The Abbey at Fontevraud

For those of us who are interested in the Plantagenets the abbey complex is disappointing. After the French Revolution the monastery was summarily dissolved and the buildings converted to a prison. It remained as such for fully three quarters of the 20th century. Since 1975 it has become a cultural centre and appears to be used for art installations.Some parts of the medieval building survive and the church has been much restored but is denuded of any decoration that must have once graced its interior. The effigy covers of the tombs of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard I and Isabella of Angouleme, the wife of King John and mother of Henry III somehow survived and are on display, neatly arranged in the abbey church.

The abbey was founded by Robert d"Arbrissel in 1101. He was an influential man and the abbey attracted ample funds and other abbbeys sprang from it. The abbey had two wings, one for men and one for women, but Robert decided that the head should always be a woman and the position of abbess always attracted influential women. One was Matilda of Anjou, sister of Geoffrey and aunt of Henry II and this marked the beginning of Angevin patronage. Eleanor of Aquitaine spent her last years living there, even though she was still politically active while her son Richard was on Crusade. She was buried there, as was her husband Henry II.

Upon Richard's untimely death in 1199 his brains and entrails were buried at the abbey of Charroux where Charlemagne was reputed to have been buried. His heart was sent to Rouen to be buried along side the remains of his elder brother Henry and the rest of the body was sent to Fontevraud.
Isabella of Angouleme was the second wife of King John who divorced his first wife (also Isabella) to make the politically convenient match. Isabella of Angouleme bore at least five of John's children, including the future Henry III. After John's death in 1216 she married Hugh of Lusignan and had a further 11 children. She was probably born in 1187 and was about 60 years old when she died at Fontevraud in 1246, where she spent her last years.

Also buried here was Henry and Eleanor's daughter Joan, once Queen of Scicily and subsequently Countess of Toulouse. She died at Fontevraud at a youngish age in 1199 possibly during childbirth. Her tomb did not survive the French Revolution.

Tomb effigies of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II

Tomb effigies of Isabella of Angouleme and Richard I

The Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII was also buried here.

The remains of all of these people did not survive the French Revolution. In 1790 the abbey was confiscated by the state and all of its assets were sold. The abbess and the nuns were expelled in 1792. It was turned into a prison in 1804 and remained so until 1963 when that designation ceased, although some life prisoners lingered until the last one died in 1985.

Fortunately four important tomb coverings have been preserved but the bones disappeared long ago, so it is impossible to say where exactly they were buried or even if anything is still there.

Who were the Woodvilles?

In the snobbish world of 15th century England Elizabeth Woodville was considered by some of rather inferior stock. The reaction of the king's council after hearing the news of the secret marriage from Edward in October 1464 was reported by the Burgundian chronicler, Jean de Waurin.

they answered that she was not his match, however good and however fair she might be, and he must know well that she was no wife for a prince such as himself; for she was not the daughter of a duke or earl, but her mother, the Duchess of Bedford, had married a simple knight, so that though she was the child of a duchess and the niece of the count of St. pol, still she was no wife for him. (Waurin, ed. Dupont, II, 327-8)

This seems like a fine distinction to us but this was an age when the male bloodline mattered more than the female bloodline, although that mattered too. The descendants of Katherine Swynford, for example,  were barred by law from acceding to the throne.

The Wydevills (or Woodvilles as they were known hereafter) emerge in Grafton with one Walter de Wydevill,in the 13th century. By the 14th century it is possible to begin a genealogy with Richard Wydevill, probably born about 1310.  His heir was a son John who was known as John Wydevill of Grafton so it is fair to assume that they were in living on the manor in the 14th century, if not earlier. However, it was a long time before they came into right of ownership.

After the Conquest the manor was one of many granted to the mighty Count Robert of Mortain and it continued to his son William, but at some time between the years 1086 and 1106 it was granted to the Abbot of Notre Dame de Grestain, a Benedictine house near the mouth of the Seine, in the diocese of Lisieux. The abbey was given "all that he possessed in Grafton, together with the church there." The abbot was thus reported as tenant-in-chief and it was either leased to a sub-tenant or more than one on behalf of the alien religious house.

