THE QUEEN's GRACE: ENGLISH QUEENSHIP, 1464-1503 MASTER of ARTS (1996) Mcmaster University (History) Hamilton, Ontario
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THE QUEEN'S GRACE: ENGLISH QUEENSHIP, 1464-1503 By DEREK NEAL, B.Sc., B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University <0 Copyright by Derek Neal, August 1996 THE QUEEN'S GRACE: ENGLISH QUEENSHIP, 1464-1503 MASTER OF ARTS (1996) McMaster University (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Queen's Grace: English Queenship, 1464-1503 AUTHOR: Derek Neal, B.Sc. (University of Ottawa), B.A. (University of Toronto) SUPERVISOR: Professor J.D. Alsop NUMBER OF PAGES: 206,v ii Abstract Medieval queenship, an institutionally and socially important condition marked by ambiguity and contradiction, is the subject of a growing body of research, to which this study's holistic approach seeks to make a valuable contribution by focusing on two queens consort of England between 1464 and 1503: Elizabeth Woodville and her daughter Elizabeth of York. The contemporary theory of queenship is elusive, combining the queen's subjection to her husband, and dissociation from the political sphere, with a marked legal independence and a versatile, powerful model in Marian symbolism, which stressed intercession as a priority for queens. This apparently incoherent conception is not easily understood through histories relying on narrative sources, whose evidence is scanty and vague. As a result, portrayals of both Elizabeth Woodville (negative) and Elizabeth of York (positive) have been determined by narrative attitudes toward gender and social status, which have accrued over generations of historical writing. The ceremonies of queenship (coronation, churching, royal entry, funerals), as prescribed for and enacted by both Queens Elizabeth, broadcast their role to the court and realm and to the queens themselves. They clearly established the queen's status as not equal to the king's, but also confirmed her autonomous authority (suggested by a general ceremonial separateness) and recognized her importance to the nation. That autonomy was made possible in a practical sense through the queen's landed estate and household, which enabled both queens to act as landed magnates and as patrons to different degrees; Elizabeth Woodville's greater resources allowed her to be the more active of the two. Moreover, the institutions of queenship enabled both queens to act as intermediaries between court and realm. Queens were very close to the centre of cultural and political life in fifteenth-century England, and are therefore significant figures requiring more sensitive, detailed studies. iii Preface In this study, original spelling has been preserved wherever typographically possible. The year is taken to begin on 1 January. In addition, please note the use of the following abbreviations: Al. Cant. Alumni cantabrigienses, ed. J. Venn Bindoff S.T. Bindoff, 1he House of Commons 1501-1558 C. C.R. Calendar of close rolls C.I.P.M. Calendar ofinquisitions post mortem C.Pap.Reg. Calendar ofentries in the papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland C.P.R. Calendar ofpatent rolls Collectanea De rebus britannicis collectanea Emden A.B. Emden, A biographical register ofthe University of Oxford H.M.S.O. Her Majesty's Stationery Office Myers A.R. Myers, "The household of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, 1466-7" P.P.E. Privy purse expenses ofElizabeth of York R.P. Rotuli parliamentorum S.R. Statutes ofthe realm V. C.H. Victoria history ofthe counties ofEngland Thanks are due to L. Anyas-Weiss-Zalzal, M. Baillie, S. Gouglas, S. Kalman, L. Kuffert, E. Neal, and B. Raychaba, for their helpfulness, generosity and patience; especially to Dr. J.C. Parsons (University of Toronto), who originally suggested the subject, and to Dr. H. Jones (McMaster University) and Dr. K. Bartlett (University of Toronto), for their kind assistance with manuscripts; and particularly to Dr. J.D. Alsop (McMaster University), for his invaluable guidance and encouragement as the supervisor of research for this study. Derek Neal Hamilton, 26 June 1996 iv Table of contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Rules and roles: the theory of queenship 5 Chapter 2. Biography and historiography: narrative sources and their derivatives 19 Chapter 3. A "riche sercle": ceremonial queenship 65 Chapter 4. The queen's good grace(s): queenship in the real world 108 Conclusion 151 Appendix I. (a) Lands of Elizabeth Woodville 161 (b) Lands of Elizabeth of York 165 Appendix II. Fee-farms 168 Appendix III. The Exeter lands 170 Appendix IV. Queen's gold writs for Elizabeth Woodville 171 Appendix V. Elizabeth of York's chamber expenditure, 1502-3 173 Appendix VI. The household of Elizabeth of York, 1503 174 Bibliography 196 v 1 Introduction Whether consorts, regents or rulers, queens in the Middle Ages occupied an unusual position, frequently ambiguous and often problematic. The medieval vision of queenship seems to incorporate aspects of the kingly ideal Gustice, mercy, piety) with those of idealized womanhood. Moreover, the queen exists at the intersection of several relationships (for example, man-woman, husband-wife, ruler-subject, mother-child) which