Execution of Thomas More, former Chancellor to Henry VIII, for denying that the king (Henry VIII) was the Supreme Head of the Church of England.  He was born on 7 February 1478.

Between c. 1513 and 1518 he wrote The History of King Richard III.  The work was not finished and only published posthumously by his son-in-law in 1557.  It is not a first-hand account, as he was only aged seven when Richard III fell at the Battle of Bosworth.  It is unknown for what purpose More wrote the History, as it contains many obvious untruths, which any reader at the time it was written would have recognized as such.  However, his work had a long-lasting influence in blackening Richard reputation.  It is therefore perhaps quite ironic that his downfall came on the anniversary of King Richard III’s coronation.

Source:  ODNB on Sir Thomas More

Coronation of King Richard III and Queen Anne.  Their coronation was one of the best attended on record. It was celebrated at Westminster Hall, which was the traditional venue for coronation banquets from 1189 to 1821.  The feast celebrating Richard and Anne’s coronation was attended by approx. 3,000 guests, no coronation banquet since has attracted as  many guests.

Bibliography:  “Westminster Hall: Coronation Banquets“, www.parliament.uk

Illustration:  © Andrew Jamieson, http://www.jamiesongallery.com/ (used with permission)

Marriage of Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV and Richard III) to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, she was his third wife.  They had no children, but she acted as a protector of the Duchy after his death on 5 January 1477 for his daughter Mary, Duchess of Burgundy.

Bibliography:  Christine Weightman, Margaret of York:  The Diabolical Duchess.  Amberley Publishing, Chalford, 2009.  ISBN 978 1 84868 099 9 (paperback)

William de la Pole and Alice Chaucer, later duke and duchess of Suffolk, were licenced to found an almshouse at Ewelme for thirteen poor men and two chaplains.  The almshouse was called God’s House.  The statutes of 1448 show that by then a grammar school was added.  The almshouse as well as the school exist to this day.

Cloister of the almshouse at Ewelme (© Dorothea Preis)

Source:  ODNB on Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk

You can read more about God’s House on Dottie Tales.

Dorothea Preis

Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, his son Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Edward Earl of March (son of the Duke of York, later Edward IV) return from Calais, where they had fled after the Battle of Ludford Bridge (12 October 1459) to invade England in June 1460.  On 2 July they are in control of London, except for the Tower.

The illustration on the left shows Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, as depicted in the Rous Roll.

Death of Eleanor Talbot probably at East Hall, Kenninghall, Norfolk, buried in the Carmelite Priory Church, Norwich.

Bibliography:  John Ashdown-Hill, Eleanor:  The Secret Queen.  The History Press, Stroud, 2009.  ISBN 978 0 75244866 4,

Death of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor (Henry VII), just two months after her son’s death on 21 April 1509.  On 24 June 1509, she had still witnessed the coronation of her grandson, Henry VIII, and Katherine of Aragon.

Source: Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, ‘Beaufort, Margaret , countess of Richmond and Derby (1443–1509)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (online version)

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is given Middleham, Sheriff Hutton and Penrith.  All three had been key stronghold of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, before his rebellion against Edward IV and his death at the battle of Barnet.

Illustration:  Middleham Castle (© D Preis)

Edward IV (stained glass at St Laurence, Ludlow)

Coronation of Edward IV

After winning the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross (2 February 1461), Edward, Earl of March, became King Edward IV on 4 March 1461.  He defended his claim in the Battle of Towton (29 March 1461), which he won decisively.  He then went on a progress of the northern counties and returned to London on 26 June 1461.

On 28 June 1461, Edward IV was crowned in a splendid ceremony in Westminster Abbey by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury. His younger brothers George and Richard were made Duke of Clarence and Duke of Gloucester respectively.

Edward IV’s coronation is described in detail in Michael D. Miller’s Wars of the Roses.