Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville: A True Romance

by Amy Licence

Overview

When the tall, athletic Edward of York seized the English throne in 1461, he could have chosen any bride he wanted. With his dazzling good looks, few were able to resist his charm and promises. For three years he had a succession of mistresses, while foreign princesses were lined up to be considered for his queen. Then he fell in love.Enter Elizabeth Woodville, a widow five years his elder. While her contemporaries and later historians have been divided over her character, none have denied her beauty. When she petitioned the king to help restore her son’s inheritance, the young Edward was immediately spellbound. This romance was not to be just another fling. Conscious of her honour and her future, Elizabeth repelled his advances. Edward’s answer was to make her his wife. It was to prove an unpopular decision.Since then, Edward’s queen has attracted extreme criticism from hostile chroniclers, her actions interpreted in the bleakest of lights. In this enlightening book, Amy Licence reassesses the tumultuous lives of the real White Queen and the king she captivated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781445654935
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2017
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	460,768
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Amy Licence has been a teacher for over a decade. She has an MA in Medieval and Tudor Studies and has published several scholarly articles on the Tudor dynasty and Richard III. Her books include Cecily Neville ('This insight is so rare and so valuable’ PHILIPPA GREGORY), In Bed With the Tudors ('A fascinating book examining the sex lives of the Tudors in unprecedented detail' THE DAILY EXPRESS), and Living In Squares, Loving In Triangles: The Lives and Loves of Viginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. Amy has written for THE GUARDIAN, TLS, BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE and appeared on BBC radio and television. She lives in Canterbury with her husband and three children.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Preface 12

1 Elizabeth, 1435-1459 17

2 Edward, 1442-14559 35

3 The Making of a King, 1459-1461 52

4 To Fulfil an Ideal, 1461-1464 77

5 The Secret Wife, 1464 103

6 Queen, 1464-1468 126

7 Trouble Ahead, 1468-1469 143

8 Rebellion in the Family, 1470-1471 160

9 A Court in the Burgundian Style, 1471-1474 176

10 Enemies, Near and Far, 1475-1478 196

11 A King's Decline, 1478-1483 211

12 Anxious Mother, 1483-1485 231

13 Retirement, 1486-1492 251

Notes 267

Bibliography 274

Acknowledgements 279

Index 281

Editorial Reviews

This book tells the story of their lives in detail, as well as adding useful insights on love, romance and marriage in medieval England, and the contemporary court and household, against the ever-present background of the end of the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses.

The Bookbag