The New Murrey and Blue blog

In the process of trying to find out more about Isabel Neville’s ladies, I naturally came up against Ankarette Twynyho/Twynho. Now that story is so well known you’d think the basic facts of it are pretty well entrenched. Isabel died after childbirth, her distraught husband, George, Duke of Clarence, accused her lady, Ankarette, and had her hanged judicially. End of story. But no, online sites can’t even agree about who Ankarette married, let alone who accused her of poisoning Isabel!

If you go here (https://www.ancientpages.com/2019/03/28/isabel-neville-and-unsolved-mystery-of-her-death/, you’ll find Isabel married “Richard”:

“….What Did Cause Isabel’s Death?—It is the sole mystery surrounding the life of Isabel Neville. History has it that her husband Richard accused one of her ladies in waiting-of murder. He was so convinced that Ankarette Twynyho. one of Isabel’s servants, killed Isabel that he had her tried and convicted of murder….”

Her husband Richard? Who he….? Surely not our Richard????? 😲

Then if you go to this exceedingly anti-Richard article (https://richardiii.org.uk/article/14/ankarette-twynyho) you’ll find that Richard III accused and condemned her:

“….In 1484, after the death of Edward IV and the ascension of Richard III to the throne, Ankarette found herself caught up in the political turmoil. Richard III sought to consolidate his power and eliminate those he perceived as threats. As part of this effort, he accused Ankarette Twynyho of poisoning members of the royal family, including the young Prince Edward and his uncle, the Duke of Clarence….In 1485, Ankarette Twynyho was arrested on charges of treason and conspiracy. She was accused of being part of a plot to poison the royal family and others. Despite a lack of concrete evidence, she was tried and found guilty. Her trial was part of a wider purge of those loyal to the Woodville family and others perceived as threats to Richard III’s rule….”

Oh, so it was Richard III wot dunnit! I might have known. 😏 But the sources for this bilge include Hicks and Weir. I’m only surprised Morton, More, Shakespeare and the Tooth Fairy weren’t in there too!

So it’s never mind that Isabel died in December 1476, Ankarette breathed her last 15 April 1477 and Richard wasn’t king until 1483. Or that Ankarette’s grandson was subsequently able to seek a pardon from Edward IV! What did this grandson do, raise Edward from the dead in St George’s Chapel, Windsor?

One can only imagine that the anonymous author of the richardiii.org.uk link had trouble keeping a straight face as he/she plucked names and dates idly from the nearest hat. Honestly, how does such crap ever pass muster? Do we still have a secret Tudor regime?

But yes, I had noticed that the link is from a research and discussion forum, which doesn’t alter the fact of the drivel’s existence! And I still haven’t learned anything more about Isabel’s other ladies!

For more about the shocking death of Ankarette Twynyho, please go here https://websites.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/mn/m25726x25727.htm and here https://murreyandblue.org/2023/04/12/ankarette-twynho/.