A research nugget:
How Jane Shore dished about a row Cecylee had with King Edward IV
I’ve always found it interesting that
Edward IV’s favorite mistress should have had two names. Was she Jane Shore? Or
Elizabeth Shore?
Turns out that her name was really Elizabeth, but she
allowed herself to be called Jane.
Now why would that be? Would it be because Jane Shore – who comes
across as a generous, kind-hearted individual - allowed her first name to
change so that she would not compete with the other important woman in Edward’s
life, his wife Queen Elisabeth Woodville? (Perhaps she thought that one
Elizabeth was enough for King Edward IV!)
What does seem to be true is that Edward was fond of Jane
Shore, who was witty and intelligent, and seems to have been the recipient of
many his confidences, what we would refer to nowadays as “pillow talk.” She
provides an important link to evidence that gives us some indication of how
Cecylee Neville -Edward’s formidable mother and the protagonist of THWARTED QUEEN
- felt when she learned that he had secretly married Elisabeth Woodville.
As an old woman, Jane Shore was befriended by Sir Thomas
More - the famous catholic martyr who was beheaded in 1535 - early in the reign
of Henry VIII. The event she remembered occurred many years before, in
September 1464, when Edward confounded everyone by announcing his secret
marriage. His mother was dismayed and hurt. Dismayed, because Edward’s new
Queen would take precedence over her. Hurt, because he had not confided in her.
It was all the more distressing because his cousin, Warwick the Kingmaker, had
been on the point of concluding negotiations for the hand of the French King’s
sister.
A research nugget:
How Jane Shore dished about a row Cecylee had with King Edward IV
Sir Thomas More recounts the row that erupted, as it came
from the lips of Jane Shore. Cecylee told her son that it was his duty as King
of England to marry into a noble or royal house from the continent. She said
that it was wholly inappropriate for a monarch to marry his own subject, where
no honor or lands could be secured by it.
“A rich man,” she declared,” would marry his maid only for a
little wanton dotage on her person. In which marriage, many more commend the
maiden’s fortune than the master’s wisdom. And yet...there is between no
merchant and his own maid so great a difference as between the King and this
widow. And marrying a widow,” she added as a parting shot, “only made matters
worse.”
Jane Shore apparently told Sir Thomas More that when King Edward
rebuffed Cecylee’s complaint, she “devised to disturb this marriage.”
But she didn’t succeed. Despite his uncontrollable
womanizing, Elisabeth Woodville managed to hold her husband’s attention long
enough to give him ten children over a period of fourteen years.
But Cecylee loathed her daughter-in-law and never forgave
her son, and her dismay and hurt feelings helped to fuel the second phase of
the Wars of the Roses, in which Edward nearly lost his throne.
You can read more in THWARTED QUEEN...
Twitter Hashtag: #ThwartedQueenVirtualTour
Publication Date: October 29, 2012 | CreateSpace | 498P
THWARTED QUEEN is a portrait of a woman trapped by power, a marriage undone by betrayal, and a King brought down by fear.
Cecylee is the apple of her mother’s eye. The seventh daughter, she is the only one left unmarried by 1424, the year she turns nine. In her father’s eyes, however, she is merely a valuable pawn in the game of marriage. The Earl of Westmorland plans to marry his youngest daughter to 13-year-old Richard, Duke of York, who is close to the throne. He wants this splendid match to take place so badly, he locks his daughter up.
The event that fuels the narrative is Cecylee’s encounter with Blaybourne, a handsome archer, when she is twenty-six years old. This love affair produces a child (the “One Seed” of Book II), who becomes King Edward IV. But how does a public figure like Cecylee, whose position depends upon the goodwill of her husband, carry off such an affair? The duke could have locked her up, or disposed of this illegitimate son.
But Richard does neither, keeping her firmly by his side as he tries to make his voice heard in the tumultuous years that encompass the end of the Hundred Years War - during which England loses all of her possessions in France - and the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses. He inherits the political mantle of his mentor Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and become’s the people’s champion. The rambunctious Londoners are unhappy that their country has become mired in misrule due to the ineptitude of a King prone to fits of madness. Nor are they better pleased by the attempts of the King’s French wife to maneuver herself into power, especially as she was responsible for England’s losses in France. But can Richard and Cecylee prevail? Everywhere, their enemies lurk in the shadows.
This book is filled with many voices, not least those of the Londoners, who forged their political destiny by engaging in public debate with the powerful aristocrats of the time. By their courageous acts, these fifteenth-century Londoners set the stage for American Democracy.
PRAISE FOR THWARTED QUEEN
"Thwarted Queen: A Saga About the Yorks, Lancasters and Nevilles, Whose Family Feud Started the Wars of the Roses is historical fiction at its best, an account which takes the real-world stories of a woman trapped by power and her husband, a Royal duke, who faces down his political opponents, and melds their lives into an exciting fictional drama." Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review.
"Thwarted Queen is extremely interesting and cleverly written-I was completely enthralled!" Lucy Bertoldi, Historical Novel Society.
"Gripping, well-researched historical novel, revealing a violent age. Cecylee and the other characters are well-drawn, with great subtlety and depth." Lindsay Townsend, author of TO TOUCH THE KNIGHT.
"The author immerses the reader in a complex and vivid world that is depicted with persuasive confidence." Curtis Sittenfeld, author of AMERICAN WIFE.
"A wonderful novel to introduce Cecily Neville and historical biographical fiction to young female readers." Mirella Patzer, author of THE PENDANT.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Surrey, England, CYNTHIA SALLY HAGGARD has lived in the United States for twenty-nine years. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Why does she write historical novels? Because she has been reading them with great enjoyment since she was a child. Because she has a great imagination and a love of history that won't go away. And because she has an annoying tendency to remember trivial details of the past and to treat long-dead people as if they were more real than those around her.
Cynthia's biggest influence was her grandmother, Stephanie Treffry, who had a natural story-telling ability. As a widow in 1970s Britain, Grandma Stephanie didn't drive a car, so would spend time waiting for buses. Her stories were about various encounters she had at those bus-stops. Nothing extraordinary, except that she made them so funny, everyone was in fits of laughter. A born entertainer, Cynthia tries to emulate her when she writes her novels.
In case you were wondering, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE and KING SOLOMONS'S MINES. (H. Rider Haggard was a younger brother of her great-grandfather.) Cynthia Sally Haggard is a member of the Historical Novel Society. You can visit her website at www.spunstories.com.
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