Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen [Book Review]

Queen Elizabeth Wydeville, the slandered Queen of England has gone down in history as a greedy and horrid woman, characteristics written of her by her many enemies. In this volume, Okerlund delves into the preconceptions in order to shed light on the truth - was she truly a vile woman or was she a strong individual who endured where others would have crumbled?

It does appear that Elizabeth Wydeville was indeed a much more complex personality than sources have made out in the past. A deeply pious woman, Okerlund determines that the marriage of Elizabeth and Edward IV was truly a love match and not a result of witchcraft, as many contemporaries accused at the time.

Here, Elizabeth is described as a charitable woman who rewarded those loyal to her and not simply a greedy upstart that history paints her to be. Indeed, there appears to be much loyalty and respect towards her as a Queen; and Okerlund does present her through her trials and experiences as someone adaptable and strong who survived two husbands, the unjust executions of members of her own family including a son from her first marriage, the disappearance her her two sons by Edward IV, remembered as the princes in the tower.

Upon reading this biography I gained much respect for the woman often deemed a witch, whose reputation has been marred by time, and only recently gaining a more respectable reputation in the light of a reviving interest in the wars of the roses.

Elizabeth Wydeville played a key role alongside Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII who has enjoyed a more respected reputation in history; she was the grandmother of Henry VIII, and her blood still runs through the veins of the British royal family to this day. There is likely truth within tales of vanity, as a Queen she represented an image to the people and many nobles were envious of her position and her family's rise to power that this image of vanity and greed has superseded the many other aspects of her life that made her a captivating and admirable woman for her day.

I admit that Okerlund's view is biased in favour of Elizabeth, but it is a refreshing view compared with that of historians who decree that she was nothing more than an arrogant, greedy upstart; a view that most often translates into fictional portrayals as well.

It may be time to give Elizabeth Wydeville more credit for her numerous good qualities and strengths that helped her endure in a world ruled by men. And this biography is a good starting point.