Elizabeth of York

Also known as: eldest daughter to king Edward / hir eldest daughter bearing the same name / king Edwards daughter / ladie Elizabeth daughter to king Edward the fourth · Family: House of York · Role: noblewoman · First appears: Edward IV 2

Born in 1466, Elizabeth of York was the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, and a sister to Edward V, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, Cecily of York, Bridget of York, Anne of York, and Katherine of York, as well as to Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle. “In this yeare also, the kings daughter, the ladie Elizabeth, after wife to king Henrie the seauenth, was borne;” Around 1474, she was promised to Charles VIII, and in 1475 Edward IV sent ambassadors and gold to Francis II, Duke of Brittany in an effort connected with securing Henry VII through a marriage to Elizabeth.

In 1483, Elizabeth married Henry VII and became queen. Her marriage was also proposed as a union of York and Lancaster: Henry VII swore that once he possessed England’s crown, he would marry her, and Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond concluded an enterprise joining their children. She was later described as mother to Henry VIII.

Around 1484, her elder-kin Richard III sought to marry her, “making much sute to haue hir ioined with him in lawfull matrimonie.” In 1485, it was reported that Richard III, being without children and widowed, intended to marry Elizabeth and arrange a marriage for her sister Cecily of York.