Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, later

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of York. Three of the eleven dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, whilst two of ...

and Duchess of Norfolk (10 December 1472 – c. 19 November 1481) was the

child bride ''Child Bride'', also known as ''Child Brides'', ''Child Bride of the Ozarks'' and ''Dust to Dust'' (USA reissue titles), is a 1938

Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

, one of the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the apparent murder in England in the 1480s of the deposed King Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. These two brothers were the only sons of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville sur ...

. She died at the age of eight.

Heiress

She was born at

Framlingham Castle Framlingham Castle is a castle in the market town of Framlingham in Suffolk in England. An early motte and bailey or ringwork Norman castle was built on the Framlingham site by 1148, but this was destroyed (Slighting, slighted) by Henry II of E ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, the only (surviving) child of

John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, (18 October 144414 January 1476), known as 1st Earl of Surrey between 1451 and 1461, was the only son of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Eleanor Bourchier. His maternal grandparents were William B ...

and Lady Elizabeth Talbot. Her maternal grandparents were

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and his second wife Lady Margaret Beauchamp. The death of her father in 1476 left Anne a wealthy heiress.

Marriage

On 15 January 1478, aged 5, she was married in

St Stephen's Chapel St Stephen's Chapel, sometimes called the Royal Chapel of St Stephen, was a chapel completed around 1297 in the old Palace of Westminster which served as the chamber of the House of Commons of England and that of Great Britain from 1547 to 1834. ...

, Westminster, to

, the 4-year-old younger son of King

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and his

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

Death and heirs

Anne died at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, nearly two years before her husband disappeared into the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

with his older brother,

Edward V Edward V (2 November 1470 – mid-1483)R. F. Walker, "Princes in the Tower", in S. H. Steinberg et al, ''A New Dictionary of British History'', St. Martin's Press, New York, 1963, p. 286. was ''de jure'' King of England and Lord of Ireland fro ...

. Upon her death, her heirs normally would have been her cousins, William, Viscount Berkeley and John, Lord Howard, but by an act of Parliament in January 1483 the rights were given to her husband Richard, with reversion to his descendants, and, failing that, to the descendants of his father Edward IV.

Burial

Anne was buried in a lead coffin in the Chapel of St.

Erasmus of Formia Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo (died c. 303), was a Christianity, Christian saint and Christian martyrs, martyr. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the Fourteen Holy Hel ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. When that chapel was demolished in about 1502 to make way for the

Henry VII Lady Chapel The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates a ...

, Anne's coffin was moved to a vault under the

Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate The Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate known also variously as the "Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aldgate" or the "House of Minoresses of the Order of St Clare of the Grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary" or the "Minoresses witho ...

, run by nuns of the Order of

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

Franciscans. Her coffin eventually disappeared. In December 1964, construction workers in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

accidentally dug into the vault and found Anne's coffin. It was opened, and her remains were analysed by scientists and then entombed in

in May 1965."Anne Mowbray, Duchess of York"
Retrieved on 3 March 2017. Her red hair was still on her skull and her shroud was still wrapped around her. Westminster Abbey is the presumed resting place of her husband, Richard Duke of York, and his brother

, in the Henry VII Chapel.

Family

Ancestors

Family tree

Notes

References

* *P. M. Kendall, ''The World of Anne Mowbray'', Observer Colour Magazine, issued 23 May 1965 *

Sources

*M. A. Rushton, The Teeth of Anne Mowbray, British Dental Journal, issued 19 October 1965 *Stepney Child Burial, Joint press release from the London Museum and Westminster Abbey, issued 15 January 1965 *Roger Warwick, Skeletal Remains of a Medieval Child, London Archaeologist, Vol. 5 No. 7, issued summer 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk, Anne De Mowbray, 8th Countess Of 1472 births 1481 deaths People from Framlingham

Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, later Duchess of York and Duchess of Norfolk (10 December 1472 – c. 19 November 1481) was the child bride of Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower. She died at the age ...

15th-century English people 15th-century English women English princesses Daughters of English dukes Anne de Mowbray Hereditary women peers Duchesses of York 8th Countess of Norfolk Barons Mowbray *12 Earls of Norfolk (1477 creation)

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

Royalty and nobility who died as children