Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Elizabeth Tilney
Countess of Surrey
Elizabeth Cheney
OccupationLady-in-waiting
Lady of the Bedchamber

Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey (before 1445 – 4 April 1497) was an English heiress who became the first wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (when still Earl of Surrey). She served successively as a lady-in-waiting to two Queen consorts, namely Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV, and later as Lady of the Bedchamber to that Queen's daughter, Elizabeth of York, the wife of King Henry VII. She stood as joint godmother to Princess Margaret Tudor at her baptism.

Her eldest son was

Elizabeth I, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. Her son Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk's daughter, Mary, married the king's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Elizabeth is commemorated as the "Countess of Surrey" in John Skelton's poem, The Garlande of Laurell, written following his visit to the Howard residence of Sheriff Hutton Castle
.

Family

Arms of Tilney: Azure, a chevron between three griffin's heads erased or
Ledger stone and monumental brass of Philip Tilney (d.1453) formerly in Lincoln Cathedral (where he retired to as a secular canon), the grandfather of Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey[1]

Elizabeth Tilney was born at Ashwellthorpe Hall sometime before 1445, the only child of Sir

Katherine Howard.[4]

Elizabeth's paternal grandparents were Sir Philip Tilney and Isabel Thorpe, and her maternal grandparents were Sir Laurence Cheney of Fen Ditton and Elizabeth Cockayne, widow of Sir Philip Butler. Elizabeth Cockayne was the daughter of Sir John Cockayne, Chief Baron of the Exchequer and

Reginald Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn and Eleanor Le Strange of Blackmere.[5] Through her mother, Ida was a direct descendant of Welsh Prince Gruffydd II ap Madog, Lord of Dinas Bran
and his wife Emma de Audley.

Elizabeth was co-heiress to the manors of Fisherwick and Shelfield in Walsall, Staffordshire by right of her descent from Roger Hillary, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (d. 1356).[6]

The Battle of Barnet where Elizabeth's first husband Sir Humphrey Bourchier was slain

Marriages

Elizabeth married her first husband, Sir Humphrey Bourchier, the son and heir of

Edward V
. She remained with the queen until Edward IV was restored to power.

Sir Humphrey was killed at the

Yorkist side.[7] On 30 April 1472 Elizabeth married Thomas Howard, future Earl of Surrey,[8] a marriage arranged by the King.[9] In 1475, Elizabeth inherited her father's property of Ashwellthorpe Manor.[10]

Her second husband was a close friend and companion of

Battle of Bosworth while fighting for Richard III; like his son, John was also one of King Richard's dearest friends.[12] Thomas Howard was wounded at Bosworth and imprisoned in the Tower for several years, and the dukedom of Norfolk was forfeited. Elizabeth was fortunate that Thomas' attainder stipulated that she would not lose her own inheritance. On 3 October 1485, she wrote to John Paston, who was married to her cousin. The letter, which she had written from the Isle of Sheppey, mentioned how she had wished to send her children to Thorpe, pointing out that Paston had pledged to send her horses as a means of transporting them there. She continued to complain that Lord FitzWalter, an adherent of the new king Henry VII, had dismissed all of her servants; however, because of the stipulations in her husband's attainder, FitzWalter was unable to appropriate her manor of Askwell.[13]

In December 1485, she was living in London, near

St Katharine's by the Tower, which placed her in the vicinity of her incarcerated husband.[14]

After Thomas was released from prison and his earldom and estates were restored to him, he entered the service of Henry VII. In November 1487, Thomas and Elizabeth attended the coronation of Henry's consort Elizabeth of York, who appointed Elizabeth a Lady of the Bedchamber. Elizabeth was further honoured by being asked to stand as joint godmother to the Princess Margaret Tudor at her baptism in late 1489.

Her second marriage produced eleven children, including Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth Howard, mother of Anne Boleyn, and Lord Edmund Howard, father of Katherine Howard.