When King John seized the assets of alien religious houses in 1204 one William de Humet was recorded as the tenant of Grafton. In 1235 we discover the first mention of a Woodville. Walter de Woodville had made a claim in the hundred court against the abbot.

membrane 11d 1235 Northampton: Abbass de Grestain attornavit Robertum de Avalun, monachum suum, et Johannem de Merse versus Walterum de Wiville de secta quam idem Walterus exigit ab eodem abbate ad hundredum suum de Clayly.

 Translation: The Abott of Grestain was represented by Robert of Avalon, his monk and John de Merse against Walter de Widville of the other party, which the same Walter made claim against the same abbot at the Hundred (Court) of Cleley.

It is not altogether clear what this dispute was about nor its resolution, which was probably in the abbot's favour, but it does show that in 1235 the Woodville family was already a local family of some importance. It is not possible to establish a clear genealogical line between the Woodvilles of later centuries and Walter but it would be right to infer a connection.

In 1348, needing funds, the Abbot of Grestain granted the property, together with seven other manors,  to a merchant by the name of Tidemann de Lymbergh for a term of 1000 years. Tidemann then sold it four years later, with a term of 996 years to Michael de la Pole, a wealthy Hull merchant. The de la Poles became Earls of Suffolk and a prominent family. The Grafton manor was passed down through various generations of the family until in 1440 it was granted by licence to Richard Woodville and his wife Jacquetta. The manor was valued at £24 a year.

We might contrue that the Woodvilles had been a prominent local family since the 13th century and that their fortunes had been steadily rising during this period. The income of £24 a year was not inconsiderable although it would pale into insignificance against the annual income of one of the great earls, such as the Earl of Warwick, who garnered £3000 a year from his estates. But there was more to the Woodvilles than this. Over the centuries they had been steadily acquiring land in the neighbouring parishes. The Grafton manor might have been the jewel in thier crown but at this date they were not without resources. For example, they borrowed 900 marks from two London merchants, presumably to finance the purchase of Grafton, so they plainly had assets.

Even so they would count as no better than south Northamptonshire gentry on the social ladder. However, the old social order was changing and many of the families who were to become great families in the 16th century, such as the Cecils, the Wriothesleys, the Paulets and the Thynnes were improving their social position in the 15th century.

Richard Woodville (d. 1441) was a chamberlain to John, Duke of Bedford, the second son of Henry IV and brother to Henry V. The Woodvilles were not without connections. His son, also Richard, (1408 - 1469) was the one who propelled the family to the forefront of English politics. He secretly married Jacquetta, the widow of the Duke Of Bedford. One has to assume that it was a love match. The secrecy was essential because an open marriage would not have been permitted because of the disparity of their social standing. They did come clean after the event and both were fined as punishment.

He was already earning some respect as a soldier. At the age of 21 he was a captain and he served in France in 1433. The Duke of Bedford, when he was regent, made him a knight in 1435. He fought at Gerberoi in 1435 and served under William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, in 1435–6. After his marriage to Jacquetta he continued to serve in the field with distinction. During the wars in France he served under the hapless Duke of Somerset and later under the more competent the Duke of York in 1441–2. He was then made captain of Alençon and knight-banneret. He was appointed seneschal of Gascony in 1450, and  lieutenant of Calais in 1454–5.

He was created Baron Rivers by Henry VI on 9 May 1448. Two years later, as Sir Richard, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1450. He was appointed Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1459.

When civil war broke out he fought naturally enough for King Henry against  invasion by the Yorkist earls in 1459–60. As Warden it was his duty to defend Kent but was captured at Sandwich.

Overall, the star of Richard Woodville was rising during his lifetime. We can judge from his appointments to be a man of ability and there is no evidence that he mismanaged or failed in any of the appointments he was given. The marriage with jacquetta did bring Richard Woodville closer to the centre of political life but he was clearly valued for his military leadership and was rewarded accordingly. He sensibly shifted his allegiance to the Yorkist side after 1460 and as Baron Rivers was established in the lower ranks of the english nobility. Nobody, least of all he and his wife, could have predicted that the chance encounter between their eldest daughter and the young Yorkist king would project them rapidly to the highest echelons of society.

He was created Earl Rivers in 1466 and appointed to high office as Lord Treasurer in that year and Constable of England the following year. The title appears to derive from the Redvers family, sometime Earls of Devon, who at one time may have intermarried with the Woodvilles. No doubt the title was taken to embellish their aristocratic pretensions. In 1469 he was taken prisoner after a losing battle against the Earl of Warwick at Edgecote Moor, 21st July 1469. He and his son John were quickly executed.

