Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen (England's Forgotten Queens) [Hardcover]

Arlene Okerlund (Author)

Book Description

Series: England's Forgotten Queens | Publication Date: May 1, 2005

Elizabeth Wydeville, Queen consort to Edward IV, has traditionally been portrayed as a scheming opportunist. But was she a cunning vixen or a tragic wife and mother? As this extraordinary biography shows, the first queen to bear the name Elizabeth lived a life of tragedy, love, and loss that no other queen has since endured. This shocking revelation about the survival of one woman through vilification and adversity shows Elizabeth as a beautiful and adored wife, distraught mother of the two lost Princes in the Tower, an and innocent queen slandered by politicians.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tempus (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752433849
• ISBN-13: 978-0752433844
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,950,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arlene Okerlund, Professor Emerita of English, retired after a career of teaching Renaissance literature at San José State University in California. After several years in the classroom, she served six years as Dean, College of Humanities and the Arts, and seven years as Academic Vice President before returning to her first loves of teaching and research. The author of scholarly articles on Shakespeare, Spenser, Marlowe, Donne, and Dryden, Professor Okerlund also writes for popular audiences, including the newsletter of the Peninsula Banjo Band with which she plays tenor banjo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another View, October 7, 2006

By 

Evelyn Hoffester "Eve" (VA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen (England's Forgotten Queens) (Hardcover)

Yes, Elizabeth Wydeville is often portrayed as scheming, and haughty, and cruel. And yes, there is not enough information in the world (that we know of) to refute that point. But if that is true, then there is not enough information to prove it either.
Okerlund has gone out on a limb and said that perhaps Elizabeth wasn't a witch, a whore, or a social-climbing, dynasty-killing queen. For every point that she makes she backs it up with evidence. It's an argument, and like almost every other arugment out there about women in the 15th century, it can be debated.
As the author says, Margaret of Anjou has often been depicted as the she-wolf of France, a violent and rash woman who ended the House of Lancaster through her arrogance and forced York into treason. She has benefited from the hindsight of history as many biographers have taken another look and instead found her to be courageous and strong, worthy of our admiration and not derision. Doesn't Elizabeth Wydeville deserve the same?
I found this book to be thought provoking and insightful, representing a fairly good handle on the times and personalities. I don't necessarily embrace every argument, but hey, that's the great part about history. It's not dates and facts, it's debates and mystery and research.
This book is well-written and well-researched. Anyone with an interest in the Wars of the Roses, early Tudor history, or women throughout the eras should take a look at this biography.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating account of a fascinating woman!, April 7, 2007

By 

Bookaholic "Leslie" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen (England's Forgotten Queens) (Hardcover)

What a studied and fascinating work this book is! We've heard many versions of the presumed accounts of the 2 missing princes who disappeared from London Tower...but what of their mother, the first Queen Elizabeth? Although we've heard much smattering of slander about her in the past, now we have a new story to consider in this lavishly researched, footnoted and indexed work reviewing the Queen's life. Although you will feel the good weight of research that the author poured into the book, you will be able to read the Queen's fascinating story without needing to be a Rhodes Scholar to delve into it.

We even get to sigh a romantic sigh as we imagine the meeting of (24 year old) Elizabeth when she met with the King (age 19) at the time he likely fell madly in love with her: "At Grafton, Elizabeth was on home territory. The Wydeville manor lay within a mile of Whittlewood Forest where the King was hunting. Having grown up here, Elizabeth knew the course that the hunters would take, the fields where the deer would be chased for the kill, the grassy spots ideal for picnics. Choosing a large oak tree, she stationed herself and her two small sons beneath it and waited. Hard in pursuit of prey, Edward saw the beautiful young mother with her children, pulled his horse up short, and marveled at the bucolic tableau." See what I mean? We really get a feel for the romance, the hardship, and the tragedy to follow.

The ancestor of Mary, Queen of Scots and of Lady Jane Grey, this slandered queen's grandson will be Henry VIII, her great-grandaughter will be Queen Elizabeth I. In her time, she will become a widowed mother of two children but then secretly marry the King of England (the younger Edward IV), thus being crowned Queen of England in 1465, her father will be beheaded, her husband the King will become exiled leaving her alone while pregnant with many young children in tow, she will give birth to the future King of England (Edward V), her brother will be executed, her son (Sir Richard Grey) will be murdered upon order of Richard III, her two sons (King Edward V and Prince Richard of York) will disappear from the Tower of London with tragically uncertain fate, her 19-year-long marriage will be declared adulterous and their 10 children will be declared illegitimate, and she will be accused of witchcraft and sorcery.

An amazing life, worth of the re-defining richly presented by this author.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good history, August 17, 2007

By 

love to read "Mary" (San Marino, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen (England's Forgotten Queens) (Hardcover)

An excellent history of Elizabeth Wydville. Sometimes a few too many details. Shows the love between Elizabeth and Henry. A great sadness at the end of the book showing how badly a queen can be treated after the king dies.