a march which would eventually take them all the way to London. There were devious doings along the way to gain entrance to York and other great cities but Edward was ever the scheming diplomat and he soon found his way around the problem. He gathered many men to his cause and quite simply marched on the capital and claimed the throne again. Rebellion continued and another battle ensued, this one at Barnet, where the Earl of Warwick was killed. This seemed to end the troubles in England for a time.

Edward was, despite his taxation laws and a few other problems, a popular king. His wife Elizabeth presented him with many children, including two sons, Edward Prince of Wales and Richard duke of York, the Princes whose disappearance was later to haunt a future king's reign and reputation. The one episode which marred the remainder of his reign was his decision to have his brother George, duke of Clarence, imprisoned and finally executed on the grounds of treason. Edward IV died in April 1483 when he was just 41 years old. He had become ill during the winter and succumbed to what was generally said to be a tertian fever, although a poisoning rumour did do the rounds. He made his brother Richard of Gloucester Protector during Edward V's minority. At the time no one knew of Edward's alleged pre-contract of marriage which invalidated the new young King's claim to the throne by making him illegitimate. And so the stage was set for another twist in English history, one that has divided and baffled historians to the present day.

Robert was not slow in assisting both the French King Henry I, and the English monarchy in times of trouble. He gave refuge to Edward and Albert two brothers. Edward was to become 'The Confessor', and was to promise the English throne to Robert's son William. In 1035, Robert traveled to the Holy lands on pilgrimage but before he left, he made sure that William would become Duke of Normandy if he didn't return. He needed to have this confirmed, as William was illegitimate. As it was, Robert was killed returning from Jerusalem, and so the eight year old William became Duke. William's first years were in a duchy transformed by civil war after the death of Robert.

At the age of five or six William was given to King Stephen as a hostage. Stephen's kindness prevented William's death. William was trained as a squire in the Tancarville family, an important family in Normandy. William's allegiance to Henry II and his sons, the Young King and Richard (I) is complicated, swapping sides from time to time, but he had the respect of them all. William was also loyal to king John, supporting him against his many enemies. When king John died, William was named as the guardian of John's son Henry (III), saying that 'the land will never be held by anyone except with his help'. After the death of king John, William re-issued John's Charter in 1216 to re-affirm the power of the monarchy and he removed any reference that might impose restrictions on this. In 1217 John's Charter again was amended to clarify the feudal content. William assisted Henry III retain the throne when it was under threat from Louis VIII of France.

When William married Isabel de Clare the heiress of the Earl of Pembroke he took the title as well as ownership of Pembroke Castle. William started major reconstruction work at the castle in stone.

William Marshal died in 1219 leaving the country united under the monarchy. His eldest son, also called William, inherited the title of Earl of Pembroke. William Marshall is buried in the round church of the London Temple and his tomb can still be seen there.

War of the Roses

Warwick became a supporter of Richard, Duke of York (White rose) in the conflict with the Henry VI and the Lancastrians (red rose) over claims for the English throne. After several battles against the Lancastrians Warwick and the Yorkists captured the King at the Battle of Northampton in July of 1460. After several more battles Richard of York's son Edward was declared king of England and was crowned in June of 1461 as Edward IV.

Changing Sides

Warwick's support for the new king ended when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1468. In 1469 Warwick was behind a rebellion against the King. Warwick managed to capture the King after the battle of Edgecote in July of 1469 but the Earl did not have the support of Parliament and the country so he had to release the King from prison. In 1470 Warwick fled to France and there met Margaret of Anjou, the exiled wife of Henry VI. Although Warwick and Margaret had prevoiusly been enemies they put aside their differences and plotted together to remove Edward IV from the English throne. With assistance from the French King Louis XI Margaret and Warwick attempted to restore Henry VI to the throne. In September of 1470 Warwick and Margaret landed in England and in October Henry VI had been released from the Tower of London and restored to the throne. The victory did not last long as the Yorkists fought back taking London and then defeating the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet where Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick was killed. Due to his attempts to control who should be the King of England Richard has become known as the 'Kingmaker'.