Did Richard III force Anne Neville to marry him or were they really in love and Shakespeare made that up too ?

Question

Did Richard III force Anne Neville to marry him or were they really in love and Shakespeare made that up too ?

Answer 1

Anne and Richard knew each other from childhood (they grew up in Middleham castle)and before Warwick, Anne's father, turned his coat and supported the house of Lancaster, there was talk of a betrothal even then. Instead she was hastily married off to Edward of lancaster, Prince of Wales (who seems to have been a rather unpleasant young man), who died in the battle of Tewkesbury. After this she ended up in the household of George, brother to Richard and husband to her sister. George did not want her to marry anyone because he wanted all of the huge fortune left to her and her sister for himself.

However, Richard wanted to marry her...undoubtably he wanted her lands as all young noblemen needed that kind of power but there may have been a personal element as well, from familiarity and liking if not passionate love. He fought with George over her estates and actually gave up some of them in the end--but still married her. Quite unusually for medieval couples, who usually had seperate chambers, they did sleep together in the same room much of the time, so that kind of suggests their marriage was not purely political.

Most certainly he did not poison her ala Shakespeare; it is thought she may have had tb, which probably killed her sister too. The medication given for that condition back then would have had poisoning symptoms.

Lomax--loads of illegitimate kids? Two, actually, both born before his marriage, acknowledged and cared for.. Even his detractors did write that he had a 'virtuous' homelife.

Answer 2

Shakespeare wrote for Tudor audiences and the Tudor's, especially the King, were not fond of Richard III. He deliberately wrote to portray Richard III in a bad way because he was the King that Henry VII had to knock off to claim the thrown and that meant he was not well received by the new monarchy, who made it their job to ensure the public felt the same way.



I don't know much about Richard III's relationship with Anne Neville but I'd imagine that in the case of the play it was definitely exaggerated (everything else was) and if not, completely fabricated. Although as others have pointed out, marrying for love wasn't really a done thing at these times and the marriage is likely to have been more of a mutual agreement between families.

Answer 3

There is little evidence, if any, to suggest that Anne Neville was forced

to marry Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Most of what has come down to

us is Tudor propaganda through the pen of William Shakespeare.



Anne and Richard had known each other since childhood and were

cousins, so a dispensation had to be obtained for their marriage.

When Richard Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460

his remaining sons, Edward, George and Richard were taken under the

guardianship of Warwick. The boys were sent to Middleham Castle near

York for schooling and training in the art of war, living alongside Warwick

the kingmaker's own family. Contemporary accounts noted that Anne and

Richard "enjoyed their company", so despite the age difference of approx

4 years, Richard was born in 1452 and Anne in 1456, they are known to

have mixed whenever they could.



It is not possible to say that they "were in love", marriages were undertaken

for the good of the realm and no diaries of the period mention this.

In marrying Anne, Richard helped restore her to her lands and

her childhood home. They married on 12 July 1472 and made their

home at Middleham, only leaving to attend court in London when it was

essential. Once Richard became King, they left Middleham and lived in

London.

Answer 4

Anne Neville

Answer 5

In 1470 anne neville was engaged to henry VI's son edward, prince of wales,we don't really know all that happened, but by 1474 she was married to richard,he was duke of gloucester then,it probably was a political marriage,as most upper class marriages were at that time,love would not have even been mentioned,she died in march 1485, a year after the death of their only son,there were rumours that richard had plotted her death,(it was known he wanted to marry his niece)he was forced to issue a public denial,he died of course in august of that year at bodsworth fields,and the first tudor,henry VII,became king.

Answer 6

The idea of royals marrying for love was entirely unkown in the fifteenth century. Royals married for political and dynastic reasons.



It's true that some arranged marriages proved successful from an emotional point of view (eg Edward I and Eleanor of Castille), but when that happened it was just a happy accident. This is just one of the reasons why Kings tended to have broods of illegitimate children - and Richard III was no exception here.



Arranged marriages for royalty continued up to the end of the nineteenth century (George V's marriage was arranged, for example.)

Answer 7

What Richard was interested in was the half of the enormous Warwick estates that Anne was heiress to. He had Anne kidnapped and disguised as a kitchen maid for a time to keep her out of his brother's clutches. Anne's own wishes in any of this are unknown and Richard probably didn't care about them.

Answer 8

Shakespeare's "Richard II" is a deliberate caricature, as audiences at the time would hae known. And "love" played little or no part in Royal or aristocratic marriages. It did sometimes come later, as with

Mary II and William III

Answer 9

anne does seem to have wanted to marry Richard, she appears to have actively worked for the marriage. Whether it was because she loved him, or whether it was a way out of an unpleasant situation (apparently they were trying to force her to marry Richard's brother george) I don't know. but at any rate she does seem to have wanted to marry him.

Answer 10

Strange things you find in people's account legers. Richard was recording the purchase of expensive cloth as a Christmas gift for his wife. He annotated it 'For our most beloved consort." This wasn't anything.anyone important would see.

Marriage is a business deal any way you look at it. Richard was actually a very religious man. Loving his wife was his duty. It is also reported he cried at her funeral which was magnificentl, unlike the cheap private one Henry Tudor gave his wife.