Elizabeth of York

For her aunt, see Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk. For Princess Elizabeth of York, see Elizabeth II. For Elizabeth, Duchess of York, see Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Elizabeth of York
Queen consort of England
Tenure18 January 1486 – 11 February 1503
Coronation25 November 1487
Born11 February 1466
Westminster Palace, Middlesex, England
Died11 February 1503(1503-02-11) (aged 37)
Tower of London, London, England
Burial24 February 1503
Westminster Abbey
Spouse
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(m. 1486)​
Issue
more...
HouseYork
FatherEdward IV of England
MotherElizabeth Woodville
SignatureElizabeth of York's signature

Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503.[1] She was the daughter of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and her marriage to Henry VII followed his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the civil war known as the Wars of the Roses.

Elizabeth's younger brothers, the "Princes in the Tower", mysteriously disappeared from the Tower of London shortly after their uncle Richard III seized the throne in 1483. Although the 1484 Act of Parliament Titulus Regius declared the marriage of her parents as invalid, Elizabeth and her sisters returned to court under Richard III, after spending ten months in sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. It was rumoured that Richard was plotting to marry Elizabeth. The final victory of the Lancastrian faction in the Wars of the Roses may have seemed a further disaster for the Yorkist princess. However, Henry Tudor knew the importance of Yorkist support for his invasion and promised to marry Elizabeth before he arrived in England. This may well have contributed to the haemorrhaging of Yorkist support for Richard,[2] and her future husband had Titulus Regius repealed when he took the throne.

Elizabeth seems to have played little part in politics, after coming to the throne. Her marriage appears to have been a successful and happy one,[3][4] although her eldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died aged 15 in 1502, and three other children died young. Her second and only surviving son became king of England as Henry VIII, while her daughters Margaret and Mary became the queens of Scotland and France respectively.

  1. ^ Dalton, Hannah (2016). A/AS Level History for AQA The Tudors: England, 1485–1603 (Student Book ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-3165-0432-1.
  2. ^ Carson, Annette. "Richard III. The Maligned King."
  3. ^ Penn 2012, pp. 97–100.
  4. ^ Chrimes 1972, pp. 302.