Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty [Hardcover]

Anne Crawford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2007

'Now tis the winter of our discontent'...made glorious summer by this fine study of the Yorkist Dynasty

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Crawford (archivist, Wells Cathedral) has been researching the house of York for many years and has written an excellent history of the dynasty. She begins with Richard, Duke of York, the father of Edward IV and Richard III, and takes the story through the duke's granddaughter Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII. Her evaluation of the many individuals in the story and her analysis of such major events as the usurpation of Richard III and the fate of his nephews, the 'Princes in the Tower,' are thoughtful and reasoned. Accounts of Yorkist women and a significant informative feature, and the sometimes-complex genealogy necessary for a family history is detailed by careful narrative supported by family trees of York, Lancaster, Nevill, and Woodville...Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." -A. C. Reeves, CHOICE, February 2008 (A. C. Reeves )

"This book is an overview of the Yorkist dynasty, straying into Henry VIII's reign to include Elisabeth of York. It is an excellent text book for A level students"

Reviewed by Jane Trump, Re Ricardian XVIII, 2008

"The author is an authority on royalty."
-Colin Richmond, The Historian, Vol. 71

"Crawford (archivist, Wells Cathedral) has been researching the house of York for many years and has written an excellent history of the dynasty.  She begins with Richard, Duke of York, the father of Edward IV and Richard III, and takes the story through the duke's granddaughter Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII.  Her evaluation of the many individuals in the story and her analysis of such major events as the usurpation of Richard III and the fate of his nephews, the 'Princes in the Tower,' are thoughtful and reasoned.  Accounts of Yorkist women and a significant informative feature, and the sometimes-complex genealogy necessary for a family history is detailed by careful narrative supported by family trees of York, Lancaster, Nevill, and Woodville...Summing Up: Highly recommended.  All levels/libraries." -A. C. Reeves, CHOICE, February 2008   (, )

About the Author

Anne Crawford was formerly an Assistant Keeper at the Public Record Office and is now archivist to Wells Cathedral. She is the editor of Letters of the Queens of England, 1100-1547 (1994) and Letters of Medieval Women (2002).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hambledon Continuum (April 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852853514
• ISBN-13: 978-1852853518
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,201,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Information and Balanced, May 31, 2007

By 

Susan Higginbotham "boswellbaxter" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty (Hardcover)

I was excited when Anne Crawford's The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty appeared on my Amazon screen. Among other works, Crawford, an archivist at Wells Cathedral, has edited Letters of the Queens of England, 1100-1547 and Letters of Medieval Women, both of which are extremely useful for the researcher and novelist.

The Yorkists did not disappoint. This is a concise (less than 200 pages) but information-packed history of the York dynasty, beginning with Richard, Duke of York, and concluding with Elizabeth of York, with a brief look at the fates of those who survived into the reign of Henry VIII.

Naturally, most of the book is devoted to the male members of the dynasty, as they were chiefly the ones who wielded power. Crawford, however, includes a chapter on Edward IV's sisters, including Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, and the lesser-known Anne, Duchess of Exeter. Anne married Henry Holand, but the marriage broke down, probably in no small part because of Holand's fervent Lancastrian sympathies. Left for dead on the field of Barnet, he took sanctuary at Westminster but was forced into the Tower, where he remained until he was allowed to join Edward IV's French expedition. He drowned mysteriously on the trip home. Anne's lover and eventual second husband, Thomas St. Leger, was loyal to Edward IV but not to Richard III, who beheaded him for his participation in the rebellion of 1483. (Anne wasn't around to intervene, having predeceased her husband.) Episodes like this make The Yorkists fascinating reading.

Crawford takes an unsparing, though fair, approach to Richard III and his actions. She notes his piety and his abilities as a ruler, but also his ruthlessness and his ultimate betrayal of the brother he had served so loyally in life. Though Crawford acknowledges that the mystery of the Princes in the Tower is likely to remain unsolved, she reminds us of the damning fact that it was shortly after Richard seized the throne that they were never seen again.

In appendices, Crawford discusses the pre-contract story and the story of Edward IV's illegitimacy. Crawford is highly skeptical of both stories, though she spends more time on the latter and makes a number of salient points, including the fact that Cecily Neville in her will unequivocally described Edward IV as being the son of the Duke of York.

Balanced and written in a scholarly but accessible, readable style, The Yorkists will be a most useful addition to one's Wars of the Roses library.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last of the Plantagenets, May 3, 2007

By 

Kay Kirkpatrick (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty (Hardcover)

In this enjoyable book, Anne Crawford tells the fascinating story of the Yorkist dynasty during the late 15th century. Despite the occasionally clumsy prose, I think this book is great overall, and I recommend it for learning about the turbulent era that inspired Shakespeare's early history plays.

Crawford starts with an overview of Edward III's family--which included five surviving sons and was actually rather harmonious, a quality that their Lancastrian and Yorkist descendants did not possess. The story picks up with Richard, Duke of York's discontent at being excluded from the council of his second cousin, the incompetent king Henry VI, even though he served as Protector during Henry's incapacity. Richard did not have enough support to usurp the throne, but after his death his son became Edward IV, with the key support of the Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"). Except for a brief restoration of Henry VI, Edward's reign was relatively stable and prosperous. In particular, he made some reforms with an eye to financial efficiency that have often been attributed to the Tudors. He wasn't so fortunate in his handling of family matters. His brother George, Duke of Clarence, was greedy, indulged by the king, and manipulated to treason by the Kingmaker.

After lucidly narrating this complicated story up to Edward IV's death, Crawford spends several chapters discussing the constellation of men and especially women around the first Yorkist king: Cecily Nevill, Elizabeth Woodville, their parents, their children, their siblings, their in-laws. Several episodes end up being repeated, but from different points of view. One recurring theme is how Edward IV manipulated and overrode the laws of inheritance in order to benefit his relatives.

The narrative resumes with the short reign of Edward V and his uncle Richard's coup, a ruthless act that Richard III couldn't overcome to have a peaceful reign. (The fate of the Princes in the Tower is examined in a measured way.) Richard III's Lancastrian cousin Henry Tudor then gained enough support to invade from France, defeat Richard at Bosworth Field, and seize the throne. The narrative continues to the death of Elizabeth of York, whose marriage to Henry VII was arranged by their mothers in order to unite the Lancastrian and Yorkist claims and restore peace to England.

Crawford's book serves as a good introduction to the Wars of the Roses, in particular, background for Shakespeare's Henry VI (Parts I, II and III) (Signet Classics) and Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Library). Crawford mentions Shakespeare's take on this era of history several times, but for more details, Peter Saccio's Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama is great. Crawford's book is also a valuable update to such classic works like Thomas B. Costain's conversational history, The Last Plantagenets, and Paul Murray Kendall's social history, The Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses.