Birth of Margaret, daughter of George, duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, at Farley Castle near Bath.  She married in November 1487 Sir Richard Pole, an important member of the regime of Henry VII.

Source: ODNB on Margaret Pole

Death of William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester

Source: ODNB on William Waynflete

Birth of Mary of York, second daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, at Windsor Castle.  She did not marry.

Birth of Anne of York, second child and eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville.  She was a sister of Edward IV and Richard III.   Married in 1447 to Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter. They had one daughter.  In the Wars of the Roses Exeter sided with Lancaster.  They separated in 1464 and were divorced in 1472.  She then married Sir Thomas St Leger and they had a daughter, Anne.

You can find out more about Anne of York in the talk Judy gave to our branch in 2012.

Illustration:  Anne of York and Sir Thomas St Leger, her second husband

Battle of Edgecote Moor (actually Danes Moor in Northamptonshire), a battle of the Warwick Rebellion.

In the North, one of the captains of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (“The Kingmaker”), calling himself Robin of Redesdale (actually a trusted Neville captain, Sir William Conyers) started a rebellion against Edward IV, which was supported by Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III.  Edward IV was at Nottingham, where he hoped to meet up with Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon, and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.

Apparently Devon and Pembroke quarreled on the way, with Pembroke continuing on his own, encountering the rebels near Banbury.  Pembroke, his brother Sir Richard Herbert as well as Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (Elizabeth Woodville’s father), and his son John were taken prisoner and executed on Warwick’s orders without trial.

Birth of novelist and playwrite Elizabeth MacKintosh in Inverness.  One of her pen names was Josephine Tey, and her 1951 novel The Daughter of Time was probably for many the starting point of a fascination with Richard III and the later Middle Ages.

For more information on Elizabeth MacKintosh:

Pamela J Butler, ‘The Mystery of Josephine Tey’, Ricardian Register (Fall 2002).  Online available from the American Branch of the Richard III Society, URL:  http://www.r3.org/fiction/mysteries/tey_butler.html

Betrothal of Anne Neville to Edward, prince of Wales, the son of Henry VI, at Angers Cathedral.  They married at Bayeux approx. 13 December.  Some time after Edward’s death at the battle of Tewkesbury on 7 May 1471, Anne married Richard, duke of Gloucester (future Richard III).

Source: ODNB on Anne Neville

Magdalen College, Oxford (© D Preis)

Richard III Visits Oxford University

Not long after his coronation, Richard III visited Oxford University as one of the first stops of his Royal Progress.  He stayed for 3 days, 24 to 26 July 1483, at Magdalen College on the invitation by the college’s founder, William Waynflete, bishop of Winchester.

Richard was “honourably received, firstly outside the University by the Chancellor of the University and by the Regents and non-Regents; then he was received honourably and in procession at the College of the Blessed Mary Magdalene by a speech by the lord Founder”.  The day after his reception, we see Richard following his own cultural taste. He listened to two debates, one on moral philosophy and one on theology.

I think Hairsine is right when he remarks:

There was certainly no need for a medieval autocrat to sit through not one but two learned debates if he did not find a genuine interest there.  One is lead to believe that Richard’s visits to Oxford and Cambridge were welcome interludes from the cares of government.

Richard seems to have been impressed with the debates as well as his welcome and rewarded the participants and Magdalen College handsomely with venison and cash.  The whole event was in detail recorded in the Register of Magdalen College, which the anonymous Chronicler ended with the words Vivat rex in eternum, which can be translated as a “may the King live forever!”.

On the last day of his visit, Saturday 26 July, the king toured the university, before travelling on to Woodstock.

References:

Robert C Hairsine, “Oxford University and the Life and Legend of Richard III”, in:  J Petre (ed.), Richard III:  Crown and People, Richard III Society, 1985, pp. 307-332

Rhoda Edwards, The Itinerary of King Richard III, 1483-1485. Richard III Society, 1983 , p.5

For the interesting history of Magdalen College, you can download an illustrated history book, The Story of Magdalen College Oxford, by Rena Gardiner from the College website.

Louis XI becomes King of France.  His coronation is on 15 August 1461.  Due to his scheming and love for intrigue he became known as ‘The Spider King’.