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Richard Neville Julie Clarke Biography & Facts

Anne Neville (11 June 1456 – 16 March 1485) was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"). Before her marriage to Richard, she had been Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, the only son and heir apparent of King Henry VI. As a member of the powerful House of Neville, Anne played a critical part in the Wars of the Roses fought between the houses of York and Lancaster for the English crown. Her father betrothed her as a girl to Prince Edward, the only son of the ousted King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. The marriage was to seal an alliance with the Lancastrians and halt the Wars of the Roses. After the death of Prince Edward and defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, Anne married Richard, Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of King Edward IV and of George, Duke of Clarence, the husband of Anne's elder sister Isabel. Richard was also Anne's first cousin once removed; her great-aunt, Cecily Neville, was Richard's mother. Anne became queen when Richard acceded to the throne in June 1483, following the declaration that Edward IV's children by Elizabeth Woodville were illegitimate. Anne predeceased her husband by five months, dying in March 1485. Her only child, Edward of Middleham, died in 1484 at the age of seven. Early life Anne Neville was born at Warwick Castle, the younger daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp. Her father was one of the most powerful noblemen in England and the most important supporter of the House of York. Her grandfather's sister, Cecily Neville, was the wife of Richard, Duke of York, who claimed the crown for the House of York. Much of Anne Neville's childhood was spent at Middleham Castle, one of her father's properties, where she and her elder sister, Isabel, met two younger sons of the Duke of York: Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) and George, Duke of Clarence. Richard especially attended his knighthood training at Middleham since mid-1461 until at least the spring of 1465, or possibly since 1465 until late 1468. It is possible that even at this early stage, a match between the Earl's daughters and the young dukes was being considered. The Duke of York was killed on 30 December 1460 but, with Warwick's help, his eldest son became King Edward IV in March 1461. In July 1469, Lady Isabel married Clarence, while in July 1470, after the Earl of Warwick's flight to France and change of allegiance, Anne Neville was betrothed to Edward of Westminster, the Lancastrian heir to the throne of England, and married to him by the end of the same year. Princess of Wales The Earl of Warwick had been at odds with Edward IV for some time, resenting his clandestine marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and the subsequent rise in the king's favour of the new queen's family, the Woodvilles. In 1469, the earl tried to put his son-in-law George on the throne, but met resistance from Parliament. After a second rebellion against King Edward failed in early 1470, he was forced to flee to France, where he allied himself with the ousted House of Lancaster in 1470. With King Henry VI imprisoned in the Tower of London, the de facto Lancastrian leader was his consort, Margaret of Anjou, who was suspicious of Warwick's motives. To quell these suspicions, Anne Neville was formally betrothed to the son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, Edward of Westminster, at the Château d'Amboise in France. They were married in Angers Cathedral, probably on 13 December 1470, to make Anne Neville the Princess of Wales. Warwick restored Henry VI to the throne in October 1470; Edward IV however returned to the country in March 1471 and quickly captured London and the person of Henry VI. The mentally challenged Henry VI was taken by Edward IV as a prisoner to the Battle of Barnet, where Warwick was killed on 14 April 1471. Edward IV then incarcerated Henry VI in the Tower of London. Following the decisive Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May, Henry was reported to have died of "pure displeasure and melancholy," although "The Great Chronicle of London" reported that Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was responsible for his death. As Constable of England, he probably delivered King Edward's order to kill Henry to the Constable of the Tower. Margaret of Anjou had returned to England with Anne Neville and Prince Edward in April, bringing additional troops. At the Battle of Tewkesbury, Edward IV crushed this last Lancastrian army. Prince Edward was killed in or shortly after the battle, and Anne Neville was taken prisoner. She was taken first to Coventry and then to the house of her brother-in-law the Duke of Clarence in London, while her mother Anne Beauchamp, Warwick's wife, sought sanctuary in Beaulieu Abbey. When the crisis settled down and the Countess wished to be restored to her estates, Edward IV refused her safe conduct to plead her case; she wrote to Queen Elizabeth and several others to no avail. Anne, now widowed, became the subject of some dispute between George of Clarence and his brother Richard of Gloucester, who still wanted to marry her. Anne Neville and her sister, the Duchess of Clarence, were heiresses to their parents' vast estates. Clarence, anxious to secure the entire inheritance, treated her as his ward and opposed her getting married, which would strengthen her position to claim a share. There are various accounts of what happened subsequently, including the story that Clarence hid her in a London cookshop, disguised as a servant, so that his brother would not know where she was. Gloucester is said to have tracked her down and escorted her to sanctuary at the Church of St Martin's le Grand. In order to win the final consent of his brother George to the marriage, Richard of Gloucester renounced most of Warwick's land and property, including the earldoms of Warwick (which the earl had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to Clarence the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Duchess of Gloucester The exact date of the wedding of Anne Neville and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is not known, although most sources agree that a ceremony took place sometime in the late spring/early summer of 1472 in St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, after a dispensation to marry was issued from Rome on 22 April 1472. This dispensed the impediment of affinity created when Anne married Edward of Lancaster, who was Richard's blood cousin. The couple made their marital home in the familiar surroundings of Middleham Castle, Yorkshire, after Richard was appointed Governor of the North on the king's behalf. Upon her marriage, Anne was styled Duchess of Gloucester. They had only one child, Edward, born at Middleham allegedly sometime in 1473, but more probably in 1476. Anne's mother, the Countess of Warwick, joined her.... Discover the Richard Neville Julie Clarke popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Richard Neville Julie Clarke books.