The Thistle and the Rose - Elizabeth Queen of England, France, Scotland

in June 1489 Queen Elizabeth and King James signed the treaty of London with Maximilian - the terms relating to trade between all three countries were much as was expected including favorable terms for English and Scots merchants in Bruges and Antwerp. The joint sovereigns also promised support for Maximilian in fairly loose terms relating to the defence of the low countries. Initially it was intended that the Lady Anne, the Queen next eldest sister would marry Philip of Austria, Maximilian's son, however Maximilian's representatives in London had urged their master to opt for the Lady Catherine of York - she was they said the fairer of the sister's and was nearer in age to Philip (being just a few months younger than him) - the agreement was that the Lady Catherine would join the Burgundian court under the care of her aunt Margaret Dowager Duchess of Burgundy on her 12th birthday in August 1491. Her and Philip would then be formally married on her 14th Birthday. Both sides agreed to not countenance alternative betrothals for a period of three years and in the event the marriage did not happen Catherine was to be returned to England along with any of her dower already settled.

In late August, at the request of the King, Elizabeth and her ladies and the household of her son prepared to leave England for the first time - the Queen would progress with her son through the midlands and the north before crossing into Scotland for her coronation as Queen of Scots (the English thought this unnecessary and wanted to avoid anything that might imply that James should also be crowned in England) - however the Queen accepted that the Scots would wish to see their new heir to the throne as soon as possible to settle any disquiet over the Scots heir being brought up in England. During her absence the court assumed that she would name her brother Dorset as Regent but she told the council that during her absence she felt a regent was unnecessary and that the council would have her authority to govern instead.

The royal entourage took some time to journey north and the Queen and the Prince were given an impressive welcome - Elizabeth would be crowned Queen Consort of Scots in St Giles on September 14th. The coronation was followed by a great banquet in the castle. The King it was noted was in exceptional form as for the first time his wife was not completely surrounded by her English advisors and was more able to listen to her husband's views and opinions.

The Queen returned south in early October with her son though the King remained in Scotland.

On her return the Queen received further requests of assistance from the young Duchess of Brittany but again was concerned that support would mean conflict with France and demurred with pleasant words and advice but little practical support.
 
The English Court in late 1489 was celebrating as the Countess of Richmond was delivered of a son on November 19th - the child was christened Edmund but sadly died three weeks later.

The Christmas Court was a distinctly feminine one as the King remained in Scotland and the Queen surrounded herself with her mother and sisters and her ladies.

The Queen it was said was with child again but no confirmation was given by anyone at court - when the Queen became unwell at New Year festivities it was clear she had miscarried.

She was soon recovered and attended council meetings in January and received both the Spanish and French ambassadors.

The same month she consented to the marriage of her cousin Lady Margaret Plantagenet to her uncle Sir Edward Woodville - at the same time she confirmed him as Lord Scales (which he had inherited from his brother Anthony). Since Elizabeth's accession Margaret had been living in the household of the Queen Dowager and it was she who had arranged the match. The Queen granted the Lady Margaret an annual pension of £200 from lands held by the crown. Her uncle Richard the 3rd Earl Rivers had no children and was in poor health and it was expected that Edward would succeed him. What Margaret thought of marrying a man of such low station compared to her own birth and one who was almost twenty years her senior is not known - though Edward was handsome with a strong military bearing according to reports from the English Court.

The Queen was also forced the same month to rebuff the advances of her cousin Edmund de la Pole who had been paying court to the Queen's sister Anne of York and had requested consent to marry her. The Queen was on good terms with her aunt and uncle the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk despite the death of her cousin John Earl of Lincoln fighting for Richard of Gloucester and she was loathe to upset them but she did not favour the match and Anne was still very young. She also probably rightly believed that Edmund was motivated more by financial considerations than a real affection for her sister.

The Spanish sovereigns were keen for an alliance with England and the Empire opposed to France as Charles VIII's Italian ambitions were well-known and posed a threat to Spain.
The proposals to Elizabeth and James were quite strong on paper - common support against France if either nation went to war with France,the reduction of tarrifs between the two nations and Ferdinand and Isabella were suggesting the betrothal of their daughter Catherine to Prince Edward. Elizabeth for her part was reluctant to commit without James' views and given the youth of the two children she told the Spanish the proposal could easily be dropped at the will of any of the parties. IN March on James' return to England negotiations were to continue and the sovereigns sweetened the deal by suggesting the Queen's sister should marry the Spanish heir Juan Prince of Asturias a betrothal of the Prince Edward and Princess Catherine was also agreed subject to further negotiations.

James and Elizabeth reluctantly came to agreement. The formal betrothal of Anne of York and Juan of The Asturias took place at the chapel at Sheen on 1 July 1490 (The prince had turned 12 a day earlier).

