Publication of William Caxton’s translation of Aesop’s Fables, printed at his workshop at Westminster.

Tags: Books

‘Love Day’ at St Paul’s. An attempt at reconciliation between the opposing Yorkists and Lancastrians, loyal to Henry VI, to resolve the feud resulting from the 1st Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455).   Then, on Lady Day (25 March), the King led a “love day” procession to St. Paul’s Cathedral, with Lancastrian and Yorkist nobles following him, hand in hand, among them Richard, Duke of York, with Queen Margaret of Anjou.

Tags: Henry VI, House of York, Margaret of Anjou, Richard Duke of York, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists

Birth of Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Rene, Duke of Lorraine and Anjou, and niece of King Charles VII of France, at Pont-à-Mousson, Lorraine.  Married to Henry VI of England.

Tags: Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou

Birth of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.  His first wife was Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy and stepdaughter of Margaret of York.  Maximilian was a strong supporter of “Perkin Warbeck” who might – or might not – have been Richard of York.

Rather than going to war, he sought to strengthen his country’s position by diplomatic marriages, which was summed up in the couplet:

Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube.
Nam quae Mars aliis, dat tibi diva Venus.

(Let others wage war, but thou, O happy Austria, marry; for those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.)

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Holy Roman Empire, Perkin Warbeck

Birth of Cecily of York

Cecily of York

Birth of Cecily of York, third daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, at Westminster Palace on 20 March 1469.

Married (1) 1484 to Ralph Scrope of Upsall, union annulled  in 1486, after accession of Henry VII.

Married (2) before New Year’s Day 1488 to John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, half-brother of Henry VII’s mother Margaret Beaufort.  They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne.  Welles died on 9 February 1499.

Married (3) to Sir Thomas Kyme of Friskney (in Lincolnshire) in 1502 without Henry VII’s permission and she was banished from court and all her estates were confiscated, though some were returned later.  It is not clear whether they had any children.

Cecily died on 24 August 1507 at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

References:

ODNB ‘Cecily, Viscountess Welles (1469–1507)’ [last accessed online 2 March 2020]

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville

Death of St Cuthbert at Inner Farne Island, off the coast of Northumberland.  He is venerated at Durham Cathedral.

He must have had special relevance for Richard III, as the statutes for his college at Middleham, which it has been suggested Richard might have written himself, state that one of the stalls for the priests should be named for St Cuthbert.  St Cuthbert’s was one of the principal feast days to be celebrated at Middleham.

Further reading:

Melhuish, Joyce M., The College of King Richard III, Middleham.  Richard III Society (nd)

Rollason, David & Dobson, R.B., ‘Cuthbert [St Cuthbert] (c.635–687)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ]Oxford University Press, 2004  [last accessed online 2 March 2020]

Sutton, Anne F. & Visser Fuchs, Livia, The Hours of Richard III.  Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd (first published 1990, paperback 1996)

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Middleham, Richard III, Saints

Death of Richard III’s wife Anne Neville at Westminster, probably of tuberculosis.  She was buried at Westminster Abbey, but the location of her grave is unknown.  It is often said that Richard openly wept at her funeral, though the origin of this assumption is unclear.  There is a plaque for her at Westminster Abbey donated by the Richard III Society.  Unfortunately it does not get mentioned in the audio guide, so you have to look out for it.

The illustration on the left is from the in memoriam card which accompanied the wreath for Queen Anne’s tomb at Westminster in 2007. (© Richard III Society)

Tags: Anne Neville, Richard III

Edward IV and his brother Richard (later Richard III) arrive back in England on their return from exile in Burgundy, landing at Ravenspur.

Tags: Edward IV, Richard III

Battle of Losecoat Field, at Tickencote Warren near Empingham, Rutland.  The Yorkists were led by Edward IV against Robert Welles, 8th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and his men who had sided with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker’).  Fast victory for the Yorkists.   A popular myth is that as they fled, Welles’ men quickly left their coats behind to avoid identification, which gave the battle its name.

Tags: Wars of the Roses, Yorkists