30
May
30 MAY 1445
Coronation of Margaret of Anjou in Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was performed by the archbishop of Canterbury, John Stafford.
Source: ODNB on Margaret of Anjou
Tags: Margaret of Anjou
31
May
31 MAY 1443
Birth of Margaret Beaufort, daughter and heir of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (1404–1444), and Margaret (d. 1482), daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire.
She was an influential supporter of her son Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.
Tags: Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort
27
May
27 MAY 1541
Margaret Pole is executed at the Tower of London. Margaret was the daughter of George, duke of Clarence, and thus Richard III’s niece.
She was born on 14 August 1473 at Farleigh Castle, Somerset. She lost her mother when she was three years old and her father two years later. She and her brother Edward were then in the care of her uncles, first Edward IV and then Richard III. While her brother was executed in 1499, she was married to Sir Richard Pole and they had five children. She and her children remained steadfast Catholics during the Reformation. In December 1886, Pope Leo XIII beatified her, her feast day is celebrated on 28 May.
Tags: George of Clarence, Henry VIII
26
May
26 MAY 1465
Coronation of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV.
Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville
24
May
24 MAY 1487
A young man is crowned as Edward VI in Dublin. The Tudor government identified him later as Lambert Simnel, though it is not sure who he actually was.
Bibliography: Smith, G, ‘Lambert Simnel and the King from Dublin’. The Ricardian, Vol. X, No.135 (December 1996), pp.498-536.
Tags: Family
24
May
24 MAY 1444
Proxy marriage of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou.
Tags: Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou
23
May
23 MAY 1533
Marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon is annulled.
Tags: Tudors
23
May
23 MAY 1482
Death of Mary of York, second daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, at Greenwich Palace, London, buried at St Georges Chapel, Windsor
Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, Family
Market Place in St Albans, where the first battle was fought (© D Preis)
First Battle of St Albans – fighting on the market place
On 22 May 1455 the first Battle of St Albans, Hertfordshire, between the Yorkist forces under Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and the Lancastrian forces of Henry VI under Edmund, Duke of Somerset, who fell in the battle. Henry VI was captured. The battle was won by the Yorkists.
This is the first battle in what became known as the Wars of the Roses, with the white rose standing for York and the red for Lancaster (Henry VI). This battle is unique among all the battles of the Wars of the Roses in that it was entirely fought in the streets of the town and not in a field. Walking around the market area of St Albans today, you can still see the outline of the area in medieval times with its half-timbered houses and the narrow and winding alleyways. One can’t help wondering what the town’s citizens made of this. And not to forget that not even six years later on 17 February 1461, the armies were back for a second battle.
You can read more on the first Battle of St Albans on Karen’s blog.
A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society.
Dorothea Preis
21
May
21 OR 22 MAY 1471
Death of Henry VI in the Tower
Tags: Henry VI
