The Secret Queen: Eleanor Talbot, the Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne

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The History Press, Aug 26, 2011 - History - 264 pages
When Edward IV died in 1483, the Yorkist succession was called into question by doubts about the legitimacy of his son, Edward (one of the 'Princes in the Tower'). The crown therefore passed to Edward's undoubtedly legitimate younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. But Richard, too, found himself entangled in the web of uncertainly, since those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV's children viewed Richard III's own accession as a usurpation. From the day when Edward IV married Eleanor, or pretended to do so, or allowed it to be whispered that he might have done so, the House of York, previously so secure in its bloodline, confronted a contentious and uncertain future. John Ashdown-Hill argues that Eleanor Talbot was married to Edward IV, and that therefore Edward's subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, making her children illegitimate. He thereby offers a solution to one of history's great mysteries.
 

Contents

Mount Carmel
The Widville Marriage
Death
Aftermath 19 Eleanor and the Historians
Eleanors Body
Timeline
Documentary Evidence Summary
Eleanor in Fiction

Thomas Boteler
The Botelers Wider Family 10 Married Life
Widowhood
Edward IV
Disillusion
Corpus Christi
What Makes a Lady?
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

John Ashdown-Hill is a historian who has been heavily involved in the DNA testing of Richard III's remains. He is the author of The Last Days of Richard III.

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