This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.
A central personality in both historical study and literary fame, Edward IV is as fascinating a character now as he was for William Shakespeare. Drawing together research and original sources, Hannes Kleineke reassesses the debate in this concise and accessible biography.
The author of The Mythology of the “Princes in the Tower” separates fact from fiction in this biography of an influential former queen of England. Wife to Edward IV and mother to the Princes in the Tower and later Queen Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Widville was a central figure during the War of the Roses. Much of her life is shrouded in speculation and myth—even her name, commonly spelled “Woodville,” is a hotly contested issue. In this fascinating and insightful biography, Dr. John Ashdown-Hill sheds light on the truth of her life. Born in the turbulent fifteenth century, she was famed for her beauty and controversial second marriage to Edward IV, who she married just three years after he had displaced the Lancastrian Henry VI and claimed the English throne. As Queen Consort, Elizabeth’s rise from commoner to royalty continues to capture modern imagination. Undoubtedly, it enriched the position of her family. Her elevated position and influence invoked hostility from Richard Neville, the “Kingmaker,” which later led to open discord and rebellion. Throughout her life and even after the death of her husband, Elizabeth remained politically influential: briefly proclaiming her son King Edward V of England before he was deposed by her brother-in-law, the infamous Richard III, she would later play an important role in securing the succession of Henry Tudor in 1485 and his marriage to her daughter Elizabeth of York, thus and ending the War of the Roses. An endlessly enigmatic, historical figure, Elizabeth Widville has been obscured by dramatizations and misconceptions. In Elizabeth Widville, Lady Grey, Ashdown-Hill attempts to set the record straight.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory joins two eminent historians to explore the extraordinary true stories of three women largely forgotten by history: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, queen of England; and Margaret Beaufort, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. In her essay on Jacquetta, Philippa Gregory uses original documents, archaeology, and histories of myth and witchcraft to create the first-ever biography of the young duchess who survived two reigns and two wars to become the first lady at two rival courts. David Baldwin, established authority on the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a king of England for love. And Michael Jones, fellow of the Royal Historical Society, writes of Margaret Beaufort, the almost-unknown matriarch of the House of Tudor. Beautifully illustrated throughout with rare portraits and source materials, The Women of the Cousins’ War offers fascinating insights into the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory’s fiction and will appeal to all with an interest in this epic period.
The classic, magnificent bestselling novel about Richard III, now in a special thirtieth anniversary edition with a new preface by the author In this triumphant combination of scholarship and storytelling, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III—vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower—from his maligned place in history. Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning. With revisions throughout and a new author's preface discussing the astonishing discovery of Richard's remains five centuries after his death, Sharon Kay Penman's brilliant classic is more powerful and glorious than ever.
Edward IV (1461-83), so often overshadowed by his younger brother and eventual successor Richard III is a controversial figure in his own right. Was he a lazy and licentious lightweight who much preferred his mistresses to his misters and had little taste for the arduous day-to-day businsess of government? Or was he, rather, a wise and successful monarch who laid the foundations for over a century of Tudor rule? This documentary study presents contemporary and near-contemporary sources for Edward IV and his reign, enabling the reader to appreciate why the king's reputation has fluctuated so markedly.
This fascinating account of an unsung English monarch and military leader is “a pleasing and well-informed appraisal of the first Yorkist king” (Dr. Michael Jones, author of Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle). Indisputably the most effective general of the Wars of the Roses in fifteenth-century England, King Edward IV died in his bed, undefeated in battle. Yet he has never been accorded the martial reputation of other English warrior kings such as Henry V. It has been suggested that perhaps he lacked the personal discipline expected of a truly great army commander. But, as the author shows in this perceptive and highly readable new study, Edward was a formidable military leader whose strengths and subtleties have never been fully recognized—perhaps because he fought most of his battles against his own people in a civil war. This reassessment of Edward’s military skill—and of the Wars of the Roses in which he played such a vital part—provides fascinating insight into Edward the man as well as the politician and battlefield commander. Based on contemporary sources and the latest scholarly research, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses stands as “a valuable and thought-provoking addition to the canon, which ought to become required reading for anyone interested in the reign of the first Yorkist monarch” (The Ricardian).
Edward's secret mistresses, clandestine affairs and the nature of his marriage are revealed in this exciting new work by John Ashdown-Hill, author of The Mythology of Richard III
As the 100 Years War ground to its dismal end, England groaned under the misrule of Henry VI and his Lancastrian favorites. The House of York rose in rebellion; and Parliament restored York in the line of inheritance to the throne. Edward, Earl of March, triumphed at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross; Parliament asked him to be King and the people proclaimed him Edward IV. His life and legacy are chronicled in Edward IV, England's Forgotten Warrior King. For ten years, Edward struggled against repeated Lancastrian rebellions. He was driven from his kingdom by Richard, Earl of Warwick, but then he won decisive victories at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury in 1471. For another twelve years, he reigned wisely with peace and prosperity, as a beloved King; but then he died at age forty one and his twelve-year-old son was proclaimed Edward V. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seized the throne and put young Edward and his brother in the Tower of London, from where they never emerged alive. Richard III was a good King and wanted to be respected, but the people believed he had murdered the Princes in the Tower, and would not forgive him. Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Beaufort plotted with Henry Tudor, who invaded England in 1485. Henry Tudor then defeated and killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor (Henry VII) was crowned King and married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth; the resultant Tudor dynasty would rule England for another 118 years.
