#Duchess Cecily

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Duchess Cecily's brown gown with brocade sleeves in 1x01,3,8

[fromtheboundlesssea]

The craziest thing in The White Princess is that Duchess Cecily suddenly cares about her grandchildren by Elizabeth Woodville as though she were not gleeful at the thought of them becoming illegitimate in The White Queen.

[wonder-worker]

what did cicely neville do in edward iv's reign?

Hi! Cecily’s entire role during Edward IV’s reign is too long and complex to fully get into right now, so this is just going to be a very brief overview. It’s also not going to touch on her relationship with her daughter-in-law Elizabeth, even though that's somewhat relevant here in some aspects, because that’s also too complex and speculatory.

Ironically, despite the Duke of York’s claims to kingship, it was only after his death and during her widowhood that Cecily Neville truly emerged as a “quasi-queen”. After her son Edward IV had been acclaimed as King in London, and before he left for Towton with the other lords, he summoned the mayor and “all the notables of London” to gather and “recommended them to the duchess his mother”. During his absence, Cecily would preside over his household in Baynard Castle and was probably meant to act as his representative of sorts in the city. After his kingship was more firmly established, Cecily primarily resided at Westminster with him from 1461-64 and regularly accompanied him on several ceremonial and political occasions, such as their visit to Canterbury where she was magnificently welcomed. She also appears to have had a great deal of personal and political influence with her son: Nicholas O’Flanagan, the contemporary Bishop of Elpin, observed in the first few years of Edward IV's reign, his mother could “rule the king as she pleases.” This may have relied on popular topos of mothers and their young sons, it may have reflected reality, or it may have been exaggerated - we don't really know - but it does indicate Cecily's prominent position.

Cecily’s role demonstrably changed after Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464. She remained the second-highest ranked woman in the country, but she took a significant step back from high politics (a la Joan of Kent after her son’s marriage to Anne of Bohemia). That does not mean that either of them suddenly became apolitical or uninvolved: quite the opposite*. Cecily remained the head of a large household, her administration supported her son’s, she continued to support a few religious institutions, she engaged in trade, she launched court cases, and she clearly inspired loyalty among her affinity. All of this was fairly standard for a medieval noblewoman, but was naturally enhanced by Cecily’s own prominent royal status. Cecily was godmother to at least three of the royal children: Elizabeth of York, her namesake Cecily, and the youngest child, Bridget. She also played a role in reconciling her son George to the Yorkist cause in 1471, though she did not have the spearheading role which has often been erroneously credited to her by historians (ie: “engineering peace between her warring sons”); instead, it was her daughters Anne and Margaret who took the leading role in achieving the reconciliation, while Cecily probably aided them. She was also clearly perceived to be influential with Edward IV, best evidenced by how the mayors of Norwich petitioned her to aid them against the Duke of Suffolk in 1480, though we don’t actually know the result of Cecily’s intervention to judge whether it succeeded or how effective it was**. Regardless, though, she evidently had a much lower national profile during these years.

(On a more personal level, we also have a very sweet anecdote from Elizabeth Stonor who spoke of a meeting between Cecily and Edward in October 1476 at Greenwich: 'and ther I  sawe the metyng betwyne the Kynge and my ladye his Modyr. And trewly me thowght it was a very good syght’.)

Cecily’s numerous titles are also interesting. Immediately after Edward IV’s ascension, she called herself “the Kyngs Moder, Duchess of York”. Variations of the title included references to her late husband, but she primarily defined herself in relation to her son, through whom her current position and power derived. As Laynesmith says: "narrative accounts, particularly chronicles, had naturally used the phrase ‘the king’s mother’ to describe women in the past, especially Joan of Kent. However, it was Cecily who turned this into a specific title in her letters and on her seals." A few months after Edward's marriage was announced, Cecily adopted a new title, now styling herself as: “By the ryghtful enheritors Wyffe late of the Regne off Englande & of Fraunce & off ye lordschyppe off yrlonde, the kynges mowder ye Duchesse of Yorke.” This referenced the Yorkist perception of her husband, Richard Duke of York, who was called the "true and indubitable heir" of England. In 1477, a herald for the wedding of her grandson Richard of Shrewsbury styled Cecily as “the right high and excellent Princesse and Queene of right, Cicelie, Mother to the Kinge”. This was once again linked to her husband’s status: Cecily described him in her letters as “in right King of England and of France and lord of Ireland”. All in all, Cecily’s various designations appear to have been designed to signify her own importance within the regime, to uphold the claim of her late husband, and to strengthen Edward IV’s position by promoting him as the son of the (supposedly) rightful heir. It’s also very possible, as Laynesmith has suggested, that “it was as her queenly power diminished [after the early 1460s] that her claims to queenship were more elaborately emphasized in wax and on parchment”.