Elizabeth was now faced with raising some significant sums of money - the Spanish dower for Anne was payable in installments - 25,000 on the marriage followed by a further payment of 12,500 for the following two years. Elizabeth's income had been growing through the efforts of her council but finding such a large payment would be difficult. In addition the Queen also had to find 15,000 for the first payment of Catherine's dower which was due to be paid in 1491.

Short of cash Elizabeth pressed her officials to ensure efficiency in collecting what was owed to the crown and from this period the Queen's privy accounts show a strong grasp of financial detail and interest.
 
In the late Summer of 1490 the King and Queen went on a progress though the Midlands and the King was due to return north to Scotland after the couple's final stop at Fotheringay Castle where her grandfather Richard Duke of York was buried.

The Queen returned south to the capital as the King once again headed north. In Europe affairs were conspiring to pull the joint sovereigns reluctantly into conflict. Anne of Brittany had announced her intention to marry Maximilian despite the marriage being against French interests. She would go through a proxy ceremony in December.

The marriage was a clear breach of Brittany's treaty with France that Anne would not marry without French consent.

Elizabeth despatched her uncle Lionel Bishop of Salisbury and the Earl of Oxford to the French court to try and reach a solution that would avoid Elizabeth and James having to go to war with France due to her alliance with Maximilian.

The men were received by Charles VIII and the Regent Anne with considerable warmth but stern words of their disappointment that the English would support the Spanish and the Roman King ahead of the French who had provided her with support in her campaign to recover her crown. Keen to keep the English out of Breton affairs the Regent waived the money the Queen owed the French for military support in the campaign against Richard III - Oxford and Salisbury had agreed the french loan but both James and Elizabeth had pointed out they had never agreed to it and had delayed payment.

There was also a hint that the French would resume the annual pension previously paid to Edward IV as part of a new treaty between England and France but no firm commitment.

It was noted in England that nothing was achieved by the embassy though the Queen was said to have warmly thanked her uncle and the Earl for their efforts.

The Queen's good mood was in part because she was again with child but a cloud was on the horizon - a young man by the name of Perkin Warbeck had arrived at the court of Margaret of York Duchess of Burgundy - he claimed he had been in hiding for many years and was the 17 year old Richard Duke of York.
 
The role of Margaret of York in the Warbeck affair has long been debated - she was after all aunt to Queen Elizabeth and her step grandson was betrothed to another of her nieces why would she then support someone who was opposed to the security of her nieces throne.

Warbeck came to her attention after wandering from country to country and in late 1490 she formally recognised him as the nephew she had never met - she provided him with lodgings and some money according to English representatives in the Low Countries.

Elizabeth issued a formal demand to Maximilian - "that the said pretender known as Warbeck be treated as the fool he be" - Elizabeth's real opinion is not clear but she had no desire to have the man brought to England.

Maximilian himself was in a quandry he had no wish to harbour Warbeck as he was diplomatically tied to Elizabeth and James by treaty and he was still keen on his son's marriage to Catherine of York.

Queen Elizabeth also made it clear there was no question of Catherine of York being sent to her aunt's care whilst she was harbouring the pretender.

Finally Maximilian ordered Warbeck to quit his territories after agreeing with Margaret of York that he should be free to depart unmolested.

For the English it was thought that was an end to the man's pretensions but Elizabeth remained angered by her aunt's support for him.

Diplomatically Elizabeth and James were in a difficult position as both desperately wanted to continue a peaceful path - Elizabeth herself had no appetite for war and was determined to see her country prosper in peace - James had no desire to go to war against an old ally because of his wife's English subjects.

In Spring 1491 Charles VIII invaded Brittany to subdue its unruly subjects and to force Anne of Brittany to renounce her proxy marriage to Maximilian.

Appeals for support from the Bretons were largely ignored by both England and Spain as neither wished for open war and soon Charles would lay seige to Rennes.

In England Elizabeth was delivered of a healthy daughter on 30th April - this time she seemed to give James his choice and the child was named Margaret in honour of the King's mother.

The Queen's pleasure in her daughter would probably be short lived as in May Perkin Warbeck turned up at the French court - he was treated with considerable respect and the French King even suggested "the prince" should marry a relative of the King himself.

Charles VIII and his sister's reception of Warbeck was probably intended as a deliberate warning the James and Elizabeth to not offer any support to Brittany - but it backfired.

James and Elizabeth were concerned and in June Parliament was summoned and a subsidy - for the defence of the realm against the pretender Warbeck and the French was granted.

Elizabeth despatched a small force to Brittany under the command of the veteran Lancastrian Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Pembroke (who had spent much of his exile in Brittany) along with her uncle Edward who had now succeeded as 3rd Earl Rivers.

