Important Visitors: Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville
In 1359 the Church is filled with the pageantry, joy and tears of a royal wedding in mediaeval style. The bride is Blanche, daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, the groom John of Gaunt, son of Edward III. This marriage will lead to the founding of the Lancastrian line of kings of England, their son becoming Henry IV. A century later King Edward IV is staying with the Abbot in 1464. He officially attends the service in the Abbey Church on Michaelmas Day. On his arm, to the surprise of all but the few in his court let into the secret, is his new bride, Elizabeth Woodville, an English girl. There are looks and whisperings and the story is soon talked over across the land, a secret marriage and not the expected diplomatic choice of a princess from France to improve relations between these two countries.
Of course the royal court in the Church is a common occurrence during the lifetime of the Abbey with the many visits of the king as he moves about his land, governing being not centralized in London in these days. A church full of visiting monks and clergy is also not uncommon. The papal legate, representing the pope in England, calls representatives of the church from the whole country on three occasions to meet in council at Reading Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury heads the assembly in 1279 to discuss church reforms in the whole of the land, some too radical for the king, Edward I, who heads them off by introducing his own reforms.
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Edward IV secretly married Elizabeth Woodville rather than
a French wife. The marriage was first made public by their
appearance on Michaelmas Day in 1464 in the Abbey church. A
modern reconstruction painting by E Boardman-Wright.
(1931.273.1)
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