Cecily’s role and prominence, and how it changed overtime, is best demonstrated by the number of times English subjects offered prayers for her soul in return for grants. Between June 1461 and September 1464, there are twelve instances of grants made to people who offered prayers for her. (To compare, during the first three years of Elizabeth Woodville's queenship, there were sixteen grants of the same type. So, Cecily didn't quite reach the level of the queen, but she came close; it was quintessential "quasi-queenship"). However, mentions of Cecily dramatically deceased following Edward IV's marriage: over the next 19 years till 1483, she is only mentioned five times, and in all cases Elizabeth Woodville was also listed before she was. Three of these mentions are in 1465, likely reflecting contemporary unease with her son's controversial marriage and the perceived unsuitable origins of the new queen. After that, however, Cecily is mentioned only twice: once in 1476 and once in 1481, with the latter being a grant to her own son-in-law Thomas St. Leger***. This fits well with what I mentioned above about her quasi-queenship in the early 1460s, followed by a much more reduced role and lower national profile in the future years.

Hope this helps!

*Oddly, Cecily is not mentioned at all in contemporary reports for her daughter Margaret’s wedding. Laynesmith believes that she was unwell, and that may as well be true, but Margaret's celebrations went on for a great period of time and it does seem conspicuous that Cecily was entirely absent from them all. It's also worth noting that a letter from the Milanese ambassador Giovanni Pietro Panicharolla on the marriage wrote that "the king, the queen, her father, and the king's brothers are all disposed to it" (sidenote: it's VERY interesting that the queen's father is mentioned before the king's own brothers and male heirs) but made no mention of Cecily. Nor, iirc, was she mentioned in the tournament held to celebrate Anglo-Burgundian relations. It does clearly seem as though Cecily did not play a notable role in the marriage, and relevant diplomacy, at all. (Laynesmith's claim that its Cecily had "helped lay the ground for" the marriage because she *checks notes* dispatched both her sons to Burgundy in middle of a civil war 7 years earlier, with many fluctuations in Anglo-Burgundian relations in between, is, I'm sorry to say, nonsense). ** Laynesmith believes that "Cecily’s intervention to control Suffolk perhaps marked a turning point in the duke’s violent career because when he resorted to force again the following summer his victim successfully reclaimed the manor from which he had personally ejected her." I think that Laynesmith is being far too assumptive and that we don’t even know the result of Cecily’s intervention in 1480 to somehow credit her with entirely different case one year later that literally did not even involve her, lol. ***Even more oddly, Cecily’s own son Richard didn’t include her among the list for who to offer prayers for in his college in Middleham in 1478. This was despite the fact that he had included Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, his wife Anne Neville, his sisters, his dead brothers and his dead father. It’s incredibly striking, and I wonder what could have happened to cause her exclusion, especially since she was included in religious foundations by both Edward and her son-in-law Thomas St. Leger? Laynesmith claims that "this rather suggests that Richard's own piety was not consciously influenced by hers", and sure, that seems obvious, but it certainly can't have been the only reason. Was she merely overlooked, or did they have a quarrel at the time, or was it for another now-unknown reason? Whatever the case, it's a small but intriguing detail to me.

Sources:

"Cecily, Duchess of York" by J.L. Laynesmith

"A Paper Crown: The Titles and Seals of Cecily, Duchess of York" by J.L. Laynesmith (The Ricardian)

"Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings" by Amy License

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

🩶 Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, 1874. 🩶

[ykzzr]

Grand Duchess Eleonore of Hesse and by Rhine, Prince Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his wife, Hereditary Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine at the Bayreuth Festival in 1932.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Duchess Cecilie Auguste Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst, Crown Prince of Prussia

German vintage postcard

[mote-historie]

Caspar Ritter, Portrait of Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia, née Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. 1908.

[masked-alien-lesbian]

....does she mean she's having an affair too? Is everyone in this book having an affair??

