Cecily Duchess of York by J. L. Laynesmith

Abstract

Reviewed by: Cecily Duchess of York by J. L. Laynesmith Michele Seah Laynesmith, J. L., Cecily Duchess of York, London, Bloomsbury, 2017; hardback; pp. xxii, 262; 10 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. £85.00; ISBN 9781474272254. Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, styled herself at different junctures of her life as the king's mother and as the queen's grandmother. She was the mother of two Yorkist kings, Edward IV and Richard III, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, was married to Henry VII, the progenitor of the Tudor dynasty. In comparison with some other individuals in this extended family, there is not as much scholarly work focused on the duchess even though she figures prominently in the political landscape of the later fifteenth century. Previous literature centred on her includes popular biographies and historical fiction, and a handful of scholarly articles. This latest biography of the duchess by J. L. Laynesmith marks the culmination of many years of research that began with her Master of Arts dissertation and is another fine testament to the expertise of this noted queenship scholar. Laynesmith's admitted aim is to produce a 'broadly chronological biography'(p. 2), and to illuminate both Cecily Neville's life story and those political events in which she was involved by weaving both these aspects together. Therefore, the book is arranged in a series of chapters, each one matching a particular period in her life. The first four chapters approximately correspond with the first four decades of Cecily's life, detailing her birth, childhood, marriage, and childbearing years. The next five chapters, encompassing the following two decades, appear to [End Page 181] parallel her position as rebel's wife, widow, and king's mother, although their titles do not quite make sense in this regard. The penultimate chapter covers the period from just before Edward IV's death to Richard III's loss of life and crown in 1485, while the last chapter is concerned with the duchess's last decade of life during which she 'celebrated her own status as the queen's grandmother' (p. 165) before ending with her death in 1495. Happily for Laynesmith, she has plenty to work with in terms of primary evidence in the form of account rolls for Cecily Neville's estates, the duchess's will, court cases and records, correspondence, and her books, to name only a few types. This evidence is skilfully used and intertwined with the narrative and analysis of each chapter, and it is rare that the author is unable to refer to specific sources and resorts to conjecture. The first chapter is one such example. Little is known about the duchess's birth and early life apart from her birth-date. Therefore, as Laynesmith herself admits, she uses the wider knowledge available about the fifteenth century in conjunction with family records to recreate the world of Cecily Neville and present a plausible account of her birth, baptism, and childhood. The other chapters, in contrast, draw upon a large amount of varied and detailed evidence, and bring the duchess to life in a way that speculation alone cannot do. 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. Rich and vibrant descriptions of the baptism (pp. 8–9) and daily life in Berkhamsted (pp. 171–73) are examples of her ability to vividly re-construct the fifteenth-century world in which the duchess lived, and add much to the enjoyment of the book. At the same time, the chronological structure allows the reader to easily trace the developments in Cecily Neville's life and the events she lived through. It should be noted that not all the events of the period are discussed in great detail since Cecily was not directly involved in all of them. For instance, individual battles such as the battles of St Albans, and the battles of Towton and Bosworth, all of which were crucial military events in the Lancaster–York conflict, are dealt with succinctly but only in relation to...