Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, later Duchess of York and Duchess of Norfolk (10 December 1472 – 19 November 1481) was the child bride of Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, one of the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the mystery of the fate of the deposed King Edward V of England and his younger brother Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, heirs to the throne of King Edward IV of England. The brothers were the only ...

. She died at the age of eight.

Heiress

She was born on 10 December 1472 at Framlingham Castle in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, the only (surviving) child of John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk and Lady Elizabeth Talbot. Her maternal grandparents were

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot, KG (17 July 1453), known as "Old Talbot" and "Terror of the French" was an English nobleman and a noted military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was t ...

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 6, she was married in St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, to Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, 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 most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, Elizabeth Woodville.

Death and heirs

Anne died at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 19 November 1481, 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 citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

with his older brother, Edward V. 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 ), 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 Helpers, s ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. When that chapel was demolished in about 1502 to make way for the Henry VII Lady Chapel, Anne's coffin was moved to a vault under the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate, run by nuns of the Order of

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

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

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney 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 was applied to ...

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 Edward V, 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 15th-century English nobility 15th-century English women People from Framlingham Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk English princesses Daughters of English dukes Wives of knights Anne de Mowbray Hereditary women peers Duchesses of York 8th Countess of Norfolk Barons Mowbray *12 Earls of Norfolk (1477 creation) Anne English royalty who died as children Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York