[loiladadiani]

Photographs: 1. Grand Duke Mikhail Nicholayevich and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Fyodorovna, with their two eldest children, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna; 2 and 3: Anastasia as a young girl; 4 and 5: Anastasia as a young woman. In one of the photos, she is wearing Russian court dress; 6. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich (Miche-Miche); 7. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich; 8. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovichl 9. Anastasia with her youngest brother, who died at twenty, Grand Duke Alexis Mikhailovich; 10. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Alexander "Sandro" Mikhailovich; 11. Anastasia with her niece Princess Irina Alexandrovna; 12 and 13; Two photos of Anastasia with her fiancee/husband Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; 14. Anastasia with her three children; 15 and 16: Two pictures of Anastasia; 17: Anastasia's three children and their spouses: From left to right: Her daughter Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with the future King Christian X of Denmark, Her son, Frederick Francis IV with Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland, and her daughter Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with Crown Prince Wilhelm; 18. Her illegitimate son Alexis Louis de Wenden; 19: Villa Wenden in Nice; 20. The formidable Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna.

The other Anastaisa

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna was born in 1860, the second child and only daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nicholaevich and Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (nee Princess Cecilie of Baden.) Anastasia was a granddaughter of Nicholas I. The better-known Anastasia (the daughter of Nicholas II) would be born a little over a half-century later, promising to be just as indomitable as her predecessor (she did not have the chance to fulfill that promise.)

Stasi (as her brothers called Anastasia Mikhailovna) was her father's favorite child. Her brothers worshipped her. Her mother was the disciplinarian of the house. The boys were allowed to see their sister only on Sundays.

Anastasia married Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, at 19. Frederick Francis was Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the Elder's brother. He had very poor health throughout his life; he had asthma and multiple allergies and rashes, and he needed to live during extended periods in the warmer climate of the Mediterranean rather than in Northern Europe; this was just fine with Anastasia, who would never adjust to her adoptive country or gain the affection of the people there. The couple established Villa Wenden in the South of France, and she would live in that area of the world most of her life. Frederick's homosexuality was known throughout Europe, but the couple seemed to have gotten along well. Anastasia spent lavishly at the casinos, and Frederick Francis was glad to provide her with the funds. When the Grand Duke died, she said: "On this day, I have lost my best friend."

They had three children, and all married very well:

Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879 –1952); married King Christian X of Denmark. They had two sons.

Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882 –1945), married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland. They had five children.

Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886 –1954.) She married Wilhelm, the German Crown Prince. They had six children.

Up to the death of her husband, Anastasia's life had transcurred without scandal. However, a few years later, she began an affair with Vladimir Alexandrovitch Paltov, her secretary. She soon became pregnant by him and attempted to hide that fact by claiming she was suffering from a tumor. She claimed to have chickenpox when she delivered the child. Her son, Alexis Louis de Wenden, was born in Nice in 1902. She was able to bring him up herself and wrote to him daily when he was away at school. After the scandal became public, she was advised never to live near her daughter, now the Crown Princess of Germany (she was given special permission to visit her daughter for the birth of her first grandson.)

After her father had a stroke, he went to live with Stasi in Villa Wenden. As the senior member of the Romanov clan, "Uncle Misha" received many visitors, including the Tsar. At least one of her brothers was in residence at Villa Wenden at any given time. When her father died in 1909, Anastasia inherited an enormous fortune. She continued to live as she wished, gambling heavily, going to the theater, and dancing.

World War I split the family apart. Her son was the reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her daughter was the German Emperor's daughter-in-law, she was a Russian Grand Duchess, and her Russian family was fighting on the opposite side. She settled in neutral Switzerland. The war cost her son and daughter their (prospective) crowns. After the war, she returned to Nice. There she founded a charity to help Russian exiles. Vladimir Paltov was the charity's president, perhaps indicating that the relationship continued. She lived in Villa Fantasia in Eze, which is near Cannes.

Anastasia died suddenly after suffering a stroke in 1922. She rests in Ludwigslust next to her husband. All of her children have living descendants today, including her illegitimate son. She certainly lived as she wished. Which is something that the other Anastasia would have probably done should she have been given the chance.

[empress-alexandra]

Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse  and by Rhine. She was elder sister of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1934.

[richarddukeofgloucester]

Well, I am finally reading The King's Mother, and by far the aspect I'm most enjoying is the portrayal of Richard as The Favourite Golden Child.

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Duchess Cecily's black gown with red and black print in 1x02,4

[valhallaimcomin]

I swear one of these days, I'm going to learn how to properly use markers (she won't). Anyways, with this, I was thinking of a young Cecily Neville, Duchess of York. Im told she looks a bit too tanned for a Northern lassie.

