Tudor Times is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625)

On 2nd November 1475, a daughter named Anne was born to Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was their sixth child, and fourth daughter. During her childhood, Anne was betrothed to Philip of Burgundy, son of the Emperor Maximilian and his wife, Mary of Burgundy, but her father died before the marriage could take place. Anne was just eight when Edward IV died, and her brother, who was never crowned, disappeared to be replaced by her uncle, Richard III. Anne remained in the sanctuary of Westminster with her mother and sisters, until they were persuaded to emerge on receiving promises that, despite having been branded as illegitimate, they would be treated honourably by their uncle.

Richard III arranged a marriage for Anne with Thomas Howard, the grandson of Richard’s close supporter, John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The marriage had not taken place by the time of Richard’s death at Bosworth in 1485, but was eventually solemnised in 1495 when Anne was twenty, and her husband a couple of years older. Anne and Thomas had several children, but none survived childhood. Anne was frequently in attendance on her sister, Elizabeth of York, and took part in the christenings of Elizabeth’s children. Anne died in 1511, and was buried in the Howard chapel at Thetford Priory, although, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries implemented by her nephew, Henry VIII, her remains were moved to the church at Framlingham.

In the picture, Anne is shown third from left, her older sister Mary, having died before the window was made for Canterbury Cathedral

On 1st November 1456 Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, died at Carmarthen Castle aged about twenty-three. Edmund was the oldest son of the marriage of Catherine de Valois, Princess of France and Dowager Queen of England, and one of her household, Owain Tudor. The Tudor family was descended from the native Welsh Princes, but, following the conquest of Wales by Edward I, and the suppression of the uprising of Owain Glyndwr at the turn of the fifteenth century, Welshmen were severely handicapped under English law. Edmund, however, was lucky. His half-brother, King Henry VI, recognised his mother’s second marriage in the Parliament of 1453, and treated his half-siblings generously.

Edmund was granted the Earldom of Richmond, and married to one of Henry’s second cousins, the child-heiress Lady Margaret Beaufort. Modern sensibilities are horrified by Edmund’s impregnation of his wife, who was about thirteen, but, although consummation of marriages at such a young age was not widespread, it was legal. Edmund, and his younger brother, Jasper, gave their complete allegiance to King Henry and in 1456, Edmund was captured by William Herbert, a Yorkist, who held him at Carmarthen Castle, where he died of plague.

On 31st October 1512, Windsor Herald (whose name was Francis Dyes or Dees) submitted his expense claim for travelling to Aragon, to convey messages to Ferdinand II of Aragon, Henry VIII’s father-in-law. The two kings were in league against France, although the campaign turned into a disaster for England when the Aragonese refused to supplement the English troops’ inadequate supplies, and Ferdinand did a deal with France behind Henry’s back, after he had achieved his own goal of capturing Spanish Navarre. To be fair to Ferdinand, he claimed that the English troops, led by Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, Henry’s cousin, had failed to co-operate with him.

Windsor Herald spent: £4 6s 8d for a return journey from London to Plymouth and then 13s 4d for a ‘reward’ to the sailors on the ship that took him to San Sebastian (it is not clear whether his passage was free – perhaps he went in one of the King’s own ships). From San Sebastian to somewhere he phonetically spelt as 'Trollegrono', where he met Ferdinand, cost him 40s return. He then went from San Sebastian to Bilbao and on to Laredo at a cost of 53s 4d. The sailors on the return journey received 20s (presumably the trip was longer).

The picture shows the coast of Spain in about 1606 – it would not have changed hugely.