Event– Death of Elizabeth Woodville

Year– 1492

Location– Bermondsey Abbey, England

Elizabeth Woodville died on 8 June 1492 at Bermondsey Abbey aged 55, where she had been rusticated on the orders of her son-in-law, Henry VII. She was suspected of having been involved in the plotting of Lambert Simnel in 1487 to seize the throne in the name of the Earl of Warwick and was sent to Bermondsey. It seems unlikely that she would work to topple her daughter and grandson, but it seems equally unlikely that she would willing retire from public life, from what we know of her.

Elizabeth was buried with her husband, Edward IV, in St George’s Chapel at Windsor on 12 June 1492 where her daughters, excepting Elizabeth and Cecily, attended her funeral. She specified a simple ceremony in her will, though some thought this not fitting for a Queen of England.

Further Reading–

• David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville (2002)
• J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens (2004)
• Amy Licence, Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville: a True Romance (2016)
• David MacGibbon, Elizabeth Woodville (2013)
• Arlene Okerlund, Elizabeth: England’s Slandered Queen (2006)