have complex implications in the context of a royal court. The questions arising from this situation have stimulated an intensifying scholarship, aimed at questioning the conventional view of queens as diplomatic pawns, baby machines, or romanticized figures without historical importance. This has involved, in part, exploring the careers and political influence of individual women, and determining their roles within their national and temporal contexts. It also has meant interpreting the symbolism with which queenship, as a concept, was loaded. Queenship articulates issues of consent and loyalty, connecting the private and the political; the "sovereign love" acted out in the marriage of king and queen models the symbolic relationship of ruler and community, wherein love and subjection are freely offered and accepted. Indeed, the queen's aforementioned situation at several "intersections" can be carried further. A collection of dualities, she embodies potential division and unity, the familiar and the foreign. As such she is often cast in the role of intercessor. And her loyalties, to her own family (or nation), her children, and her husband, may conflict. 1 1L.O. Fradenburg, "Introduction: rethinking queenship", in Women and sovereignty (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992), 1-10. 2 This study focuses on two important fifteenth-century consorts, Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York, whose careers illustrate such relationships in significant ways. By exploring both what they did and what they were expected to do, it aims to give some sense of the role these women played, within and around the limitations imposed by cultural conventions of gender, in various spheres of late medieval English court life. Both queens are of interest for unique reasons. Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, created a singular situation within the English court for two main reasons. Unlike most queens, she was not a foreign princess, but the first English consort since the Norman conquest, and her marriage to Edward accomplished no diplomatic purpose. However, she was nonetheless an outsider. As a member of a relatively minor gentry family, she was viewed by contemporaries as a distinctly unsuitable choice, and Edward's reason for marrying her has been put down to romantic impulse, whether carnal or emotional. The fact that not only contemporaries but also subsequent historians have dwelt on this aspect of the match begs further attention. Moreover, the Woodville family profited from the marriage, probably through the queen's influence. Much has been written about this development, not always carefully. There has been some debate over the real extent of this patronage and the amount of resentment it caused among the established nobility, some historians maintaining that both have been exaggerated by prejudiced commentators. 2 But it is clear that the advancement of Elizabeth Woodville's family did her own reputation harm, as she became an emblem of the 2Por example: C. Ross, Edward IV (London: Eyre Methuen, 1974), 84-103; J.R. Lander, "Marriage and politics: the Nevilles and the Wydevilles", Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research XXXVI (1963):119-52; M.A. Hicks, "The changing role of the Wydevilles in Yorkist politics to 1483", in Patronage, pedigree and power in later medieval England, ed. C. Ross (Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton, 1979), 60-87. 3 disruption imputed to them. Only those actions which could be understood in maternal terms, such as her attempts to protect the children of the royal marriage, gained praise from contemporaries. Her own daughter Elizabeth of York deserves investigation because of her marriage to Henry Tudor. Although the younger Elizabeth's claim to the throne was arguably more valid than Henry's, and although the match represented a reconciliation of two contending factions, the establishment of a joint monarchy was never seriously considered. In fact, Henry's actions indicate a deliberate effort to separate his own claim from Elizabeth's, as he married her only after his own coronation and first parliament, and delayed her coronation for nearly two years until an heir had been born. Elizabeth of York's consortship denied her sovereignty, even as it brought her respect and approval for her ability, piety, maternal devotion and support of her husband -- or so conventional wisdom would have us believe. History thus offers us a picture of these two women in terms of their conformity to an ill-defined standard. Part of the intent of this study is to clarify that standard. More importantly, it is time to widen the scope of scholarly inquiry on queenship. Much recent scholarship, meaningful as it may be, is ultimately too skewed toward evaluations of "power". For generations, writing on queens consisted mainly of superficial biographies. Scholarship has now swung to another extreme, wherein writers seem compelled to force diverse aspects of queenship through an increasingly predictable analysis, drawing questionable, overgeneralized conclusions from the circumstances of discrete lives, which themselves may be documented by very scanty evidence.