Hi my name is Jon and welcome to another edition of History Roadshow.
Women in society, especially at the highest level, had shown little improvement
in how they were perceived.
Matilda of Flanders was quite possibly the last one to show any determination or grit
when she fought against becoming married to the invading William the Conqueror 400 years earlier.
Anne Neville would become England's second native queen in succession,
yet she had no more power than an enslaved person.
Anne was not of royal blood, she was considered
a pawn to be used in the day's politics,
and for the men in her life, she would be completely dominated and manipulated.
Her father, her brother in law and finally, her husband.
So what if anything could Anne achieve within this male-dominated society?
Please subscribe to the channel hit the bell icon to select all notifications
so you never miss any of our videos and with that said let's begin todays story.
Anne was born at Warwick castle on 11 June 1456.
Anne's father was Richard Neville, aka The Kingmaker, her mother was Anne Beauchamp.
Her father was the youngest son of the Earl of Salisbury,
but luckily for him, he would accumulate enormous riches after marrying
two women, both with considerable wealth.
Neville would become the earl of Warwick after marriage to the widow of Richard
Beauchamp, who had died fighting in France and left no male heir.
Although he had everything he could want in life,
the only problem for Neville was the same as his predecessor.
So his massive inheritance would fall to his daughters Isabella and Anne.
Warwick needed to cement his position, and he needed a plan to ensure
his hold over the royal family of York.
Isabella was married off to George,
Duke of Clarence, in 1468; Anne would follow suit just two years later.
After the Lincolnshire rebellion failed the family including Isabella
and Anne had tried to flee England, but the French refused them entry into Calais.
Louis XI then came to the rescue.
he arranged a marriage between Warwick and Margaret of Anjou.
Almost simultaneously, Anne was betrothed to the Lancastrian 16-year-old Edward Prince of wales.
Anne was 14 at the time.
It was great news for Warwick, and now he had a shareholding in both camps.
Annes marriage would turn out to be a very short one as in 1471.
Her father had died at the Battle of Barnet, and her
new husband, Edward, was killed at the Battle of Tewksbury.
Anne would be not only fatherless but also a widow at just 15.
The Duke of Clarence would care for Anne, yet fresh attempts to woo her were underway.
Richard duke of Gloucester, the brother of Clarance, had known Anne
from childhood, as he had lived at Middleham
castle under the guardianship of Anne's father.
Not wanting to lose control over the Neville inheritance, Clarence played games with Richard.
It's been said Clarence would hide Anne away by dressing her as a serving maid
and using the disguise to keep her out of arms
reach by moving the young girl from castle to castle.
It's thought that Anne somehow managed to get word to Richard of her whereabouts.
Richard taking the role of Prince charming, rescued his Cinderalla
and swept her away to London.
They would marry in 1472; he was 20, and Anne was now 16.
The split would cause major eruptions between the two brothers, and as usual,
it was simply a case of who got the most money from the inheritance.
The quarrel became so bad that King Edward IV finally had to step in and settle this.
He told the brothers they must equally divide
the cash and lands and move on with their lives from that day.
By 1483 Richard left his wife to visit the house of Edward V.
Anne would travel directly to London to prepare for their coronation.
Years later, in a retrospective twist, some Tudor historian accounts accused
Richard of multiple murders, including the most famous that of Edward V
and Richard of York or, as you know them, the Princes in the Tower.
Yet others tell a different story, and they placed the blame
for the deaths on Richards successor Henry VII.
However, it's also been said the two boys were dead even before Henry set foot in England.
As always, these reports change with time.
Nothing can be 100% sure of how,
why or even who carried out these atrocities.
But the gossiping Tudors were not finished just yet.
They also accused Richard of murdering his wife Anne.
But as with the majority of these statements, many are without cause.
And it's challenging to find any authority that substantiated these so called facts.
This period was difficult, feudal wars with life expectancy very short, fighting
as soon as you were old enough to hold a sword didn't bode well in this extreme climate.
Anne and Richard left after the constant battles between himself and his brother,
and the court would fall silent.
It would be at Middleham castle in 1474 that Anne gave birth to her only child, Edward.
This was pretty rare as the women of the day, including Isabella and Anne, were weak.
In eight years of marriage to Clarence, Isabella gave
birth twice and died in 1476, aged just 26.
It was a similar story for Anne, who gave birth only once
and would die at the young age of 29.
Anne's husband was slightly different; before his marriage to Anne,
he had already brought three children into this medieval world.
John of Gloucester, Katherine and allegedly Richard Plantagenet a bricklayer from Kent.
Richard never sired any more children after his son with Anne;
this gives much credence to the fact that the couple were solid and together
not just before but also after Richard had seized the throne.
The couple would take part in a royal progress in the spring of 1484.
It was said that Anne looked dreadful; she had become fragile and pale.
Many reasons why she found herself in this condition have been recorded,
but the same disease that killed her sister Tuberculosis could have been the cause.
When Anne and Richard eventually arrived at Nottingham, the news was given
that their only son Edward had died at Middleham.
It was devastating news for the couple, more so, as neither was with him at the end.
This news also meant there was now no direct heir to her husband's crown.
The couple returned to London, but Anne was now slipping away by the spring of 1485.
She passed on the same day at the Palace of Westminster
on 16 March when there was an eclipse of the sun.
Today on the south side of the high altar within the abbey is a commemorative brass plate
hangs on the wall with a coat of arms, designed by J.
Sebastian Comper, which was placed there in 1960.
After the funeral of Anne, Richard once again fell under scrutiny;
he was accused of trying to develop a relationship with his niece Elizabeth of York.
However, the rumours were nothing more than further malicious accusations.
It was yet another stain against Richard, and they just kept coming.
The man's reputation was tarnished, and there was little he could do to improve it.
The final straw and one that broke the camels back was when he nominated John
de la Pole as his heir; he was the son of Richards sister Elizabeth.
By saying this, it only reinforced the now widespread belief
that Richard was responsible for the death of the young princes.
Still, his statement also took the earl of Warwick Clarences, son, out of the equation,
as he was the only surviving member of the House of York.
As for Anne, her short life will only be remembered
for the birth of a son Edward, and even then a child
who would never be healthy enough to achieve anything in his own life.
Her husband, who fought bravely at Bosworth to save his crown, had little left
in the way of achievements, his family dead, and his sole goal in life
now was to survive and, as with all men, live another day.
Anne played her part in these troublesome times the best she could.
But what would have happened if Anne had lived?
Would she have been a part of Elizabeth of York's staff?
Let me know what you think in the comments, about this last Plantagenet Queen of England.
And as always thank you for watching, I'll see you again soon!