tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post3800213543080205199..comments2024-03-26T13:26:35.282-04:00Comments on Author Samantha Wilcoxson: What Killed Elizabeth of York?Samantha Wilcoxsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473495253682074133noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-3173394531233834902016-03-02T09:59:14.307-05:002016-03-02T09:59:14.307-05:00Thanks for your comments, Amy. You have brought up...Thanks for your comments, Amy. You have brought up a couple of different issues, so I will try to address both. First, Elizabeth's decision, if that's what it was, to have another child. Anyone who is practicing natural family planning will tell you that, while abstinence is the only sure way to 100% avoid pregnancy, women have always had ways of avoiding it. We have two examples of times when it was desirous for Henry and Elizabeth to have a child: upon their marriage and after Arthur's death. Since Elizabeth was with child stunningly quick in each of these circumstances, I think it is safe to assume that they were doing something to avoid it at other times. I cannot know this for sure or know what method they may have utilized, but there is evidence that Elizabeth struggled with childbearing much more than her mother did and that she and Henry decided to be careful about it.<br /><br />As for the Tower, it was a safe fortress where Elizabeth went for safety on more than one occasion, but she clearly did not intend to give birth there. She had confinement rooms prepared at Richmond for that purpose. After her death, even Henry avoided the Tower for the bad memories it held.Samantha Wilcoxsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04473495253682074133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-75415738079059272182016-03-02T09:51:42.509-05:002016-03-02T09:51:42.509-05:00Very cool! Our trip to the Tower was rather rushed...Very cool! Our trip to the Tower was rather rushed and I didn't even get a chance to ask about the room she had been in. Is there anything memorializing her there?Samantha Wilcoxsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04473495253682074133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-52781189178973330312016-03-02T09:50:51.830-05:002016-03-02T09:50:51.830-05:00Thanks, Anne. The unknowns and problems that are e...Thanks, Anne. The unknowns and problems that are easily solved with modern solutions are often frustrating but are also fertile ground for historical fiction!Samantha Wilcoxsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04473495253682074133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-89480840370986064462016-03-01T14:20:54.654-05:002016-03-01T14:20:54.654-05:00It is also not at all assured how she felt about t...It is also not at all assured how she felt about the tower, she herself sought sanctuary there with her own children during a period of civil unrest in which her husband was dealing with a rebellion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03497248173467359621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-79947941644810269392016-03-01T14:17:41.874-05:002016-03-01T14:17:41.874-05:00"It is after this that Elizabeth does not ris..."It is after this that Elizabeth does not risk another pregnancy until the death of Prince Arthur brings about a change of heart." This statement indicates that she intentionally did not get pregnant, the only reliable way to do so was through abstinence, and there is no indication that Henry and Elizabeth practiced abstinence, or even tried to avoid pregnancy, having given birth about 4 years prior to her last pregnancy. There is one child who died at birth whose birthday is not recorded, but is likely to have been towards the end of her life. She is also according to several historians, including Agnes Strickland and Thomas Penn recorded as saying that she and Henry were both still young and could have more children, not a view likely to be taken by someone who practiced abstinence (which was seen as medically unhealthy at the time)and had health issues in relation to pregnancy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03497248173467359621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-400326900716531092016-03-01T13:02:57.446-05:002016-03-01T13:02:57.446-05:00I talked to historians at the Tower of London the ...I talked to historians at the Tower of London the last time I was there about Elizabeth being there for the birth of her last child. Though they aren't sure where she was coming from, they believe she was headed to Greenwich by river and started having problems. The boat pulled over to the nearest royal property which happened to be the Tower. They carried her into the White Tower, to a room which is now on the main display level, and that is where her child was born and they both died.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353745119638688943.post-9006194782699726392016-03-01T12:33:25.466-05:002016-03-01T12:33:25.466-05:00It's so frustrating, isn't it, to be unabl...It's so frustrating, isn't it, to be unable to say exactly, but after an interval of hundreds of years, not surprising. Interesting post, thank you. anne stenhouseanne stenhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02737658937717248241noreply@blogger.com