Ordinances For A Royal Birth

 

 Ordinances For A Royal Birth 
By Margaret Beaufort

.
 Margaret Beaufort was devoted to her son Henry VII and his family, and genuinely sought the best for the Tudor dynasty.

Nowhere is this more apparent, than in her reaction to the news that her daughter-in-Law Elizabeth of York, was expecting the first Tudor heir, in 1486.

 Margaret immediately cast her eye over the arrangements for the impending royal birth.

Margaret produced a set of royal ordinances, ensuring that the birth of her first grandchild - the heir to both the house of Lancaster and the house of York - was carried out with sufficient formality.

These Ordinances still survive to this day.

 Margaret decreed that the queen should retire to an entirely female and candlelit world, a month before the birth.

She began by choosing the furnishings and decorations to be used in the queen’s chamber.

"‘The chamber must be hanged with riche Clothe of
Arras.

All, excepte one Windowe, must be hanged so as
she may have light when it pleasethe her.

There must be set a Royall Bedde, and the Flore
layed all over and over with Carpets.

That Daye that the Queene will take her Chamber,
the Chappell where her Highnes will receave and
heare Devine Service, must be well and worshipfully
arrayed.

The greate Chamber must be hanged with riche
Arras, with a Clothe and Chaire of Estate, and
Quishins (cushions)

Cloth of Arras, was a thick woven cloth used for tapestries.

 Margaret also specified the stuffing for the mattresses and the colour of the cushions!

Although no account survives of the birth of her first grandchild, it is certain that the ordinances were followed, and that both Margaret and the queen’s mother, Elizabeth Woodville, would have been present.

 Margaret undoubtedly meant well in the care that she took over her ordinances, and she looked towards her daughter-in-law’s comfort.

Margaret also laid down specifications for the decoration of the church for the christening of her grandson Prince Arthur, who was born in September 1486.

 It cannot have pleased her that the baby’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville, who outranked her, was named the prince’s godmother although, as a compliment to his mother, Henry appointed his stepfather, Lord Stanley, as Arthur’s godfather.

 Margaret was given a great deal of input into the young prince’s upbringing.

Her ordinances also decreed the furnishings for the nursery, what servants should be appointed and the precautions to be taken in the appointment and management of the wet nurse.

The wet nurse was to be observed by a doctor at every meal to ensure that

‘She geveth the Childe seasonable Meate and Drinke’.

 Margaret was present at the birth of her second grandchild in November 1489, a girl who was named Margaret in her honour.

Margaret was named godmother to the little princess, giving her a gift at her christening of ‘a chest of silver and gilt, full of gold’.

Elizabeth of York would eventually bear eight children, following Margaret Beaufort's Ordinances each time.

The Tudor Intruders (and more)
.
 elizabethnortonHistorian
.
 Jodie Comer & Jacob Collins-Levy as Elizabeth of York & Henry VII in 'The White Princess' 2017