Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Will of the Duchess of York

Medieval Woman discusses the Last Will and Testament of Cecily Neville, the "Rose of Raby," mother of two kings and grandmother of a queen.
Cecily was indeed buried at Fotheringhay. On a visit there, Elizabeth I, distressed at the neglect of the graves of her ancestors, ordered that the bodies be moved into the present church and that monuments be erected over them. Cecily's coffin was opened for the removal, revealing that she had been buried with a papal indulgence tied around her neck with a silver ribbon. The handwriting on the indulgence was "as fair and fresh as if it had been written yesterday."
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1 comment:

Parisienne Farmgirl said...

Thank you for todays history lesson.