Her father may then have considered marrying her to Henry Tudor, a remaining threat of Lancastrian descent, but did not live long enough to arrange another betrothal.Įlizabeth’s childhood ended when she was seventeen and her father died. She should have gone to France at the age of twelve, but this fell through, and the betrothal was eventually called off in 1482 when she was sixteen. At the age of eleven Elizabeth was betrothed to the French Dauphin, and began to be treated as the future Queen of France. More children were born to the royal family including a second brother to survive beyond infancy, Richard. With both Henry and his son removed, the York dynasty seemed secure, and Elizabeth’s new baby brother certain to inherit. The deposed King Henry died that night, probably murdered. They were defeated by the royal family led by Elizabeth Woodville and her brother Anthony Woodville, and Edward returned to London in triumph once again. While her father was away Elizabeth, aged five, came under siege in the Tower of London when Thomas Neville sailed up the Thames to try to free King Henry. Henry the deposed king was held in the Tower and Margaret of Anjou was captured. He killed his mentor Warwick at the Battle of Barnet, and King Henry’s son Edward after the Battle of Tewkesbury. The royal family spent more than five months in sanctuary living off food donated by local tradesmen, and then Edward IV returned triumphant, having recaptured much of the country. There she gave birth to a son, Edward, the male heir. Elizabeth’s pregnant mother took her three daughters into hiding at Westminster Abbey, confident that the pious Henry VI would not break sanctuary. When Elizabeth was only four years old, her father was deposed by Warwick in favour of Henry VI, and Edward escaped into exile, leaving his family behind. Elizabeth was the first of three girls born to the new royal family who were desperate for a son and heir. The ‘Kingmaker’, Warwick, was horrified by the loss of control over his protégé. Many did not support Edward IV’s usurpation, and Henry’s queen Margaret of Anjou and her young son continued to threaten a counter-coup from exile.Įdward’s secret marriage, almost certainly for love, to the widow Elizabeth Woodville had alienated his own supporters. At the time, they were called ‘the cousins’ wars’ to represent the descent of the two rival families from Edward III. Her father had taken the throne by force, defeating the supporters of Henry VI, in the thirty years ‘Wars of the Roses’, a later name given to the series of battles between the Houses of York and Lancaster. She was born a favoured princess in a glamorous, if insecure, court. Elizabeth of York was the eldest child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.

Elizabeth of york book