elizabeth of york (appreciation thread) don’t qrt pls

elizabeth of york was born to edward iv and elizabeth woodville, the king and queen of england, in 1466. she was exceptionally beautiful and well-mannered. she was known as very kind and caring, a trait she would take with her throughout her life.

in 1483, her father died, leaving the throne to her very young brother, who would become edward v. it’s important to note that an on-and-off civil war was happening in england at the time, between the lancastrians and the yorks. (this is the war that GoT is based off!!)

elizabeth, being of the york side, was in a tough position. now that her powerful father had died, her future held uncertainty. however, she was not a particularly political person, so she wasn’t actually directly involved in these matters.

elizabeth’s uncle, richard, duke of gloucester, had his eyes on the crown. he saw his opportunity with the boy king, since it would be much easier to usurp from a child than a grown man. he forcibly took the crown from the yorks, imprisoning edward v and his brother richard.

the boys, once imprisoned, were never heard from again. it is suspected that richard had them murdered, and buried in the floors of the tower they were imprisoned in. richard declared himself richard iii, and would go down in history as a terrible king, even getting his own-

shakespeare play. elizabeth at this point was laying low and out of trouble. her mother, a cunning and ambitious woman, was determined to take back the crown and end the war. on the lancastrian side of the war, another woman had the same plot. her name was margaret beaufort.

margaret was a wealthy woman, who had been married at 12 and gave birth to her son, henry tudor, at 13. (she is credited with ending royal child-marriage in england :D) she, since she was a child, had always believed her son was the rightful king of england.

margaret and elizabeth woodville crossed paths, and made a plot. they would have their children marry, and henry would usurp richards throne. if henry and elizabeth married, they would join the bloodlines and end the war.

in 1485, the battle of bosworth happened. this was the battle where henry tudor finally defeated richard iii and was declared the king of england. shortly after, he married elizabeth, who he had also happened to fall madly in love with. elizabeth’s life as queen was largely-

happy and peaceful. they had 7 children together, 3 of which lived long, fulfilled lives as european royalty. elizabeth was a doting, loving mother and cared deeply about her country. she is widely regarded as the last medieval queen of england, dying in 1504 while giving birth-

to her 8th child, katherine. [end of thread] if i missed anything or got any facts wrong, i apologize. i am mostly writing this from memory and i have simplified the contemporary political landscape to make the thread easier to understand <3