Edward IV (stained glass at St Laurence, Ludlow)
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.
Tags: Edward IV, George of Clarence
Birth of Henry (later Henry VIII) at Greenwich Palace, sixth child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York (daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville). He became heir to the throne after the death of his brother Arthur in 1502, and became king on his father’s death on 21 April 1509.
Illustration: Henry VIII, 1509, by an unknown artist. The Denver Art Museum.
Tags: Elizabeth of York, Henry Tudor, Henry VIII
Richard declared rightful heir of the House of York by Parliament to become King Richard III. Edward V and all his siblings were declared illegitimate because their father Edward IV had been secretly married to Eleanor Talbot, when he married Elizabeth Woodville, also in secret.
Illustration: King Richard III (© Andrew Jamieson, http://jamiesongallery.com/)
Tags: Richard III
Richard and George of York, younger brothers of Edward IV, are created Knights of the Bath.
Tags: George of Clarence, Richard III
Coronation of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon.
Tags: Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon
John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) is said to have landed somewhere on the coast of North America, the first European since the Vikings to do so. He had received letters patent from Henry VII on 5 March 1496 and was backed by Bristol merchants. This was his second voyage.
Tags: New World
Public statement outside St Paul’s Cathedral that Edward IV had been married to Eleanor Talbot when he married Elizabeth Woodville, declaring the children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville illegitimate. This meant that Richard was the next legitimate heir to the throne. He was offered the crown by the Commons and became King Richard III.
Tags: Edward IV, Eleanor Talbot, Elizabeth Woodville, Princes, Richard III
Charter granted to the University of Oxford to appoint a chancellor by Nicholas de Romanis, the papal legate.
Though it is not known when exactly Oxford University was founded, there is evidence of teaching from as early as 1096. The early structure of the university is impossible to ascertain. In 1209 there is evidence that by 2 January 1201, a John Grim held the title magister scolorum Oxonie (master of schools of Oxford), which indicates that he was the head of all the schools of Oxford.
The papal legate enhanced the status of the office of the master of schools by his award of 1214, which was accepted and sanctioned by the Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells.
M.B. Hackett, ‘The University as a Corporate Body’, in: The Early Oxford Schools, Volume I, ed by J.I.Catto, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp.37-95. ISBN 0-19-951011-3
The photograph shows the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford (© Dorothea Preis)
Dorothea Preis
Tags: Learning, Oxford, Oxfordshire
Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, leaves London on her journey to Burgundy to marry Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Edward IV allies himself with Burgundy and Brittany against Louis XI of France (the ‘Spider King’).
Tags: Margaret of Burgundy
Elizabeth Woodville allows her younger son Richard to quit sanctuary at Westminster and join his brother Edward at the Tower.
Tags: Elizabeth Woodville, Princes