[wonder-worker]

Just to clarify:

The idea that Cecily Neville wanted or tried to spare George of Clarence’s life is false. There is no reliable historical evidence to support this, and any historian or novelist who claims otherwise is either lying, ignorant, or a proponent of popular – rather than academic – history. Cecily was not a part of the center of politics like the Woodvilles or Richard of Gloucester were, but the evidence we have indicates that she actually sided with Edward IV and (functionally, at least) accepted his decision.

There is also nothing to support AJ Pollard’s equally false claim that Cecily and Edward were “estranged” or that she had “disowned” him after George of Clarence's execution. We know for a fact that she stood as godmother to his youngest child (born in 1480) and he was literally the only son she mentioned in her will. All evidence suggests they remained close, with contemporaries explicitly highlighting their affection for each other.

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚁𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 👑✨🍫

(𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟺 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝟺)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood and Princess Royal.

Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia, née Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Grand Duchess Eleonore of Hesse, née Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

Empress Eugenie of France, née Eugenie de Montijo.

Princess Marie Louise of Baden, née Princess Marie Louise of Hanover.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna

[richmond-rex]

thinking about the war of the roses and how all the women involved would have probably gotten along really well in another time :(

Doubly sad because Cecily Neville and Margaret of Anjou were very courteous and considerate of each other before the conflict began, and Margaret and Jacquetta of Luxemburg really were very good friends. Elizabeth Woodville's of a different generation, but she did seem to be sympathetic to Margaret after her defeat considering she joined a fraternity that Elizabeth was part of and was allowed to be depicted as a former queen. I think, in a different time, they would have gotten along very well.

I think the only two women who were on "differing" sides but were enabled due to circumstances to get along and ultimately ended up in a mutually beneficial position due to a common goal were Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort. We don't know how personally close they were, well-intention seems likely, considering the role Margaret played in the birth of Elizabeth's last child, how they worked together very well for the marriage alliance between their kids, and how there was no recorded conflict between them after Henry VII ascended the throne. I believe they also went to mass together with their children once?

just thinking random thoughts lol

Hi! Yes, practically all the important women involved in the wars of the roses had a good or at least cordial relationship with each other, which is why it's always so baffling to see histfic authors write them hating each other with such fervour just because they ended up on opposite sides of the war. Most of them were on the same side at some point: @heartofstanding can talk more about Cecily and Margaret of Anjou's relationship, but Margaret and Jacquetta were definitely good friends for a long time. Jacquetta was among the three or four most important women held in high regard by Margaret going by the gift records of this queen, to say nothing about the fact that Jacquetta's husband was created a baron and a knight of the Garter(!!) during Margaret's time, and only after her arrival in England.

Elizabeth Woodville would have probably appreciated Margaret's regard for her family too, which is why Weir writing Elizabeth & Jacquetta calling Margaret of Anjou 'the pretended Queen Margaret, our great enemy' doesn't make any sense! Even later when they were on opposite sides, I don't think the level of animosity would have risen that high, and you can see a mark of friendliness also in the fact that Elizabeth Woodville allowed Margaret to join the same fraternity of which she was a patron. Perhaps it was her regard for Margaret that made Elizabeth take up the patronage of Queen's College (founded by Margaret) too—a respect for her predecessor's vision.

I'm still of the opinion that Elizabeth Woodville, her daughter and Margaret Beaufort were probably good friends (as I explained here and here). Besides, Margaret Beaufort seems to have held great admiration for Cecily Neville (considering she based her household and routine on Cecily's) and even Cecily may have come to like Margaret Beaufort, going by the way she left Margaret some religious books in her last will when not even all her surviving relatives were contemplated. Probably the only women that were on opposite sides that didn't get along well were Margaret Beaufort and Margaret of York. In a letter thanking the earl of Ormond for a pair of gloves he sent her from Flanders, Margaret wrote:

‘I thank you heartily that ye list so soon remember me with my gloves, the which were right good, save they were too much for my hand. I think the ladies in that parts be great ladies all, and according to their great estate they have great personages’.

She was, of course, taking a dig at Margaret of York, who was dowager duchess of Burgundy ('great lady') and famously tall ('great personage'). Considering Margaret of York was at that time creating great problems for Margaret Beaufort's son by lying about Perkin Warbeck and funding an army against him—probably in Margaret Beaufort's opinion, for no reason—it's understandable that she would not have had the greatest sympathy for the dowager duchess. They had no previous history of friendship.