When we think of the birth of the Renaissance in England, we tend to think of Elizabeth I, and her patronage of theatrical players, artists and musicians. Or Henry VIII, with his love of exotic costume and Hans Holbein diligently painting the likenesses of the royal family and Tudor courtiers. But I'd argue that the actual birth of England's Renaissance goes back further than that, to Henry's grandparents Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.
The contribution of this couple to England's literary and cultural development in the late fifteenth century is even more impressive when we consider that they did it during a period of civil conflict, the Wars of the Roses. Usually, cultural progress halts while the country distractedly fends for itself amid battles and social division. However, after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, when many of these changes had been established, Edward probably thought that the Wars of the Roses and any threat posed by the Lancastrian faction, was over.
Edward married Elizabeth in a secret ceremony in Grafton Regis, on or around 1 May 1464. She was introduced as Edward's queen during a visit that September to Reading Abbey, to the surprise of his courtiers and advisors such as Richard Neville Earl of Warwick, who had been seeking out a dynastic match for the young king. The young royals' marriage was scandalous because Elizabeth was the daughter of a knight, their union believed to be the result of a love match. She was set up with her own royal household, and they went on to have ten children, presiding over periods of peace, war and overcoming their own, personal, adversities.
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| Earl Rivers presenting his book and Caxton, his printer, to Edward IV by Charles Grignon (Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection) |
As keen patrons of the arts, Edward, in the 1470s, recruited the Cornish metalworker John Tresilian as his master of ironworks. Tresilian created the beautiful screen that can still be seen today at Edward's tomb in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. A real feat of craftsmanship, it triggers similarities with a near-contemporary, Cosimo de Medici in Florence, who oversaw similar ironwork erected in the local churches of Florence during this new and exciting period. In his will of 1475, Edward also requested an elaborate tomb with an effigy and a figure of death swooping over it, something that would have been adventurous just ten years before. The couple also oversaw building work at Windsor and the Tower of London, with the Yorkist symbol of suns and roses still surviving on the inside and outside of St George's Chapel.
They also read widely, with Edward owning political and religious titles, along with others on mythological or ancient tales. Elizabeth too, owned romance stories, and the couple instructed those responsible for the upbringing of their eldest son Edward to read heroic and courageous books to the young prince to instil a similar appreciation and learning in him. The royal volumes were garnished with silks and tassels and according to the Privy Purse Accounts, were also mended and kept in good repair. Importantly, they both gave their royal approval and crucial PR to Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales (and Elizabeth's brother), to found a printing press at Westminster in the 1470s. It was the first printing press established in the realm and changed the future of the kingdom forever, encouraging the spread of new ideas, theories and avenues of study and enquiry. Edward's supporter Sir John Tiptoft was a well-known thinker of the period, who had spent years in Florence studying law before serving Edward in government. Edward and Elizabeth's elevation and their patronage of those who valued learning speaks volumes about how important they also considered it to be.
International influences played an important role, and Edward purchased clothes and boots from around the continent, including Spanish leather in various colours and different types of European cloth. His court not only took inspiration from Italy, through the courtiers who had travelled and studied there, but from the Burgundian court of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold.
In 1472 the pair received a visit at Windsor Castle from the Lord Gruuthuse, who assisted Edward during his difficult year in exile in Burgundy. The official was treated to hunting, elaborate feasts and wines and took a walk in Edward's 'garden of pleasance'. The couple showed him to his rooms where he slept on expensive sheets, took a relaxing bath and was gifted a jewelled cup with a piece of unicorn's horn set into it (believed to protect the owner from poison). These scenes, rich in ceremony, generosity and excess would not be out of place in Renaissance Italy, and were indeed encouraged by Edward and Elizabeth themselves in their royal ordinances. These ordinances set out the ethos of the court and how it was to be run, and the couple placed particular emphasis on legendary kings and queens of history, including those of England, who they praised for the similar traits they displayed in their own courts. What could be more 'Renaissance' than a 're-birth' of ancient ideals into their present time?
You might also like: The Household of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, The Women of Reading Abbey, and The Lost Tomb of Edward IV.
Find out more about Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville in my book Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website.
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