Cecily Duchess of York

This is the first scholarly biography of Cecily Neville, duchess of York, the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. She was said to have ruled Edward IV 'as she pleased' and Richard III made his bid for the throne from her home. Yet Cecily has been a shadowy figure in modern histories, noted primarily for her ostentatious piety, her expensive dresses, and the rumours of her adultery.

Here J. L. Laynesmith draws on a wealth of rarely considered sources to construct a fresh and revealing portrait of a remarkable woman. Cecily was the only major protagonist to live right through the Wars of the Roses. This book sheds new light on that bloody conflict in which Cecily proved herself an exceptional political survivor. Skilfully manipulating her family connections and contemporary ideas about womanhood, Cecily repeatedly reinvented herself to protect her own status and to ensure the security of those in her care.

From her childhood marriage to Richard duke of York until her final decade as grandmother of the first Tudor queen, the story of Cecily Neville's life provides a rich insight into national and local politics, women's power and relationships, motherhood, household dynamics and the role of religion in fifteenth-century England.

“A substantial bibliography and the use of wide-ranging primary evidence demonstrates the book’s grounding in solid research and excellent scholarship. Laynesmith writes in a very engaging style, which makes the material lively and beguiling … [A] well-crafted work that does much to counter the neglect of an important individual who has for too long languished in the historical shadows of her male kin. It is a welcome addition both to the relatively sparsely populated historiography of Cecily Neville and to studies of medieval noblewomen in general.” – Parergon

“[A] a richly detailed book … Laynesmith’s qualities as a scholar are evident on every page … [A] comprehensive and meticulous study of one woman’s exercise of power within the limits of medieval gender expectations and will serve as the standard account of Cecily Neville.” – Journal of British Studies

“Laynesmith (visiting fellow, Univ. of Reading) continues her work on late medieval English queens with a study of the life and times of Cecily Neville, mother of two kings, grandmother of the first Tudor queen, and wife of one of the most politically ambitious nobles of the 15th century. Given the scarcity of sources that reveal the personal side of medieval lives, this work focuses more on the social and cultural context of elite women, a strategy that provides a rich context for Cecily’s actions. A political survivor and active “good lady” to a wide network of relations and retainers, Cecily has been most recently studied as the model for lay pious behavior. Without denying the sincerity of Cecily’s piety, Laynesmith reveals her subject’s considerable influence in royal politics, patronage, and administration. Sources unfortunately do not settle questions about her younger sons’ startling behaviors (Clarence’s rebellion and execution, and Gloucester’s treatment of his royal nephews during his usurpation of the throne), but Cecily remained supportive of all her children to her dying day. As wife and mother, widow and grandmother, noblewomen like Cecily linked and managed the complex family politics that characterized the period. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.” - CHOICE