Anne Boleyn,
granddaughter of Elizabeth Tilney by her second husband, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk

Death and legacy

Elizabeth Tilney died on 4 April 1497 and it is commonly stated that she was buried in the nun's choir of the Convent of the Minoresses outside Aldgate.[15] In her will, she left money to be distributed to the poor of Whitechapel and Hackney.[16] However, historian Marilyn Roberts presents solid evidence why this will cannot be of Elizabeth Tilney. The will is written 9 years after Elizabeth Tilney died and refers to Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk. But Elizabeth Tilney would refer to herself as Countess of Surrey, not as Duchess of Norfolk because her husband wasn't duke of Norfolk when she died (he acquired the title many years later).[17]

Elizabeth Tilney is often confused with Elizabeth Talbot, last Mowbray Duchess of Norfolk, who definitely was buried in Aldgate. With Aldgate ruled out as a place of burial of Countess of Surrey, it is unknown where she was actually buried. Her family lived at the time of her death in Sheriff Hutton Castle near York, but she could have been buried somewhere else.

After her death, by licence dated 8 November 1497 Thomas Howard married as his second wife her cousin,

Agnes Tilney, by whom he had seven more children.[18]

Elizabeth's granddaughters included not only Katherine Howard and Anne Boleyn, but also three of Henry VIII's mistresses,

Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond.[19]
During the reign of Henry VIII the Howards, led by Elizabeth's eldest son, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, became the premier family of England.

In poetry, art and fiction

Elizabeth Tilney has been identified as the "Countess of Surrey" commemorated in

poet laureate while he was a guest of the Howards in 1495 at Sheriff Hutton Castle. Three of Elizabeth's daughters, Anne, Elizabeth and Muriel are also addressed in the poem, which celebrates the occasion when Elizabeth, her daughters, and gentlewomen of her household placed a garland of laurel worked in silks, gold and pearls upon Skelton's head as a sign of homage to the poet.[20]

Elizabeth's likeness is depicted in a stained glass window at Holy Trinity Church,

coat of arms
.

A highly romanticized fictional account of Elizabeth Tilney's life was written by Juliet Dymoke in The Sun in Splendour which depicts Elizabeth, known as "Bess", at the court of King Edward IV.

Issue

By Sir Humphrey Bourchier:

By Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk:

Family

Ancestry

Family tree

Footnotes

  1. ^ Francis Blomefield, 'Hundred of Depwade: Thorp', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 5 (London, 1806), pp. 142-163 [1]
  2. ^ Roskell 1981, p. 170; Richardson 2004, pp. 206–207; Kirby 2008
  3. ^ Beer 2004; Richardson 2004, pp. 381, 611, 729.
  4. ^ G. E. Cokayne. The Complete Peerage
  5. ^ Taylor 1822, p. 8.
  6. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 141
  7. ^ Cokayne 1912, pp. 153–154.
  8. ^ Richardson 2004, pp. 141, 236; Cokayne 1912, p. 153.
  9. ^ Women of History - Index S Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 March 2011
  10. ^ Women of History - Index S
  11. ^ Women of History - Index S. Retrieved 15 March 2011
  12. ^ Kendall 1953, pp. 193–196.
  13. ^ Kathy Lynn Emerson. A Who's Who of Tudor Women - T.
  14. ^ Kathy Lynn Emerson. A Who's Who of Tudor Women - T. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  15. ^ Women of History - Index S. Retrieved 15-03-11
  16. ^ Women of History - Index S
  17. ^ "Elizabeth Tilney, grandmother of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, and her cousin Agnes Tilney, their step-grandmother by Marilyn Roberts". 14 September 2012.
  18. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 237.
  19. ^ Hart 2009.
  20. ^ Skelton 1990, pp. 23, 31–32; Scattergood 2004.
  21. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 142; Cokayne 1912, pp. 153–154.
  22. ^ Richardson 2004, pp. 141–2.
  23. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 141.
  24. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  25. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236; Loades 2008.
  26. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236;Warnicke 2008.
  27. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  28. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  29. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  30. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  31. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236.
  32. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236; Hughes 2007.
  33. ^ Richardson 2004, p. 236; Gunn 2008.
  34. better source needed
    ]

References

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Tilney,_Countess_of_Surrey&oldid=1214718148"