We are going to talk about Anthony Woodville because on the video I did yesterday on my latest podcast episode on Ursula Pole, there was a comment that people were interested in hearing more about Elizabeth Woodville‘s siblings, and Anthony of course, is famous for a couple of reasons.
First he brought the printing press to England with William Caxton, and then he of course was executed by Richard III so there’s that whole connection. We are going to delve deeper into his life and understand his pivotal role during one of England’s most tumultuous periods.
Born Into the influential Woodville family, Anthony’s life was shaped by both privilege and the uncertainty of the times. His Father Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and his mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg were well acquainted with the intricacies of court life.
Growing up amidst the Wars of the Roses, Anthony witnessed firsthand the shifting allegiances and power struggles of the era then. Of course, things took a turn for Anthony when his sister Elizabeth Woodville became the Queen of England through her marriage to Edward IV.
This union was about love of course, it was you supposedly a very impulsive impetuous thing that Edward just completely fell in love with her and just had to have her. But it was also a political game-changer for the Woodvilles.
With his sister as the nation’s queen, Anthony was suddenly propelled into the limelight finding himself at the epicenter of royal politics and decision making. So in 1464 when Anthony was about 24 years old, his sister Elizabeth who was a young widow married King Edward IV.
This wasn’t just a personal win for the family, it signaled Anthony’s ascent into the echelons of power. With the Woodvilles now intimately connected to the throne, Anthony’s status skyrocketed. Edward recognized Anthony’s potential, granted him numerous titles including the revered Earl Rivers and Lord Scales.
But titles weren’t just about prestige, with them came substantial responsibilities as a key figure in the Yorkist regime. Anthony found himself deeply involved in the day-to-day administration of the kingdom, he wasn’t just a passive beneficiary of his family’s rise. He was an active participant contributing to policymaking and steering the course of the country.
Anthony Woodville had actually fought for the Lancastrians with his father Sir Richard Woodville in the early years of the Wars of the Roses. Then after the Lancastrian army was decisively defeated in 1461, the Woodvilles of course supported Edward IV.
So then he found himself on the side of the Yorkists. While there were not active battles going on in the Wars of the Roses, Anthony earned an international reputation for his bravery in tournaments. In 1469, his father was killed by rebels under the Earl of Warwick. Edward IV and Anthony Rivers and other Yorkists were driven into exile in October of 1470 and then they returned back to England in March of 1471.
Anthony Rivers helped defeat Warwick at the Battle of Barnet in April of 1471. He also then held London while Edward destroyed the Lancastrian army at Tewkesbury in May of 1471. So it’s clear that his presence at the royal court wasn’t merely ceremonial.
Edward valued Anthony’s counsel, leaned on him for both advice in domestic and foreign affairs. He played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of the time, ensuring that the Woodvilles remained at the heart of English governance.
After 1471, it was clear then the Yorkists were really in power at least for another decade and a half or so, and Anthony could focus more on cultural, literary, spiritual concerns. He translated the French moralistic work – The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, which was actually the first dated book printed in England. So we’re going to talk about his role with printed books.
The printing press was changing the game in Europe at this time. Its introduction was nothing short of a revolution. It’s one of the reasons I love this period so much, it reminds me so much of what we are experiencing with the internet, suddenly information which had been just housed within an elite group of people, and you had to really go out of your way to get that information, could now be much more easily disseminated to everyone.
It grew literacy and over the next hundred years you would see this huge growth in literacy. You would see the Golden Age of plays and of poems and everything like that. And along with that also were a lot of concerns about how to manage that information especially from the position of people in power who were concerned about misinformation, who were also concerned about propaganda.
You see it a lot in Elizabeth’s reign with concern about Catholic pamphlets coming in. So there’s so many parallels to what we are living through today with the internet and social media and everything like that. It’s one of the reasons I really love this time period. There’s just so much that’s so similar to what we are through ourselves.
So what does Anthony Woodville have to do with this? While the printing press was making waves across Europe, Anthony saw its potential for England. Rather than just being a spectator, he actively championed its use in the country. Anthony had met William Caxton who brought the first printing press to England while he was in Flanders.
William Caxton was living there. He was a merchant in the service to Margaret of Burgundy. Caxton moved to England in 1476. He brought with him the first printing press ever seen in England and Anthony became his patron. Anthony had Edward IV’s son also named Edward under his care at the time. He was actually helping to manage his education and he decided to translate and print texts that would provide the prince with an education in religion and moral philosophy.
And of course, that’s the first book published in England then. Dictes and Sayings which was a collection of wisdom by ancient philosophers. He was actually making a statement by selecting a work that bridged ancient wisdom with contemporary thought. He was emphasizing the importance of learning from the past while forging ahead with the future.
His contributions didn’t just stop there. His endorsement of the printing press paved the way for a more literate society, fostering an environment where ideas would flourish and intellectual curiosity was celebrated. It’s a testament to his vision that he not only embraced this technological marvel, but also understood its profound impact on culture education and communication.
He was a true Renaissance man of his time. And throughout the 1470’s as there was peace and as he was managing the education of the prince, he also made more contributions to English culture and society. He was a patron of the arts. He recognized the power of poetry, music, and visual arts in enriching society. He was a patron of artists and poets.
There’s actually a plate in the Royal Academy of the Arts. It’s one of 180 plates that make up the British school’s number one album which was compiled in the early 19th century. And this plate that I’m talking about specifically is an engraving entitled Anthony Woodville, second Earl Rivers presenting a book to Edward IV and this plate is from 1807.
The engraving underneath says Earl Rivers presenting his book and Caxton his printer to Edw. 4, the queen and prince; from a curious M.S. in the Archbishops LIbrary at Lambeth. The portrait of the prince is the only known one of him and so it’s kind of something to think about what he might have been able to do if he hadn’t been busy I don’t know, patrolling the coast against an invasion by Margaret of Anjou or fighting in the Battle of Barnet, if he had had peace.
It seems like he was somebody who really just wanted to patronize the arts and patron literature, so it’s kind of like one of those thought experiments to imagine, what he could have done if he had had the peace in the space to be able to do that. His influence and proximity to power made him both a valued ally and of course a perceived threat.
When Edward IV died unexpectedly, the political landscape changed dramatically. Edward’s young son Edward V was next in line for the throne, but of course as history would have it, the young prince’s reign would never materialize. Richard, Duke of Gloucester and and late king’s brother, moved swiftly to secure his grip on power, declaring himself King Richard III.
This rapid power play was a direct threat to the Woodvilles who had been instrumental
during Edward’s reign. Anthony found himself in a perilous position. He had been the tutor to Prince Edward and he along with his nephew and some of the other Woodvilles was arrested by Richard III’s forces. They were taken to Pontefract Castle where good things did not generally happen at that time.
There was no formal trial which showed the precariousness of their situation. He and his compatriots were executed on June 25th, 1483. The reasons given were allegations of conspiring against Richard III. Many historians view this act as a straightforward consolidation of Power by the new king.
Anthony’s execution was not just the end of a prominent figure. It marked the waning influence of the Woodville family in English politics. The tragic end of Anthony Woodville is a somber reminder of the volatility of medieval politics where fortunes could change overnight and loyalty could often be rewarded with betrayal.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.