Bonne of Savoy
Queen Bonne of England. Really? Well. Not quite. Nearly though.
The Yorkist Richard Neville, the immensely rich and powerful Earl of Warwick, deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI and put the Yorkist usurper Edward IV on the throne of England. Neville’s nickname was Warwick the King Maker.
As Captain of Calais, Lord High Admiral and the new, inexperienced, King’s right hand man, Neville was in virtual control of England. And Edward.
Neville decided that Edward needed a wife and England needed France as an ally so he chose Princess Bonne of Savoy who was living in Château Amboise with her sister Queen Charlotte of France.
In 1468 Neville travelled to Tours to discuss terms with Louis XI.
Bonne who was just fourteen was excited to be chosen as Queen of England. Edward was young, nineteen, good looking and affable. Very tall at six feet four, he was an impressive sight in or out of armour.
In the middle of formal talks which were going very well, a messenger handed Neville a note with news from England.
It said that Edward had just married a widow whose Lancastrian husband had died fighting the Yorkists.
Neville was shocked to the core. Incandescent. He was humiliated and deeply insulted by Edward’s disloyalty. To save face, he told no-one and carried on with the sham negotiations.
During a meeting in London, when his Councillors were insisting he authorise Warwick to draw up the legal marriage contract with the King of France, Edward dropped a bombshell. He couldn’t marry Bonne. He was already married.
They were stunned. There was an unwritten rule that the woman chosen to be Queen of England must be a virgin. Edward’s wife, five years older than him, was a widow with two children. She was also a commoner. And a Lancastrian.
Read more about Bonne and the other Ladies of Royal Château Amboise in Out of the Shadows by Pamela Shields.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art). Artwork by Mark.
Out of the Shadows
The Ladies of Royal Château Amboise