Warwick and some members of the old nobility resented this parvenu family. They believed that the rights and perquisites of government should be theirs alone. Nonetheless the world did change. The Tudors made a practice of employing clever and able men from outside the old aristocracy. These were men they could trust and were also men who were dispensable without too much difficulty if the occasion arose. It is somewhat ironic that the descendants of these new families became the new aristocracy whose influence persisted until well into the 20th century.

The Woodvilles were now permanently, if somewhat precariously at the top of English society. Rivers' daughter was to become queen again and his grand daughter also Queen of England. His great grandson became Henry VIII.

The White Queen or the Ice Queen

With the TV series The White Queen coming up on TV tonight I am minded to review Stony Stratford's moment in the sunlight of Plantagenet history.

Edward IV was the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York, who was actually the first to style himslef with the surname Plantagenet. While historians have conventionally labelled the dynasty that began with Henry II in 1154 as "Plantagenet", the name was not actually used before the last two kings of that long line. The choice of the name was political. Richard of York claimed descent from Edward III's second surviving son Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and was able to advance a superior claim to the throne than his cousin Henry VI, who descended from the third son, known as John of Gaunt. None of this would have mattered much if Henry VI had been competent and had he put the talents of Richard (who was undoubtedly very able) to good use. In the end it came to war and Richard was killed at the Battle of Wakefield on December 30th 1460.

Edward succeeded to his titles on that day and continued the cause. He had better luck than his father and after the very bloody battle of Towton on March 29th 1461 emerged triumphant. He was quickly proclaimed king by Parliament after the deposition of Henry and was crowned on June 28th 1461. He was just 19 years old.

The throne was not yet secure but Edward had some things going for him: he was a tall and commanding figure, he had proved himself on the field of battle, he was personally charming, and he proved himself to be a god administrator. Over the next decade he introduced measures to translate the country's finances from a parlous deficit to a healthy surplus. He modernised government by introducing able and educated officials into the various offices of state and he introduced policies that enabled and encouraged foreign trade. The merchant adventurers, who spearheaded the growth of English trade in the succeeding centuries, owe their origin to Edward IV.

With all this in his favour and being increasingly secure on the throne by 1464, his impulsive marriage to Elizabeth Woodville is difficult to explain in any terms other than it was a headstrong act. Even Edward himself knew it because he kept the marriage secret for several months while negotiations proceeded for his potential marriage to a foreign princess until the very last minute when, essentially the game was up. His contemporaries were astonished and some were very resentful indeed. It could be argued, with the benefit of historical hindsight, that this marriage fatally undermined the Plantagenet dynasty. Were it not for the Woodville party, which the Queen had built up over the years, and the countervailing anti-Woodville party, it may have been less likely that Richard of Gloucester could have assumed power and Henry Tudor would have got nowhere near the throne. But this is idle speculation. The marriage did happen and there were consequences.

Elizabeth Woodville was born at Grafton circa 1437, the daughter of Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the widow of John, Duke of Bedford. John was the second son of Henry IV. Jacquetta could claim a high lineage for herself, even descent from Charlemagne. This was not true of her second husband. One can only conclude that this was a love match. Woodville was the son of the Duke of Bedford's chamberlain and the widowed Ducchess, although expected to remarry according to the conventions of the time, would certainly have been presented with a good selection from those higher up the social scale. However, remarrying at the age of 19 she went on to bear 12 healthy children, the eldest of whom was Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's first marriage at the age of 15 to Sir John Grey of Groby was quite a good match; at that time the Greys were related to many of the most prominent families in England. She bore two sons before she was widowed on February 17th 1460 when Sir John Grey was killed at the Battle of St Albans. He was on the Lancastrian side.

So by the time she came under the roving eye of Edward she had been widowed for four years and had shown no inclination to remarry. We don't know, but must assume that various members of the Northamptonshire gentry had tried their luck without success.

