Elizabeth of York - Queen of England

The future Queen Elizabeth of York was born in the family of the ruler of England, Edward IV. When it was born in 1466, in the country for 11 years there was an internecine war between two dynasties, claiming to the throne - York and Lancaster.

Ancestors

This conflict will affect the lives of all Elizabeth family members and her own destiny. While she was the eldest daughter of the king, and her childhood was exactly in this status. Its nickname "York", enshrined in historiography, the princess received by belonging to the dynasty of the same name.

The mother of the girl was Elizabeth Woodville. She was a beautiful and strong-willed woman and belonged to the Peerage family - that is, she was a representative of the middle-class nobility. On the maternal line, the ancestors of the future queen were French counts from Champagne.

Betrayal and recognition by bastard

Elizabeth of York unexpectedly lost her father in 1483. Until now, it has not become clear exactly what caused the death of Edward IV. There are versions of typhoid, pneumonia and even poison. The way that behaved immediately after the death of the king, makes you think that poisoning really could take place.

Elizabeth of York had two brothers - Edward and Richard. The eldest of them was declared king. At that time he was only 13 years old. Both brothers were sent to a refuge in the Fortress Tower. The uncle of the children and their regent Richard believed that the minor heirs should be isolated from the maternal relatives who belonged to the family Woodville.

However, soon everything went awry. Parliament recognized that the marriage of Edward IV was illegal due to the fact that at that time the man had already promised to marry another woman. All would be nothing, but this meant that both the princes and Elizabeth of York were recognized as illegitimate children (bastards), and therefore had no rights to the throne. The brothers were insidiously killed in prison. Uncle was named King under the name of Richard III.

Heir to the dynasty

The death of the brothers led to the fact that Elizabeth of York became a formal contender for the throne. Her mother was still alive and full of energy. She decided to protect her daughter and disappeared with her in an unknown direction. In exile, Elizabeth Woodwill entered into an alliance with Margaret Beaufort, an aristocrat who was, among other things, great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III of the Plantagenet dynasty, who ruled in the 14th century. This meant that her son Henry Tudor (last name by father) also had legal rights to the throne.

Two mothers decided to betray their children. This was done so that the claims of the young Tudor were even more legitimate. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and her mother decided to return to the court of Richard III. The king publicly stated that he was not threatened by anything under his protection. The return took place in the spring of 1484.

The husband defeats his uncle

However, Henry Tudor was not going to give up. At that time, he had lived for ten years in continental Brittany. The applicant knew that regular heirs' killings and other troubles led to the fact that the English nobility was opposed to Richard. Very soon the closest associate of King Henry Stafford rose up against the overlord and sowed discord in the state.

Tudor decided to recruit mercenaries in Europe and especially in France. He had already crossed the English Channel when he learned of the defeat of the insurgents and the beheading of Stafford. Nevertheless, Henry did not change his plans and landed with an army in Wales. He had Welsh roots, so in this province he managed to gain a lot of supporters.

Richard met the challenger with the army on the Bosfort Field. The king divided his army into three parts, while Heinrich united the army into a single force.

The battle began with the successful attack of the rebels on the vanguard of Richard. The king decided to act on the bash and, realizing that he could attack Henry's retinue, sent all the troops there. However, during the battle, some of the approximate betrayed him and left their regiments aside.

The attempt to strike Tudor directly proved unsuccessful. The army left loyal to the king was surrounded, and Richard himself was shot down and killed there.

At this time, Elizabeth remained in London. After the incident it became clear that she would become the queen of England.

Wedding

Elizabeth of York and Henry were still named. Their marriage was one of the conditions by which the Parliament agreed to recognize and support the newly-made king. The wedding was successful, and even before that, a decree was declared illegal that the children of Edward IV were declared illegitimate. The paper was withdrawn from all the archives of the country, and its copies were demonstratively burned. Nevertheless, one of the copies of the document was preserved - now it is kept in the museum as a bright symbol of the era of the Wars of the Roses.

After the wedding, Elizabeth formally became a member of the Tudor family, although historiography remembered it precisely as the last of Yorkes.

Children of the Queen

Marriage gave the spouses seven children. Elizabeth, Edmund and Catherine died in infancy or at a very young age. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon even in such crowned families: the state of medicine in the Middle Ages left much to be desired. Later, the descendants of three children of Elizabeth and Henry will fight to be on the throne of England.

Henry 7 and Elizabeth of York named their eldest son in honor of the half-legendary King Arthur, who was a popular character of local legends. The child received the title of Prince of Wales and was heir to the throne. In this regard, he was engaged to the infanta Catherine - the daughter of the founders of the Spanish state. It was a dynastic marriage, which was to serve as the basis for an alliance between countries. However, Arthur died tragically at the age of only 15 years. The reason was a rare medieval disease - sweating.

The daughter of Margarita became the wife of the Scottish King Jacob IV. For some time after the death of her husband, she even became regent of the throne, but was displaced by the local nobility.

Son Henry will be in the future one of the most famous English kings. Following his father, he will receive the ordinal number VIII. It will become famous due to the English reformation and separation from the Catholic Church, as well as to a multitude of marriages, which for the most part ended tragically for his wives.

The youngest daughter Maria was the first to become the wife of King of France Louis XII.

Conclusion

Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, was the last representative of her dynasty, who had legitimate rights to the throne. Thus, her children inherited this legitimacy, and the following Tudors could no longer be accused of being usurpers.

The marriage between the spouses was happy. However, Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry 7 Tudor, died tragically after the birth of her last child. This was due to infection. The husband could not survive such loss and, having remained the widower, soon died.