8
May
8 MAY 1450
Jack Cade’s Rebellion – Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI
Archive for the ‘Events in History’ Category
10
May
10 MAY 1403
Death of Katherine de Roet, first mistress and later third wife of John of Gaunt.
Katherine was probably born in 1350, the daughter of Sir Payn Roet, a knight from Hainault who came to England with Philippa, Edward III’s queen. She married in 1365 Sir Hugh Swynford.
In 1368 she became governess to the children of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, after the death of his wife Blanche. It is not sure, when exactly she became John of Gaunt’s mistress, but between 1373 and 1377 they had four children.
Following the death of John of Gaunt’s second wife, they married in Lincoln Cathedral in January 1396, where she is also buried.
She is the title character of Anya Seton’s novel Katherine.
4
May
4 MAY 1483
Entry of Edward V and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, into London. Original date set by the Woodville party for Edward’s coronation. The council decides that Edward should reside at the Tower, the royal palace where traditionally all kings stayed before their coronation.
4
May
4 MAY 1471
Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, defeat of Lancastrian army, Henry VI’s son Edward killed in battle, Henry VI dies soon after.
Illustration: The Battle of Tewkesbury from a Ghent manuscript
3
May
3 MAY 1415
Birth of Cecily Neville (mother of Edward IV and Richard III) at Raby Castle, Durham
1
May
1 MAY 1484
Nikolas von Popplau, a Silesian knight, meets King Richard III in York and gives us an eye-witness report of what Richard actually looked like:
“King Richard is … three fingers taller than I, but a bit slimmer and not as thickset as I am, and much more lightly built; he has quite slender arms and thighs, and also a great heart.”
After finding Richard’s remains, we have a better idea of his figure and how tall he was, so Nikolas’s statement adds to our idea of what he looked like.
1
May
1 MAY 1464
Possible date for Edward IVs secret marriage Elizabeth Woodville (born 1437), daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, the widow of a Lancastrian. It was later claimed that he was at that time already – also secretly – married to Eleanor Talbot, who was still alive at this time. Therefore the marriage to Elizabeth Woodville would be bigamous.
30
Apr
30 APRIL 1483
Earl Rivers (brother of Elizabeth Woodville), Sir Richard Grey (son from Elizabeth Woodville’s first marriage) and Sir Thomas Vaughan (chamberlain of Prince Edward) were arrested after the failed meeting in Northampton.
29
Apr
29 APRIL 1483
Date for agreed rendezvous of Edward V’s (eldest son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville) entourage coming from Wales to meet at Northampton with Richard, Duke of Gloucester, coming from Yorkshire. By the time Richard arrives, Edward’s party has moved on to Stony Stratford, 14 miles closer to London.
28
Apr
28 APRIL 1442
Birth of Edward of York in Rouen, Normandy (later Edward IV). Second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was the eldest of the four sons who survived to adulthood.