The chance that brought them together does feature Stony Stratford. Edward and his entourage were heading north to deal with a small uprising and stopped overnight at Stony Stratford on April 30th 1464. Early the following morning he saddled his horse and rode the few miles north to Grafton, presumably with the intention of trying his luck with the beautiful widow, who, it is suspected, he had met before. It should be noted here that Edward already had a reputation for chasing women. Writers of the period, such as Dominic Mancini, who was an Italian envoy or perhaps a spy, made this comment:

he was licentious in the extreme. He pursued with no discrimination the married and the unmarried, the noble and the lowly; however, he took none by force.

The outcome of this visit was that Edward and Elizabeth were married that day in the presence of Jacquetta and four or five other witnesses. They then went to bed and Edward later returned to Stony Stratford and pretended that he had been hunting. He was now no longer in a hurry to continue his journey north and for the next three days he trotted out to Grafton to spend time with his new wife.

As I mentioned earlier, contemporaries were astonished when the news did emerge in October that year. It could not be explained in political and social terms and nobody was pleased except the Woodville family. The story that was current at the time and was first committed to paper in 1468 was that Elizabeth would in no way yield to his advances before marriage. With his blood up Edward cast aside diplomatic considerations and yielded to her demand. Youthful impetuosity overcame rational judgement. Knowing the queen's personality and observing that Edward waited months before eventually admitting openly the fact of the marriage this seems to be the most plausible explanation.

After the news came out in October the two were at last able to live together as man and wife. Edward also had to provide for the Woodville and Grey clans, who both had plenty of members. The men were ennobled, manors were acquired, jobs with perquisites were handed out and marriages were made to men of wealth and status. Some of these arrangements stretched credulity. In 1465 the Queen arranged for her 20 year old brother John to marry Katherine Nevill, the wealthy dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Katherine Nevill was probably happy enough with the arrangement - she was 65 years old!

There is no escape from the fact that Edward's queen was a steely and flinty personality. Her superficial beauty covered a hard and unforgiving nature. Personal slights were remembered for a long time and vengeance was often taken as a dish served cold.

The earl of Desmond, Deputy Lieutenant for Ireland, appears to have been one victim. In May 1465 while on a visit to the mainland he was in a hunting party with the king. Edward asked him frankly what he thought of his marriage to Elizabeth, and Desmond, equally frankly, because he was an intelligent and cultivated man who got on well with the king, replied that although he esteemed the Queen's beauty and virtues he felt that the king could have done better by marrying a princess who may have brought a foreign alliance. The king acknowledged this and took it in good part, not feeling slighted at all, and later mentioned this to the Queen. Elizabeth quietly absorbed this and waited for her moment.

This came two years later when the Earl of Worcester became Deputy Lieutenant in Ireland and agreed on behalf of the queen to bring Desmond to court on trumped-up charges. It was said that the Queen used the king's signet to seal the death warrant. Some time later the earl's two young sons were murdered in mysterious circumstances.

Another unfortunate was Sir Thomas Cook, a very wealthy merchant and Lord Mayor of London. The vendetta against him may have originated in his refusal to sell a valuable arras to Elizabeth's mother Jacquetta "at her pleasure and her price". He was subsequently accused of treason and imprisoned. Whilst in prison the servants of Lord Rivers and Sir John Fogge (a kinsman of the Queen) raided Sir Thomas Cook's house and too away the arras together with valuables worth a further £700. While they were there they also helped themselves to a large quantity of wine.

This was only the beginning for Cook who at his trial was found guilty, not of treason, but of the lesser charge of misprision of treason, that is he was aware of treason but failed to report it. This was not the verdict the Queen wanted and she turned her fury on the judge, Chief Justice John Markham. He was dismissed from his post for securing the wrong verdict. Nor had they finished with Cook who was ordered to pay a monumental fine of 8,000 marks and the Queen, under some ancient right of "queen's gold" secured a further 800 marks for herself and a number of gifts for members of the council, many of them her relatives.

It is also said that Queen Elizabeth was also instrumental in persuading her husband to execute his brother George, Duke of Clarence. She certainly bore a grudge against George, but it may be that Edward needed no special prompting to remove his wayward and unreliable brother.

I don't know what Philippa Gregory's portrayal of Elizabeth Woodville will be like, but I suspect that the events I have related above will not make for a good romantic tale of love at first sight under a tree at Potterspury. She was only the white queen in that she represented the white rose of York. In her personality she was more, in my view, the ice queen.