The English force had some success on landing and it was hoped might be able to attack Charles' troops that were occupying Brittany and laying seige to Rennes.

A second much larger force made up of both English and Scotsmen were deployed to the Pas de Calais under the command of the Earl of Richmond and Earl of Northumberland.

The English troops in Brittany were defeated by Charles' troops and Pembroke was killed however the northern army was more successful taking Amiens in early September.

To celebrate the victory James IV decided to take command himself and departed with a "goodly number of gentlemen".

By late September the English had caputred a number of towns in the north west of France and Maximilian sent personal congratulations to the joint sovereigns.

However the French were succeeding in Brittany and in November the Breton's would surrender and Anne betrothed to Charles VIII himself.

The French aware that the match would alienate Maximilian now approached the English with an offer of peace.

Charles VIII was now more than willing to buy Elizabeth and James off - the Queen would receive a war indemnity of £150,000 payable in yearly grants of £15,000 and Warbeck would be expelled from the territories of the King of France, Elizabeth and James would recognise Charles control of Brittany and withdraw troops from French and Breton territory.

The Peace of Amiens was agreed and signed in February 1492.

It paved the way for Charles to concentrate on his Italian ambitions and elminate the English as a threat, Elizabeth and James were able to get a sizeable income lift and retain their treaties with the Spanish and with Maximilian.

In May - the formal marriage treaty between Anne of York and Juan Prince of Asturias was agreed and plans were made for the 16 year old Princess to leave for Spain in July - the proxy marriage ceremony would be held first on 1 July just after the Prince's 14th birthday.

However in June the plans were delayed as Elizabeth Woodville died at the Palace of Sheen - the Spanish agreed to a delay - funeral services for the widowed Queen Mother took place and she was buried beside Edward IV at Windsor.

Anne of York or Princess of Asturias as she became left England for Spain on August 4th 1492 along with the first payment of her large dower.

As one chronicler wrote the Princess owed "France her Spanish marriage as it was they who paid for it".
 
Anne of York was just 16 when she arrived at the Spanish court in 1492 - she was warmly received by Queen Isabella but conversation was difficult.
Anne's formal education under the control of her mother had seen her taught the basics which included Latin and French - but it had ended abruptly with the death of her father. The interruption would last several years and not resume until her sister gained the throne.
Anne had begun some basic lessons in Castilian Spanish after her marriage was agreed but she had only a few words and anything beyond the basics was difficult for her - with her new family she conversed in a mixture of Latin and French and some English - though Isabella commended her for her attempts to master Spanish.

Isabella's son was taken with his wife - Anne was like all her sisters of a middling height with fair hair with a hint of red, the daughter of two acknowledgedly handsome parents she also had a pleasant manner and a good sense of humour - her husband found her very pleasing according to the two English ladies who she had been permitted to retain at the Castilian Court - the ladies had been initially chosen by Elizabeth Woodville and approved by Isabella before Anne left England - they were a little older (the better to guide the Princess) but not too old that they would not be good companions to the young princess - these included her cousin Margaret de la Pole Countess of Lincoln (although the widow of the Earl of Lincoln she was also first cousin the York girl being the daughter of the Earl of Arundal and Margaret Woodville) and her cousin Cecily Bourchier Baroness Ferrers of Chartley (who was forced to leave her two young children behind in the care of her husband).

Despite the Prince's age the young couple were soon living together as man and wife and Juan certainly took to his husbandly duties with great pleasure. The court eagerly expected the Princess would soon be with child.
 
Just a refresher of where we are:

Royal House of York & Stuart 1492:


Elizabeth I Queen of England
b 1466 r 1485
m 1488
James IV of Scotland
b 1473 r 1482

issue:

1) Edward Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay
b 1489
2) miscarriage January 1490
3) Margaret of England and Scotland
b 1491

Cecily of York
b 1469
m 1486
Henry Tudor
Earl of Richmond
b 1457
issue
1) Lady Margaret Tudor
b 1488
2) Edmund Tudor
b and d 1489

Anne of York
b 1475
m 1492
Juan Prince of Asturias
b 1478

Catherine of York
b 1479
betrothed 1490 to Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy etc

Bridget of York
b 1480

Paternal cousins to the Queen:

Edward Plantagenet Earl of Warwick
b 1475

Lady Margaret Plantagenet
b 1473
m 1490
Sir Edward Woodville, Lord Scales
later 4th Earl Rivers
b 1454 to 8

-------------

Scots Royal House

James IV (as above)

James Duke of Ross (brother to the King)
b 1476

John Earl of Mar (brother to the King)
b 1479

John Stewart 2nd Duke of Albany (cousin to the King)
b 1481

-----
 
The year of 1493 was a difficult one for Queen Elizabeth - still mourning the loss of her mother and the departure of her sister Anne for the Spanish Court - the King departed North late in 1492 in order to suppress another rebellion in the Highlands - whilst in Scotland the King took up again with his mistress Marion Boyd - she had already given the King one child in 1490 but the King had not acknowledged the relationship now he was clearly living with Marion and news would soon reach his wife in England.

Elizabeth seems to have opted to follow her mother's example and simply ignore the King's behaviour but many at court noticed a certain coolness in the Queen's attitude to her husband - it was probably made worse by the fact the King had again left his wife pregnant.
James didn't even return south for the Queen's lying in and delivery - and this time the Queen clearly chose the child's name - Elizabeth of England and Scotland was born in the Tower on a cold March morning in 1493.

Whilst James remained in Scotland the Queen received Maximilian's envoy in considerable style and arrangements after she emerged from her lying-in chamber for her sister Catherine's departure to the Low Countries continued due to take place towards the end of the year continued.
Maximilian wanted English support against France who were refusing to allow his daughter Margaret of Austria the spurned bride of Charles VIII to return to her father's court. Elizabeth was unwilling to provide more than token support though did dispatch emmissaries to the French court to try and mediate between the two sides - Charles VIII keen to pursue his Italian claims finally came to peace with Maximilian and Margaret was allowed to return to her step grandmother at Mechelin.

Domestically Elizabeth despatched her son with a large household to Ludlow - confirming his council and adding a number of appointments. She appointed John Alcock Bishop of Ely as his principal tutor, the Earl of Richmond was appointed president of the council of Wales. Minor household appointments were also made to The Duke of Exeter's son Lord Edward Grey, the young Duke of Buckingham and his brother Henry Stafford.

A major concern for the Queen and the court was her cousin Edward Earl of Warwick - his grandmother Anne Beauchamp had died in late 1492 and having being restored to her own inheritance her grandson now inherited the bulk of her estates. His custody had been held by the Earl of Northumberland who intended the boy to marry his eldest daughter - however the Queen had been reluctant and cancelled the wardship in 1490 - instead granting Northumberland the wardship of the young Duke of Buckingham who would marry Northumberland's daughter. Warwick's custody was then retained by the Queen and in 1493 he was declared of age - the Queen granted him the Garter the same year and confirmed his title as Earl of Warwick by right of his late grandmother. She did not however restore the Salisbury estates to him - he was also granted a number of appointments in the Midlands though he remained at court he was not appointed to the council as his rank and relationship to the Queen might have guaranteed.

There was also the issue of his marriage to contend with - suggestions included the Duke of Buckingham's sister Elizabeth Stafford or his cousin's Anne or Catherine de la Pole.
 
In October 1493 Elizabeth solved her concerns over her cousin Warwick - in a great ceremony at the Palace of Sheen the 18-year-old Earl was married to the Queen's niece Lady Eleanor Grey the daughter of the Duke of Exeter. Exeter had held custody of the Earl before Richard of Gloucester took the throne and the Queen probably thought her brother would help check any ambitions Warwick might harbour.

The marriage was regarded as a coup for the Duke as it gave him yet another connection to the royal house and it showed his place in his sister's affections remained strong.

Concerns though remained over the likelihood of the marriage of the Queen's sister Catherine to Philip of Burgundy - her departure was frequently delayed and many doubted it would come to fruition.

The delays were largely down to the increasingly frosty relationship between the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy and her niece the English Queen and attempts to bridge the gulf caused by Margaret's support for Perkin Warbeck had largely failed.

The marriage between the Hapsburg AD and future ruler of the Burgundian inheritance and the English Princess was also not as important as it once might have been - French incursions into Italy meant Philip's father Maximilian needed to strengthen his hand against the French King and the English no longer offered him as much security as say an alliance with Ferdinand of Aragon.

Concerned at Maximilian's increased reticence to commit to the betrothal Elizabeth dispathced her uncle to the Emperor's court to entreat with him on her behalf - he reported that at present there was no firm committment to a Spanish match for the young Philip and that the Queen should proceed as planned.

James IV had received an offer from his uncle King John of Denmark and Norway - for either the marriage of Catherine or Bridget of York to his young son Christian or to his brother Frederick.

In March 1494 however the Princess Catherine finally set sail for the Low Countries and her betrothal was formally confirmed by Maximilian - Lord Rivers and his wife accompanied his niece who was given a great reception at Mechelin - he reported to the Queen that Philip himself was said to be enamoured of his future bride and that the Queen "should be quiet" as it would be the young Duke's decision whether the marriage would go ahead as planned on Philip's coming of age later in the year.
 
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